Case Study — Retail Investor Research Platform

17,600 users. Pricing that taxed core usage. A GTM strategy rebuilt around what investors are actually trying to achieve.

How a retail investor research platform with 17,600+ users redesigned its pricing model around user maturity — shifting from utility caps to workflow depth as the expansion driver.

17,600+

Users on platform

3-tier

Pricing model redesigned

172%

Price expansion path created

Workflow

Replaced AI caps as expansion driver

Before.

The platform had strong user growth, reaching 17,600+ investors. But the pricing model was working against expansion. AI query caps were carrying too much of the monetisation burden — meaning the product was charging users for touching the core value proposition.

Upgrade pressure felt arbitrary, not earned. The single $7.99/mo paid tier created a revenue ceiling, while zero instrumented analytics meant the team was flying blind on conversion and activation.

The Situation

Single-tier pricing model creating a revenue ceiling
Expansion tied to utility caps (AI queries) rather than success
No behavioral analytics to measure activation or conversion
Generous free tier with weak qualitative upgrade triggers

What we did.

Redesigned the monetization architecture around investor maturity.

Step 1 — Product DNA Classification

Conducted a 10-dimension analysis across 19 product surfaces to establish the platform as a Consumer Intelligence Layer, identifying the lack of expansion as a critical misalignment.

Step 2 — Pricing Audit (JTBD + Kano)

Mapped features into Must-Haves (AI analysis), Performance drivers (Alerts, Portfolios), and Delighters (Top Investor trades) to identify appropriate expansion levers.

Step 3 — Value Metric Redesign

Shifted expansion logic from AI query volume to research workflow depth: portfolios, alerts, saved screens, and SEC filing consumption.

Step 4 — Tier Architecture

Redesigned into a 3-tier model (Starter, Investor, Gainer Pro) creating a 172% price expansion path from the middle to top tier.

Step 5 — Analytics & GTM Specification

Drafted a 62-event PostHog tracking plan and rewrote positioning so upgrade pressure feels like natural progression, not penalty.

After.

17,600+

Verified users on a mature PLG foundation

3-tier

Pricing architecture built for expansion

172%

Expansion revenue potential per user

Events defined in the behavioral tracking plan

34-96%

Projected revenue increase from tier redesign

100%

AI integration depth across all product pages

The Installed System.

Maturity-Based Tiering

The pricing page communicates a progression, not a paywall. Users understand why the next tier exists because it matches the next stage of their research workflow.

Workflow Value Metrics

Expansion revenue can grow from the existing base without adding users — because the primary pricing metric (alerts, portfolios) scales with the user's success.

Behavioral Activation Tracking

A 62-event tracking plan instrumented in PostHog that identifies exactly where users drop off, allowing the team to measure the impact of every product change.

Jake McMahon

ProductQuant

10 years building growth systems for B2B SaaS companies at $1M–$50M ARR. BSc Behavioural Psychology, MSc Data Science. This engagement required auditing a high-growth fintech platform to shift its monetization logic from usage-based friction to workflow-based maturity.

Pricing that grows with your users — or pushes them away?

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