High growth SaaS startups often think they have it all figured out. They nail product market fit, staff up a go to market team, and grow to several million in ARR. The path ahead seems clear...until churn begins to smack them in the face.

Suddenly, customers begin leaving and cancelling at a faster rate than expected. Hysteria often sets in. Sales people blame the product for not delivering. Product teams blame customer success for not onboarding. Customer success points back to sales for targeting the wrong customer. Marketing begins to worry about reputational effects.

Addressing churn requires a holistic understanding of the root causes and an integrated approach to improvement. It's a common mistake to throw the task to the customer success team, but the issue is really as big as the company itself. It can be terrifying to face down churn, but once you understand the patterns behind it, developing the developing the appropriate response becomes much easier.