Reduce Friction to Go Faster
Every step you add to your signup process kills conversions. Every option you give customers slows them down. Every decision you force them to make is a chance for them to leave.
Your job is to remove friction, not add features. Simpler is better.
Be The Expert
When Rewind started, we didn't let customers choose what to backup or when to backup. We did it automatically. We knew more about their Shopify store than they did. We knew what data had to be included to restore everything. We knew the best time to run backups without affecting their store's performance.
We gave them no options. Install the app, authorize access, done. Rewind went to work.
Could we have added options? Of course. "Choose what to backup: Products, Orders, Customers..." with a list of checkboxes. Customers could have picked and chosen. They could have set custom backup schedules. They could have configured all sorts of things.
We didn't do any of that. Not because we couldn't build it. Because it would have slowed people down and created problems we didn't want to deal with. What happens when someone unchecks "Customer Data" and then loses their customer list? They'd blame us for not backing it up, even though they explicitly told us not to.
We're the experts. That's what customers are paying for. Make the decisions for them.
Remove Every Step You Can
The Rewind signup flow was three steps: install the app from the Shopify App Store, authorize access via OAuth, done. That's it. No account creation, no password setup, no configuration screens, no welcome tour. The app just started working.
We started with Stripe for billing but switched to Shopify's native billing system. Conversion rates went up. One less thing for customers to think about, one less form to fill out, one less place to enter a credit card.
Later, as we expanded beyond Shopify to other platforms, we integrated Google login so customers didn't need to create yet another account. We added Stripe Link for faster checkout. These weren't features - they were friction removal. Each one eliminated a step, a form field, a decision.
I never A/B tested any of this. I didn't need to. Simpler is better. If you can remove a step, remove it.
Options Come Later
Yes, some customers wanted options. They wanted to choose backup schedules. They wanted to select which data to include. They wanted control.
We said no. For years.
As we grew and moved upmarket to larger companies, we eventually added options. Enterprise customers need data residency choices. They need compliance controls. They need customization. But that came later, when we had thousands of customers and a proven product.
When you're starting out selling to small businesses, strip everything down to the absolute minimum. No options. No configuration. No choices. Just the core thing that solves their problem, with the fewest possible steps between them and value.
The Invisible Tax
Every feature you add, every option you expose, every decision you ask customers to make - it all adds up. Each one seems small. "It's just one more checkbox." "It's just one more screen." "It's just giving them more control."
But it compounds. Three steps become five become eight. A clean interface becomes cluttered. Fast signup becomes slow. High conversion becomes low conversion.
Most founders don't see this happening. They add features one at a time, each one justified, each one requested by customers. Death by a thousand paper cuts.
Your job is to resist. Remove steps. Hide options. Make decisions on behalf of your customers. Be the expert they hired you to be. You'll move faster, your customers will move faster, and everyone wins.