Founder @ Valubyl | Product-Led Growth Advisor

Currently building Valubyl: The leading PLG agency for B2B SaaS onboarding and activation.

We’ve helped 30+ B2B SaaS companies turn free signups into paying customers by upgrading their self-serve onboarding experience.

We’ve partnered with world-class PLG teams like Instantly, Signwell, Freckle, Gymdesk, PromptLayer, Rosie... and delivered insane results like:

👉 Databox: activation up from 30% → 48%
👉 Stockpress: free-to-paid conversion up from 10% → 31%

If you want more paying customers from your freemium or free trial, let’s chat.

Feel free to send me a DM, email at yaakov@valubyl.com, or book an intro call with the link above.

Yaakov Carno

Woah, I just went to cancel my Lovable subscription and this blew my mind 🤯 Check out this new plan they surface in their downgrade flow:

For the last few days, I've been debating if I should downgrade. 

It's not that I don't love the product, I do, it's just that a couple of my projects are already live and I don't expect to make big changes for the next few months. 

Paying for a tool that’s just sitting there didn’t feel great.

The only problem is that I didn't want to my live sites to get that "made with Lovable" badge again...

But I decided I'd just downgrade and deal with it.

Then this happened 💸 They hit me with a "Lite" option... 
(and no, you won't find it on their pricing page)

Same 5 credits/day as their free plan, giving you just enough room to make small tweaks... BUT they also allow you to keep all your custom domains and remove Lovable branding.

In so many products, these are the exact levers used to block downgrades and force users to stay on higher plans.

But here... it actually felt like a really thoughtful gesture.

Not sneaky. Not manipulative. Not a 27-step downgrade maze.

AI credits are still new for consumers. This felt like Lovable was saying: 
"Hey there, I totally get that you're still figuring out how to use and budget a tool like this, so here's the perfect way we can keep building together."

And it was actually exactly what I needed.

Whatever happens with these monetization experiments, one thing is clear:

This is a company that's obsessed over what their users want and need, and it shows in every part of their product.

Founder @ Valubyl | PLG activation systems for self-serve B2B SaaS

20 hour journey ahead with our 2 year and 7 month old kiddies. Wish us luck 😬✈️

Goodbye Australia 🇦🇺

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This is what happens when you prioritize removing friction over creating context:

Teams obsess over reducing friction and removing steps, but most of product design challenges are actually about helping people understand.

Users arrive mildly interested and slightly confused about what your product does. If they don't quickly understand what they're looking at or why it matters, they'll just leave.

Making it easier to do confusing things just gets people to leave quicker.

Your goal is to make it to make it obvious why each step matters and how it gets them closer to solving the problem they came for.

That's the best way to speed up time-to-value.

One of the things I love most about what I do is working with incredible teams around the world. The flip side is that most of it ends up being virtual.

Nothing beats working with great people in person.

So good to spend time with the klaro team in Sydney.

Thanks for having me over Niklas Olsson, Kogulan Baskaran, Farley Schaefer!

2026 marks our 4th year building Valubyl. It's been an epic journey working closely with 30+ B2B SaaS companies on PLG, and a real privilege partnering with industry leaders like Instantly, Databox, Signwell, Freckle, and many more.

In theory, self-serve onboarding should be easier than ever. AI can guide, generate, explain...
But in reality, activation has become even more fragile.

Products are more powerful. AI started showing up everywhere.

And yet most onboarding experiences still struggle to make that power feel concrete. We’re in an abstract phase of AI adoption where capability has moved faster than understanding.

Teams are struggling to onboard people into AI-powered products, and the old playbooks aren’t holding up.

What’s interesting is that our niche hasn’t changed at all.

We’re still focused on product-led, self-serve SaaS. Still obsessed with onboarding, activation, and getting people to real value.

But how we work, and how much of the outcome we’re able to own, has changed a lot.

Over the last few years, it’s become obvious that activation is a real and painful challenge for teams, from super early-stage companies to PLG leaders at scale.

We see the same outcomes again and again: users signing up with intent but never reaching value, onboarding that’s missing or vague, and teams left guessing where momentum actually breaks.

So heading into year four, we’re evolving in a very intentional way. Same hyper-niche, just much deeper execution.

We’re taking ownership of activation systems across onboarding, lifecycle, and monetization. Not just advising, but helping teams actually build, connect, and run them.

And alongside that, we’re going to start sharing a lot more of the work itself.

Not so much polished thought leadership. No hot takes.

Real, practical assets pulled straight from client work. The stuff teams are actually struggling with right now: making value obvious, shortening time-to-value, fixing quiet drop-offs, and turning self-serve usage into something that sustains a business.

Same core belief as always: product value is the growth strategy.

Value first, revenue follows.

If you’ve followed along so far, thank you! 😁
If you’re new here, welcome 👋

Happy 2026!

User activation is completely different for AI products. 

In traditional PLG, activation followed a familiar path: 

Setup → Aha → Habit. 

You helped the user get started, reach their first moment of value, and eventually form a repeatable pattern of success. 

Today, activation happens inside a continuous conversational cycle: 

Prompt → Context → Output → Action → Habit. 

Each stage feeds the next. Each interaction teaches the system, and the user, what to expect. 

What used to be setup and “aha” moments now happen almost simultaneously, the second a user starts typing. 

Let's break it down: 

👉 Prompt: The new “signup” 
This is where users declare intent. A great prompt experience helps them express what they want without friction or doubt. 

👉 Context: The hidden setup. 
Some products infer it from behavior or connected data; others still ask explicit onboarding questions to better personalize results. Both paths work if they make the outcome more relevant. 

