Put the Fries Down: What do Saas and Fast Food Chains Have in Common?

Melissa Perri and Kevin Broom argue that SaaS companies chasing net retention above 100% through land-and-expand can clash with customers who believe their subscription already covers new features. Using fast food menus as an analogy, they compare raising prices, offering a la carte add-ons, and building bundled combos. They conclude that segment-targeted bundles raise average selling price, make products stickier, and improve lifetime value relative to acquisition cost, while requiring ongoing investment in packaging and pricing. For product leaders balancing growth against trust, the framing offers a practical way to think about monetization without eroding customer goodwill.

01Key takeaways

• Treat net retention as a signal to balance against customer trust, not a target to chase at any cost.
• Avoid across-the-board price increases, which average out segments and misprice both high- and low-value buyers.
• Offer add-ons that sit directly adjacent to your core product, and only where you can sustain the market position.
• Bundle capabilities into segment-specific packages so customers buy a solution, raising average selling price and switching costs.
• Use partnerships or acquisitions to add best-in-suite capabilities faster than building everything internally.
• Revisit packaging and pricing regularly, and promote popular add-ons into the core when adoption makes that sensible.

02Key sections

The tension in SaaS valuation

Valuation metrics have shifted toward net retention, pushing companies to cross-sell even though customers expected future innovation to be included in their subscription. This creates friction with the original promise.

Burger King as an analogy

The core burger, fries, upsells, and desserts map onto core product, add-ons, and cross-sells, showing how customers react when offers feel like constant nickel-and-diming.

Three ways to protect retention

Raising prices across the board is rejected as unsegmented. A la carte add-ons can work if they sit adjacent to the core, and bundled combos for specific segments are presented as the strongest option.

Building effective combos

Start from customer segments, build products for their needs, cross-sell to existing users, bundle for new prospects, and periodically fold popular add-ons into the default package.

Keeping packaging current

Packaging and pricing are never finished. Partnerships or acquisitions can fill gaps faster, and product leaders should ignore competitors' moves that do not fit their strategy.

03From the post

“The promise of SaaS is that by paying for a subscription, customers are investing in future innovation of the product which they will get to use with no additional cost.”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.