About
Currently focused on making a home for subscription-first businesses by solving the…
Articles by Stefan
-
Early stage founder? Feel like giving up? This is for you...
Early stage founder? Feel like giving up? This is for you...
It’s frustrating isn’t it?..
4 Comments
Activity
3K followers
-
Stefan Pretty shared this"It's like magic". This has been the response even from our own engineering team since we started testing this update internally. This usually means you're onto something. It's perhaps one of the biggest updates to Subbly®'s AI Builder yet, despite it being subtle. In this video I demonstrate the new product creation and editing capabilities of the AI Builder so you can see how much time and effort this can really save you. The tech barrier to start your business and produce competition-crushing experiences and offers is *evaporating* with tools like this. Every day I'm doing live sessions where I build a website from scratch in less than an hour – if you're interested let me know, can send you the link. The scary thing is, we're just getting started still.
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisThis week we're running public office hour sessions where I vibe-code subscription websites in real-time. In 2 sessions we've built 2 subscription box websites (inspired by existing ones) that could go live with minimal effort. Today we even added a storefront to one of them. All within 2 hours. AI is changing the game. Tomorrow I'll make the storefront (that we made today) password protected to subscribers only, and will add a video background as a hero section. There are 3 more sessions remaining. If you're interested in joining, just like and comment "VIBE" below and I'll reply with the invite link.
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisEarlier this year I made a major decision at Subbly. It felt like I was putting it all on red creating a literal fork in the road, but looking back, I can't imagine another path now. It just makes sense. The team have been extremely hard at work working on a new product; an entirely new way of working as a subscription/D2C business owner or operator. The future of subscription ecommerce is here, and I'm ready to show you it. I'm going to be doing an exclusive live demo (eek!) next Wednesday. Please note there's only 100 seats. I invite you as a connection to secure a seat, and I hope to see you there.
-
Stefan Pretty posted thisSubbly is up for a SubSummit award again this year! The team and I would sincerely appreciate if you could help us by voting for us. Instructions below Thank you in advanced 🙏
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisI know instant data is the expectation now, and we have a bigger plan to get there, but this is a big step for us in that direction. But it's not just about the frequency of updates, this infrastructure change allows us to do much more complex analytics calculations for our users moving forward. Stay tuned.Stefan Pretty shared thisOur engineers have been busy unlocking new skills. Want the nerdy bit? Read on. Analytics queries can be very expensive and cpu intense for databases, so to avoid risking uptime and performance of our primary database. We created a horizontally scalable way to run these queries without affecting the primary node. Additional replica nodes stay in sync but aren't used for production, we are now using those to do "expensive" queries such as analytics. The outcome? This will allow us to add more complex and diverse analytics capabilities as well as further improve stability of our primary service. This is a small step towards our bigger vision and goal for analytics and data inside of Subbly to help our users succeed. We hope you enjoy this change! Stay tuned for more updates on our changelog.
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisOne of the things that I took from Robert Skrob's review of our Churn Report was the idea of borrowing elements from other models to bring your churn down. Subscription boxes typically have higher churn rates, because they are typically "nice to haves", except if it's a passion hobby where the churn drops through the floor. Replenishment models (consumables) do better, if people love your product and it runs out they will want it over and over again. Memberships come in with the lowest quartile of churn though (2.4%)! Robert recommends borrowing elements of this model to make your subscription more sticky and to add more value. It's worth noting that the "digital content" category does muddy the water a little bit, as there is some overlap with memberships, but the median is still lower than both Subboxes and Replenishment. If you want to see more of the report, check out the comments.
