2026-09-14

Sometimes the friction is the business model.

Software companies spend enormous amounts of time optimising onboarding.

Reduce the number of fields.

Improve conversion.

Make the trial easier.

Streamline checkout.

But sometimes the obvious question is:

Why is any of this here?

If the software costs nothing, why do I need an account?

If there’s no trial, why do you need to know who I am?

If there are no usage limits, why are you measuring my entitlement?

Sometimes we’re trying to optimise friction that only exists because the business model required us to create it.

Remove the business model and suddenly a surprising amount of the product can disappear with it.

The best onboarding flow might be no onboarding flow at all.