👉 Output: The moment of truth. 
The first result must be both impressive and useful. “Wow” gets attention, but relevance drives retention. 

👉 Action: The bridge. 
The most important first step in the actual product. Real activation happens when users apply what they got: editing, publishing, sharing, or integrating it into their workflow. 

👉 Habit: The loop compounds. 
Each prompt teaches the system and the user, tightening trust and shortening time-to-value. 

The first principles of activation haven't changed. 
Time-to-value and retention are still the critical metrics.

✅ And the goal remains: help users reach value, quickly and repeatedly, in a meaningful way that keeps them coming back.

What's changed is how that value is delivered. 

And AI products need to adapt.

Growth at Lyssna

With expertise honed in growth and performance marketing, my role as a Growth Marketing Specialist focuses on leveraging product analytics to drive user acquisition and retention. At the core of my competencies lies a deep understanding of user research, enabling tailored strategies that resonate with target audiences and optimize conversion rates. My efforts are instrumental in elevating startups to new heights through data-driven insights and innovative marketing tactics.

The intersection of creativity and analytical prowess defines my approach to performance marketing. Collaborating across disciplines, we've shaped dynamic campaigns that captivate and convert, evidencing the power of meticulous planning and adaptation in the fast-paced tech landscape. My mission remains steadfast: to deliver growth that not only meets but exceeds startup expectations, fostering a culture of success and continuous improvement.

Ruben Lozano

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: Bridge for Billions certified mentor from Bridge for Billions!

I am so proud of this announcement. I have working hard every year to be able to apply for this important mission.

Time to help people to grow: https://lnkd.in/eFd7ZUd4

#GrowthMentor
#GrowthMindset
#LearningByDoing

Say 👋 to the 20 new mentors who joined GrowthMentor in December.

This month’s group has scaled SaaS to $50M ARR, led product and GTM at LinkedIn and Instagram, and built and exited bootstrapped companies.

They’re here to help founders and marketers get unstuck from SEO and performance marketing to pricing, monetization, product strategy, and sales.

Check out their profiles + book a call: https://lnkd.in/dCrcSVCd

Welcome aboard 👇

Anastasia Kotsiubynska
Chris Dankowski
Daniel Layfield
Fabrizio Erra
Jamie Boyle
Jehan Lalkaka
Josh Boone
Mark Mukhin
Nick Malekos
Palu Phillips
Patrick Nancarrow
Patrick Sweny
Ruben Lozano
Sebastian U.
Shalev Morag
Sjors van den Dries
Stelios Constantinidis
Stephanie Reese
Yariv Drori
Zach Yungst

#PeopleHelpingPeople

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: Top 50 Mentor from adplist.org!

#GrowthMentor
#MarketingMentor
#TopMentor

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: 3000 Mentorship Minutes from adplist.org!

#GrowthMentor
#MarketingMentor
#TopMentor

🗞️  Paid Advertising is evolving...
Paid Search is changing and slowly decreasing performance in most of the markets and industries because a) the users are changing their research behaviours, and b) the platforms are changing the user experience and the user interface.

Google Ads was losing revenue after many accounts were underperforming, so we changed the budget strategy to diversify into different growth channels. That was a note for Google Ads, but also for Perplexity and OpenAI, and it is just a question of time before those platforms will adapt the experience to add ads.

Now this is becoming a reality. I am looking forward to starting testing all these new platforms and placements.

https://lnkd.in/erkxbFxU

#PaidAdvertising
#LLMsAds
#Marketing

Open article: OpenAI to begin testing ads in ChatGPT's free tier by perplexity.ai

OpenAI to begin testing ads in ChatGPT's free tier

Great time to discuss what will happen in 2026. I think by far this is going to be the most important year for many of us.

Worth attending as many live events as you can to learn from industry leaders.

#Lyssna
#LivePanel
#Research

In 2026, research leaders are being asked to:

👉 Prove impact faster
👉 Scale practice without losing quality
👉 Integrate AI responsibly
👉 Keep research relevant in high-pressure decision environments

That tension is real – and it’s exactly what we’re unpacking in our upcoming live panel.

Lyssna CEO, Mateja Milosavljevic, will be joined by:

✅ Julian Della Mattia, Senior User Insights Manager at DuckDuckGo 
✅ Nikki Anderson, Founder of Drop In Research

This isn’t a trend talk. It’s an honest, peer-to-peer conversation about:
🤷‍♂️ What’s actually helping research get used in decisions
🤷‍♂️ How leaders are demonstrating ROI without oversimplifying the work
🤷‍♂️ Where AI is genuinely adding value – and where it isn’t

If you lead research, support research teams, or are growing into leadership, you’ll leave with practical ideas you can apply immediately.

👉 Register now and join us live - https://loom.ly/pyaTQxQ

#lyssna #ux #uxchallenges #2026 #research #uxresearch #userresearch

This is going to be a big change in the paid advertising area for growth marketing managers.

#ChatGPTAds
#Growth
#Experiments

ChatGPT has officially announced ads.
A major shift in the business model of the world’s leading AI assistant, used by 800M+ people every week.

Here's what you need to do to prepare for it & the tool that'll help:
https://lnkd.in/eNDfejvX

G2 has acquired Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice in a strategic move to dominate the B2B market review space. 

As AI continues to disrupt the research process, G2 is experiencing a decline in traffic, a significant revenue stream. However, G2 is making substantial efforts to remain relevant in the research landscape. This acquisition is expected to facilitate its goal of market dominance in reviews.

We will see how this will impact and benefit the users we already have in G2.

#B2BReview
#G2
#ResearchProcess

taplio

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The Battle

Yaakov Carno

Ruben Lozano

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Yaakov Carno's LinkedIn Performance

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