-
Stefan Pretty reposted thisChurn expert Robert Skrob did an insight extraction on our recent churn report and we love it. He resurfaces the significance of the churn paradox we discovered, as well as adds important suggestions for subscription box owners to unlock better performance. If you want to read the report, link in comments.Stefan Pretty reposted this🚀 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝘀… 𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗! 🚀 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁? 😲 That’s right—𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 📊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 is shaking up the way we think about retention in subscription-based e-commerce. This isn’t just another generic industry report—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀, including startups and brands generating $10M+ in recurring revenue. 🔍 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿: ✅ Focused ONLY on subscription-first e-commerce (not lumped in with SaaS & streaming services). ✅ Based on actual transaction data—no assumptions, no fluff. ✅ 𝗚𝗹��𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀—this isn’t just a U.S.-only perspective. One of the biggest insights? 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴. The idea that “higher price = higher churn” is 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴. 🪦💸 Instead, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗔𝗥 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 💡 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆—see where your subscription business stacks up: 📌 Fashion 📌 Beauty 📌 Food & Beverage 📌 Pets 📌 And more… 🔗 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lnkd.in/geeQtJyr 👇 𝗗𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂? What’s been your biggest challenge with subscription churn? Drop your thoughts in the comments! 💬
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisWe just released our subscription ecommerce churn report, and made a big discovery. I was really blown away when we discovered that there is no relationship between churn and AOV, “The churn paradox”. This insight alone can change the outcome of a business overnight. We also discovered a couple of other interesting bonus insights as well as niche and model specific benchmarks for churn to see where your subscription business fits in. If you'd like access to the full churn report, comment "CHURN" below and I'll DM you the link.
-
Stefan Pretty shared thisThe BFCM numbers are in! So the boffins at Subbly have finished crunching the numbers and here's the results from 2024 BFCM. Thursday: +13.6% Friday: +149.8% Saturday: +188.2% With an 117.2% average increase. *Numbers are relative to the same time period the previous month. You'll notice there's an interesting trend: the Saturday is usually higher than the Friday itself. TL;DR our subscription merchants crushed it this year.
Stefan Pretty replied to a comment
1mo
Engr. Sami Nasim yep, testing and iteration is becoming very cheap now
Stefan Pretty replied to a comment
1mo
Liam Brennan glad to hear it! Hope your community continues to find them valuable.
Stefan Pretty commented on a post
1mo
Agreed. I think one thing that could happen is companies can start expanding their offering and step on the toes of other companies more easily. Or they might vibe code internal solutions for new complex or new processes to automate them instead of looking for pre existing solutions.
But to start and compete with existing established brands would require significant disruption and advantage, and replacing existing tools with vibecoded ones doesn’t make economic sense. At least just now unless there a significant step function gain in the AI models and their abilities and speed again (true AGI and perpetual autonomy).
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisThis is what a real P&L looks like for a brand selling on Tik Tok Shop & Amazon: Assuming a $30 coffee mug, 60% gross margins, and standardized industry average inputs for all line items. (Not even taking into account rising COGS with tariffs, increase in fuel surcharges due to the war, constant rising affiliate and platform costs and fees, etc here) When’s the last time you saw this level of a breakdown shared on LinkedIn or X? Probably never.. “Halo effect” and “ROAS” sound great online, but the issue becomes everything else which no one either tracks or decides to share publically (for obvious reasons) Everyone looks and appears sexy online, but when you pull back the curtains most are on absolute fire. This is your daily reminder to keep chasing cash flow and business health. Have a great Sunday!
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisHow to turn your LinkedIn connections into real friends… Step 1: find a place to walk & talk instead of a stale happy hour Step 2: use a free app like Luma to share the word Step 3: find amazing people to sponsor the coffee (thanks to David Nguyen!) Step 4: tell everyone to come with an open mind and ONE ask I think someone still needs to pinch me - getting this many amazing people together on a Saturday morning at 8:30am blows my mind. Because of having one ask, I made over 50 personal intros for others in just one morning. Aka I was able to pair each other up right on the trail - no “wait for the email”. That’s the power of a strategic “room” and having an ask. And there’s no excuses - we had so many amazing families and their kids enjoying every moment. I think I need a major sponsor to do an official tour - so where to next?!
