Ravi Mehta knows the consumer monetization business better than most. During his time as Chief Product Officer at Tinder, he helped shape the multi-tier subscription system that redefined how consumer apps grow and earn. Now he works with startups as a hands-on advisor, helping them fine-tune pricing, onboarding, and product strategy.
This week on the Sub Club podcast, we talked with Ravi about why subscriptions and consumables work better together, how to design pricing that meets users where they are, and why your onboarding might need to get longer (or shorter).
Filling the demand curve
Ravi’s “famous chart” from his time at Tinder has become a benchmark for understanding consumer willingness to pay. By layering multiple subscription tiers with à la carte purchases, Tinder found ways to serve users across the full demand curve, from casual free users to high-value “whales.” The lesson: there’s money left on both sides of a single-tier subscription.
Free to play, not free to fail
Tinder’s biggest breakthrough was the decision to go free. Opening access built the network effects that make the product work, while consumables and premium tiers monetized the subset of users who wanted more. As Ravi explains, “subscription tiers are force multipliers for microtransactions.”
Long or short onboarding?
Working with healthcare startup Sesame Care, Ravi found that expanding a three-step signup to twenty-five steps increased conversion by 40%. But the same rule doesn’t apply everywhere. Tinder’s success came from stripping onboarding down to seconds. The key is knowing when friction builds confidence and when it kills it.
Narratives over numbers
Ravi also shared his framework for goal setting, NCTs (Narratives, Commitments, and Tasks), a simple alternative to OKRs that keeps teams focused on the why, what, and how of their work. And when it comes to growth, his advice is clear: don’t chase vanity metrics; build systems that create lasting value and predictable revenue.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the topics we covered in our conversation with Ravi. To hear more on monetization strategy, onboarding psychology, and how to build products users love to pay for, check out this week’s episode of the Sub Club podcast.