E281 | The Foundational Laws of Retention That Haven’t Changed in the AI Era with Brian Balfour

CHURN FM

Today on the show, we have Brian Balfour, the Founder and CEO of Reforge and former VP of Growth at HubSpot.

In this episode, Brian shares his perspective on the foundational laws of retention that remain unchanged, even as AI continues to transform the way we build and grow products.

We then discussed why many AI products are struggling with high churn, the role of natural usage frequency in product retention, and how businesses can avoid falling into the trap of ignoring core retention principles.

We wrapped up by exploring how AI is reshaping product teams, why product-market fit collapse is happening faster than ever, and how companies can navigate the new challenges of AI-native product development.
Mentioned Resources

• Brian Balfour
• Reforge
• Churn.FM Episode 1 | Churn is the silent killer
• The 4 Growth Frameworks You Need to Build a $100M Product
• Invest Like the Best: Dylan Field – Designing the Future

Churn FM is sponsored by Vitally, the all-in-one Customer Success Platform.

Chapters

1. E281 | The Foundational Laws of Retention That Haven’t Changed in the AI Era with Brian Balfour (00:00:00)

2. The Foundational Laws of Retention (00:01:41)

3. Why AI Products Are Struggling with High Churn (00:03:14)

4. How AI Is Changing Product Teams and Workflows (00:05:38)

5. Reforge’s Acquisition of Monterey AI (00:08:15)

6. AI’s Impact on Product Development & Retention (00:12:27)

7. The Feedback Fragmentation Tax (00:21:39)

8. The Risk of Product-Market Fit Collapse (00:30:23)

9. The Future of AI-Native Teams (00:35:46)