To create a valuable business model, focus on reducing customer acquisition costs while enhancing customer lifetime value through retention and upselling strategies.

Visualizing retention through stacked cohorts can illustrate the long-term value of customers and the health of your business. High retention businesses can still grow revenue even when no new customers are signed up, as they continuously add layers of revenue over time.

Always focus on creating value for customers and partners; this is the foundation of success in any venture.

Retention is a critical metric; it shows how many customers continue to pay over time, indicating the product's value to them.

Tracking customer retention is essential; it helps you understand how many users continue to engage with your product over time, which is a key indicator of success.

Building products that fulfill essential needs can lead to customer loyalty, making them reluctant to give up the product, which is key to creating successful companies.

Durability is crucial because most profits in technology companies are realized 10 to 20 years later, emphasizing the importance of long-term vision and endurance.

The long-term value of companies will ultimately depend on their ability to solve real customer problems and generate sustainable revenue, as seen with major tech firms like Google and Meta.

To build a successful startup, focus on generating recurring revenue, maintaining high retention rates, and creating defensible moats.