-
Stefan Pretty reacted on thisStefan Pretty reacted on thisSpent the day at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences presenting Trendable to a room full of talented students and companies. It’s always inspiring to meet people early in their journey — curious, sharp, and eager to build something meaningful. For us, it’s also a reminder of how important it is to stay close to the next generation of talent. Startups are built by people, and the right people make all the difference. Happy to say we've now brought two interns from the event to join us at Trendable 🚀 Great people building a great company. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Startuplab Sophie Dicko Liang Jia Mona Spjelkavik Judit Johnstad Bragelien Erik Johannessen Skrede Louise Korsbæk Sondrup Jon H. F. Solem Sunniva Teigland Ulrikke Voltersvik Hernæs Kjetil E. Langsaeter Gøril Selvik Mauricio Pavez Tora Andersen
-
Stefan Pretty reacted on thisStefan Pretty reacted on thisWe are incredibly proud to see David Barnes (DJB) receive his MBE this week from Prince William 🇬🇧👏 Surrounded by his family on a beautiful sunny day, it was a fitting moment to celebrate someone who has dedicated three decades of voluntary service to supporting children and communities in Perthshire and Kenya. Prince William even took time to ask David about the young people he has supported over the years - a conversation that clearly meant a great deal. A truly well-deserved honour. We couldn’t be prouder of you, David. 📸 thanks to Emily Barnes #ProudSchool #StrathFamily #GameChangingEducation #RoleModel #ThankYou #MBE
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisWe’re excited to welcome Erik and Sunniva to Trendable as interns. 👋 Erik holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from BI Norwegian Business School and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Innovation and Leadership at HVL. Sunniva holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Brand Management from Kristiania University College and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Responsible Innovation and Entrepreneurship at HVL. They both look forward to an exciting period of learning, gaining new experiences, and connecting theory with practice in a startup environment. Welcome to Trendable — we’re happy to have you on board. 🚀 #Trendable #Internship #Innovation #Marketing #Startup
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisI have a confession: I really struggle with “happy hour” style networking events. I dread 99% of them. ❌ the hopes you run into someone relevant ❌ mediocre or cheap drink options ❌ pressure to hold a drink ❌ and the silent prayer you don’t get stuck talking to someone that takes up most of the night, & you struggle to escape I wanted a way for networking to feel less stuffy and active - because that might, in turn, attract my kind of people. Turns out I’m not alone and movement (and coffee) matters. For the past year, I’ve hosted a quarterly founder/investor “Kat-alyst” walk. It’s been life-changing to network differently, so if you’re a founder or investor, 🙌 Comment “INVITE” to join me March 21st! (PS - it is a Saturday at 8:30 am, but you won’t regret it. Kids + dogs - welcome!)
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisDay 1 in the books for Expo West! DryWater Killed it today and the energy is crazy. Excited for Day 2 tomorrow!🔥🔥🔥 Natural Products Expo
-
Stefan Pretty reacted on thisStefan Pretty reacted on thisBig year ahead for DryWater at ExpoWest. Proud of what our team has accomplished in just 2 years! Very very soon you will be able to find DryWater in over 41k doors!!! 🙌 Come stop by and see us. 📍 Hall D | Booth 3587
-
Stefan Pretty liked thisStefan Pretty liked thisIt is my extreme honor to introduce to you the newest member of your Shopify family: Meet rePete 👋 Like your favorite barista, rePete remembers your pace and nudges you when it's time. He's your smart, friendly AI reorder agent that builds a dynamic reorder prediction for each individual customer. When they are running low, he sends a polite nudge, helping them easily restock with just ONE click! 🎉 Because, let's face it. Your life doesn't revolve around a fixed 30-day cycle. Your customers want to reorder on their own terms, and at their own pace. They want replenishment that feels natural, not a fixed cycle disguised as convenience. While subscription fatigue is at an all-time high and more customers are canceling subscriptions than ever before, there is good news! Most customers still want their products replenished, they just don't want a subscription. And that's exactly why they love rePete so much ❤️ Instead of forcing customers onto a fixed schedule, rePete learns each customer's individual buying behavior and purchase patterns. He analyzes thousands of data points everywhere they shop, so he can send a friendly nudge at the perfect predicted time they're likely ready for a refill. Predicted. Not scheduled. On-demand, not forced. rePete is free to install, and his pricing is very simple: if he doesn't make you money, you don't pay a penny. He works entirely on commission. No per-SMS fees. No per-email costs. No app fees... The future of repeat commerce isn't a subscription. It's a prediction. #shopify #reorders #ecommerce #shopifyplus #repete
Experience & Education
-
Subbly
View Stefan’s full experience
By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.
Other similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content