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Qualifying Users: Why 90% of Your Growth Metrics Are Lying
In this episode, I speak with Andrew Burrington, Senior Growth Leader at onX, and Andy Carvell, Co-Founder and CEO of Phiture, about what sustainable growth really looks like when an app grows from 3 people to 500 and from one product to a portfolio.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation built around five practical lessons for subscription apps. It starts with a deceptively simple idea: not every user who installs the app matters.
As Andrew explains, the shift came when onX stopped blasting users with purchase prompts and started focusing on what actually qualified them. In their case, that meant helping users understand the core actions that made the product valuable in the first place.
The result is a conversation about what strong teams do early, what they carry forward, and why commitment beats volume.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- Why sustainable growth starts with identifying the users who actually get value
- How onX used key actions to qualify users instead of just pushing conversion
- Why onboarding should teach value, not just sell features
- What changes when one app becomes a growing portfolio
- Why repeating what worked is not the same as understanding why it worked
If you work on a subscription app, this episode is packed with practical thinking you can apply immediately.
Part 2 continues the conversation, focusing on when to break your own playbook, how to recognize real learning, and why growth priorities change as products mature.
This is one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: Growth Beyond Theory
01:32 Meet the Guests: Andy Carvell and Andrew Burrington
03:00 A Decade of Growth: Building a Data-Driven Partnership
08:33 Lesson 1: Commitment Over Volume in User Retention
10:14 Qualifying Users: Finding Real Value in Your Product
15:53 Lesson 2: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel for New Products
18:02 Team Structure: Vertical Expertise vs. Service Centers
25:00 Lesson 3: Knowing When to Break Your Own Playbook
26:23 Maturity Curves: Adapting Strategies Across the S-Curve
33:45 Lesson 4: Making Growth Visible with AI and Automation
Subscribe for More
⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824
⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm
⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460
Let's Connect
⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz
⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz
⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com
View all episodes
By Peggy Anne SalzIn this episode, I speak with Andrew Burrington, Senior Growth Leader at onX, and Andy Carvell, Co-Founder and CEO of Phiture, about what sustainable growth really looks like when an app grows from 3 people to 500 and from one product to a portfolio.
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation built around five practical lessons for subscription apps. It starts with a deceptively simple idea: not every user who installs the app matters.
As Andrew explains, the shift came when onX stopped blasting users with purchase prompts and started focusing on what actually qualified them. In their case, that meant helping users understand the core actions that made the product valuable in the first place.
The result is a conversation about what strong teams do early, what they carry forward, and why commitment beats volume.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- Why sustainable growth starts with identifying the users who actually get value
- How onX used key actions to qualify users instead of just pushing conversion
- Why onboarding should teach value, not just sell features
- What changes when one app becomes a growing portfolio
- Why repeating what worked is not the same as understanding why it worked
If you work on a subscription app, this episode is packed with practical thinking you can apply immediately.
Part 2 continues the conversation, focusing on when to break your own playbook, how to recognize real learning, and why growth priorities change as products mature.
This is one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: Growth Beyond Theory
01:32 Meet the Guests: Andy Carvell and Andrew Burrington
03:00 A Decade of Growth: Building a Data-Driven Partnership
08:33 Lesson 1: Commitment Over Volume in User Retention
10:14 Qualifying Users: Finding Real Value in Your Product
15:53 Lesson 2: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel for New Products
18:02 Team Structure: Vertical Expertise vs. Service Centers
25:00 Lesson 3: Knowing When to Break Your Own Playbook
26:23 Maturity Curves: Adapting Strategies Across the S-Curve
33:45 Lesson 4: Making Growth Visible with AI and Automation
Subscribe for More
⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824
⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm
⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460
Let's Connect
⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz
⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz
⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com