Canceling Adobe shouldn't feel like escaping a hostage situation — but it does. Fitness First, Foxtel, gym memberships, subscription perfume (yes, really), and a lot of advice tech vendors share the same playbook: make it easy to sign up, and brutally hard to leave.

In this episode, Danni and Pete sit down in person (a rare one) to unpack the latest Code & Capital newsletter — Breaking Up Is Hard to Do — and ask why so many software companies still prey on apathy instead of earning loyalty. They draw on 37signals' "easy on, easy off" philosophy, Basecamp's pause-and-price-lock approach, and David Heinemeier Hansson's idea that every business is a referral business — and cancellation is the moment that decides whether you get a promoter, a boomerang, or a detractor.

They ground the conversation in Finura's Technology Health Check Scorecard data (n=279+ Australian advice practices):

• 73% of firms aren't fully happy with their current advice CRM
• 81% don't run an RFP when choosing tech
• 37% skip due diligence on new vendors
• 49% don't have a comprehensive understanding of their own tech stack
• 33% have zero integrations

They also look at what AI-driven MCPs will do to vendors whose entire retention strategy is "hoard the data," why transparent pricing beats coupon-code chaos, and what practice owners should take from all of this — because if you're running an Advice business, your clients are judging you on exactly the same things.

Pete's tip: design your cancellation experience like a marketing exercise. Danni's tip: audit your vendor contracts before you need to leave — check the exit terms, not just the onboarding pitch.

https://finuragroup.com/

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