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Hey, {{first_name | product-preneur}}!
I’ve been sick for two weeks. Didn't ship anything.
ChatGPT tells me it’s a Norovirus, so it must be true, right?
While my life was debatably cancelling itself earlier this week, it made me think of how some products have the best and the worst cancellation screens. I pulled this week’s tactic from one of the OG’s in the investing app game.
Brewers' Bulletin
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Potion of the Week
Acorn’s cancellation screen of genius
When you try to cancel Acorns, something weird happens
Before you can actually leave, the screen shows you three numbers:
What you've invested
What you've rounded up
And then a third number in green: "Potential of $225,217"
That last number isn't what you have. It's what you'd have if you stayed. Money talks…
The cancel button is still on this screen. But it's not the primary action. "Continue" is, and even the “primary” action isn’t a solid color like a normal primary CTA typically is. Think that’s on purpose?
Bburied at the very bottom, in the smallest, lightest text on the entire screen, is your actual exit: "I've changed my mind."
This is not a design accident.
Two things are happening at the same time here. The first is sunk cost framing. Showing you what you've already put in, even if it's $61, makes walking away feel like a loss. The second is future value anxiety. That $225,217 projection isn't there for nothing. It's there to make leaving feel damn expensive.
Most founders have zero version of this. The cancel flow is an afterthought, but maybe it shouldn’t be.
The fix doesn't require a big build. It requires one question: what did this user do with your product?
Tasks completed
Revenue tracked
Days logged
Sessions in.
Whatever's real for your product. Surface that number right before the cancel button. Not to manipulate, but to give them real information at the moment they're making a real decision.
Fun fact: cancel flow improvements cut voluntary churn by 12-15% with zero changes to the actual product. That's revenue hiding on a screen most products don't even have.
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Corking Things Up
This week: go find your cancel flow. What it actually does right now when someone tries to leave.
If the answer is a generic modal or nothing at all, you know where to start.
Reply and tell me — what does your cancel screen currently look like? If you don't have one, what are you tracking that you could surface at that moment?
👋 I’ll see ya next week! — Dana
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