Public feed vs private inner room: a retention sequencing model

Public feed vs private inner room: a retention sequencing model

Most operators open both at once. Members then can't tell which room is 'theirs', so neither retains.

Sequence them by member maturity instead.

The model — The Two-Room Ladder:
☐ Public room = acquisition and proof. Open, indexed, low commitment. Job: convert lurker to first reply.
☐ Private room = retention. Gated by one action (intro post, first contribution). Job: convert reply to habit.

When to use which:
— Public-only if you're under 500 members and still finding your topic.
— Add private when your public room has a repeat-poster core of 20+ you can name.

The tradeoff: a private room raises retention of insiders but starves your public funnel of energy if you move the best people out too early.

Rule: the inner room opens when the outer room can survive losing its top 20 voices.

Save this for your next launch.