For 12 years, Andrei managed the Rebrov infrastructure and surgery at Scentbird, perfume subscriptions he co -founded in 2013. He learned the importance of obtaining the right subscribers, those who remain for a while and create lifelong value for business.
The key, as he says, was the exact, timely analyst for evaluating channels, creativity and promo. Finsi, his new company, provides these metrics and allows traders to predict the value of the prospect in the long run.
In our recent conversation, I asked Andrei to share the tactics of acquisitions, avoiding outflows, choosing products and more.
Our whole sound dialog is inserted below. The transcription is modified for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: Tell our listeners who you are and what you are doing.
Andrei Rebrov: I am a co -founder of Finsi, an analytical platform for subscription -based businesses, running in 2024. We help companies to get and maintain profitable subscribers.
Previously, I spent 12 years building and scaling the Scentbird, a subscription of perfumes where I served as a CTO.
I have managed most of the engineering, including website coding, back-off systems and online payments and stock infrastructure management. We started in August 2014 and by the end of 2024 we exceeded 1 million subscribers. I left the company in March 2025.
We started the Scentbird along with pioneers of subscriptions such as cosmetic brands IPSY and BIRCHBOX, and Fabletics clothing provider. We were inspired by the Warby Parker’s “Try Try Frow You Buy” and we applied this concept to the fragrance. We have built our own platform that has provided us with flexibility and scalability over the years.
We started with smells from other brands. Some hesitated, but over time, Scentbird has become a mutually beneficial partner, which allowed the brands to access the younger audience, online shoppers and consumers who wanted to try before they committed to a full bottle. The motto of our site happened: “The date of your scent before you take it.”
Customers could choose their monthly fragrance or get the default “moon fragrance”. Thousands have chosen the default value and enabled rapid collection of reviews and knowledge that could use brands to refine formulas, marketing copies and strategies.
Subscription businesses require that the cost of acquisition is in place. The challenge is not just a reduction in the outflow; It is the acquisition of customers who will remain. Most SAAS companies separate teams of acquisitions and maintaining that can create disconnects. Success comes from cooperation – reconciliation, maintaining and operation – so the whole society works as one system. Increasing customer acquisition expenditure is usually useful if this improves lifelong value.
We were vertically integrated, which meant that performance, logistics and marketing had to move together. If one team surpassed the other, something would break quickly.
Bandholz: What does the profitable acquisition control?
Rebrov: Exact analytics. It is one of the most difficult parts of the operation of a subscription to the business and is a big reason why I started FINSI. We invested in Scentbird soon in analytics, because each acquisition channel behaves differently. Each of them has its own lifelong value, return period and acquisition costs, so their analysis was independently necessary.
We had to understand what customers had purchased through each channel and how these purchases affected retention. Traditional LTV calculations rely on historical data that is usually dated. This delay makes it impossible to know if current strategies work. To solve this, we have created predictive models of LTV that provided timely information – often within one month – so we could assess the impact of new creative and tests A/B faster.
For example, we tested the plan of two products for months. Initially, it reduced the level of conversion, but predictive data revealed a much stronger long -term value. This insight helped justify the warehouse adjustment for the new performance process.
We have explored various channels for getting customers. Tiktok shops have become the best artist. Since it integrated only through Shopify, we created a shop with Faceless Shopify connected to Tiktoku, directing it over it and supplying samples of packages to introduce the Scentbird experience before converting them to subscribers.
We inherited long -term subscribers who rewarded loyalty. Some remained seven or eight years old, although many of them spewed within 12 months. Early and accurate analysts made it possible to effectively balance growth and maintaining.
Bandholz: What size society benefits from the analytics of FINSI?
Rebrov: It is less of size and more about the growth phase. Each phase faces different challenges. One of the largest is cash flow. Each physical SKU has its own delivery time, so if the stock lasts three months, companies must accurately predict demand, spew and cash flow. For the early phase brands, persons with an annual income below $ 10 million, we help stabilize operations and predict cash needs.
Segmentation of $ 10 to $ 50 million is becoming decisive: identification of sunken customers for personal backs and high -value customers in time to offer premium experience.
The $ 50 to $ 150 million focuses on the removal of surprises and harmonizing systems, ensuring that promotion is going properly and teams understand how one decision affects the other. Larger brands often spread to new product lines and again face the same scaling problems. In all stages, success depends on the exact and unified data that controls smarter decisions.
Effective maintenance depends on the understanding of why customers cancel.
Bandholz: How are you doing?
Rebrov: We usually start surveys to collect structured and unstructured feedback. Question questions with more options provide quantifiable knowledge, but the actual value lies in the answers to the open ends where customers share their personal stories. Surveys allow you to effectively reach thousands of people, but telephone conversations are invaluable. Talking directly to customers often reveals unique motivations and cases of use that cause creativity and product development.
Spend 30 minutes of phone with several customers, especially loyal, can reveal more knowledge than the analyst could ever.
Some products naturally suit the subscription. Examples are consumer accessories, protein powders and refreshments. However, goods rarely are more suitable for one -time sale.
Companies must decide soon because it forms their marketing strategy. For traditional electronic trade, profitability often depends on the first sale. The aim is to cover acquisitions, goods and transport costs in advance, often by selling packages.
For subscriptions, the focus will be moved to lifelong value. Sellers can afford to lose money initially if they know that the customer will stay long enough to become profitable. Predictive LTV helps to qualify customers in time and informs how much you can spend on obtaining them.
Simplicity wins. Do not confuse prospects with multiple shopping trips or offers. Ensure that the “Preparation and Storage” offer is consistent and easy to understand.
The beauty of the subscription lies in the predictable cash flow. Yet rising acquisition costs are becoming increasingly important.
Bandholz: Where can people watch, address you or hire your services?
Rebrov: Our page is FINSI.AI. I’m on LinkedIn.
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