> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.highailabs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Personas & Customer Journey

> Who sits in each tier (Guest, Free, Pro, and the future Studio), how they discover the product, and the realistic journey from first SEO click through free account and 7-day trial to paying subscriber.

<Note>
  **Status:** Decided — July 3, 2026 (personas kept; funnel and LTV math rebuilt)
  **Model of record:** [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy) — Guest / Free / **Pro $12.99/mo, $99.99/yr, 7-day trial**. Studio is a v4.0 concept; Studio personas below describe future upgrade targets, not launch buyers.
  **Companion docs:** [Rollout Plan](/planning/pricing/rollout-plan) | [Revenue Projections](/planning/pricing/revenue-projections)
</Note>

## Why this page exists

Pricing without personas is just numbers. To know whether the tiers are priced right, you have to know *who* sits in each tier, *why* they pay, and *how they got there*. This page maps personas to the launch tiers and walks the journey from "never heard of High IQ" to paying evangelist.

<Warning>
  **Corrected from the earlier draft:** this model **does** have a free logged-in tier — Free (stash, favorites, manual order upload) is central to the journey, not eliminated. The old "90–92% bounce at a hard paywall / 6–8% pay directly" funnel is replaced with the trial-based funnel from [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy): install → trial 8–12%, trial → paid 35–50%, net install → paid 3–5%.
</Warning>

***

## The personas

### Guest — Casey the Curious

| Trait              | Value                                                                  |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Cannabis behavior  | Casual or occasional consumer                                          |
| Spend / month      | \$0-100                                                                |
| Cares about        | Quick lookups, "what does this strain do?"                             |
| Touchpoint         | TIWIH website via SEO ("Blue Dream effects", "best strains for sleep") |
| Friction tolerance | Very low — won't sign up just to read                                  |
| Conversion target  | Create a Free account within 30 days of repeat visits                  |

**Casey's behavior:**

* Lands on a strain detail page from Google
* Reads, scans the label of something at the dispensary, listens to the soundtrack
* May come back 2-5 times for different lookups
* Eventually wants to *save* something they liked → that's the **Free-account** moment, not a paywall

**Why Casey creates a Free account:** saving a favorite or tracking a stash item costs nothing — just an account. Zero dollars, low friction, and now their data lives in High IQ.

**Why Casey doesn't:** privacy concerns, doesn't trust apps with cannabis data, a free alternative (Leafly) is "good enough," or cannabis is too small a part of their life to track.

***

### Free — Fiona the Tracker

| Trait             | Value                                                |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Cannabis behavior | Semi-regular consumer starting to be intentional     |
| Spend / month     | \$50-150                                             |
| Cares about       | Remembering what worked; not paying for anything yet |
| Touchpoint        | Converted Guest, or App Store search                 |
| Cost to us        | \~\$0.02-0.10/mo (storage/sync only — no AI access)  |
| Conversion target | Start a 7-day Pro trial within 30-60 days            |

**Fiona's behavior:**

* Tracks a small stash, saves favorites, uploads the occasional order manually
* Generates basic share cards — **Free users are the virality engine**
* Keeps bumping into Pro-gated moments: "analyze this order," Stats Dashboard previews, Suggest Strain

**Why Fiona starts the trial:** she has weeks of her own data in the app, and the trial promises to do something with it (first AI Notebook on a strain she actually owns). The 7-day trial means the \$12.99 question is deferred until after the product proves itself.

**Why Fiona never converts:** tracking alone satisfies her; that's fine — she costs pennies and her share cards recruit the next Casey.

***

### Pro — Pat the Patron

| Trait             | Value                                                                |
| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Cannabis behavior | Regular, intentional consumer                                        |
| Spend / month     | \$100-300 on cannabis products                                       |
| Cares about       | Tracking patterns, automating data entry, AI insights without effort |
| Touchpoint        | TIWIH SEO + word-of-mouth + share cards                              |
| Lifestyle         | Busy professional or parent with consistent habits                   |
| LTV               | See blended LTV below (\~\$130-150 gross)                            |

**Pat's behavior:**

* Buys from one or two regular dispensaries
* Wants Gmail Sync to auto-import orders without typing
* Generates a Notebook on every new strain
* Checks Stats Dashboard monthly

**What converts Pat during the trial week:**

* Gmail order sync backfills their history in minutes (Historical Import is **included in Pro with usage caps** — no extra purchase decision)
* First AI Notebook on a strain they actually have
* Stats Dashboard showing where their money goes
* Receipt parsing (snap a photo, done)

**Pat's plan choice:** starts monthly at $12.99; the annual push (25-35% target mix) moves committed Pats to $99.99/yr.

***

### Studio personas — Sam the Specialist (v4.0, future)

<Info>
  **Not launch buyers.** Studio (\$19.99/mo) ships in v4.0, 12+ months post-launch. These five sub-personas are kept because they define who Studio will be built for — and at launch they are simply **high-engagement Pro subscribers**. The [AI Copilot](/planning/pricing/ai-copilot) concept that anchored them is likewise a future concept, not a current plan.
</Info>

| Sub-persona                         | Who                              | Why they'd upgrade to Studio (v4.0)                                                    |
| ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **The Industry Insider**            | Budtender, brand rep, cultivator | Multi-menu cross-analysis and research as work tools; tax-deductible; very low churn   |
| **The Medical Patient / Caregiver** | Treating pain, anxiety, sleep    | Long-memory tracking of what worked and unlimited research; loyal, refers care circles |
| **The Heavy Spender**               | \$500-2,000+/mo consumer         | \$19.99 is rounding error against their spend; converts fast                           |
| **The Content Creator**             | Cannabis YouTube/TikTok/IG       | AI media to post + vanity referral URL; highest-leverage acquisition channel           |
| **The Connoisseur**                 | Cultivar/terpene enthusiast      | Deep research, novel strains, premium content                                          |

At launch, the job is to get all five **into Pro** and observe which Pro features they max out — that data sets Studio's v4.0 feature split.

***

### Founder — Frankie the First-In (early evangelist, recruited with perks)

| Trait       | Value                                                                                               |
| ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Demographic | Connected, vocal, networked early adopter                                                           |
| Offer       | **Non-pricing perks only:** founder badge, early access, direct line to the founder / product input |
| Pays        | Standard Pro ($12.99/mo or $99.99/yr) — same as everyone                                            |
| Role        | Launch social proof and evangelism — **never a pricing play**                                       |

Frankie loves being early, posts unprompted, and gives the launch social proof. Recruit a handful directly (cannabis Reddit voices, podcast hosts) rather than waiting — with recognition perks, not discounts. **The Founders lifetime offer is cancelled — no lifetime products of any kind (founder decision, July 2026).** The earlier plan — 600 Founders units, $499 Studio lifetimes, 30% lifetime rev-share, $149K launch cash — was already retired as unrealistic at \~10 website visitors/day, and its per-unit economics were net-negative anyway (see [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy)).

***

## The customer journey

The realistic path from stranger to evangelist under the launch model. Rates come from the canonical funnel in [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy).

<Steps>
  <Step title="Stage 0 — Stranger">
    Searches Google for cannabis info. **Trigger:** lands on a TIWIH SEO page. (Current reality check: \~10 visitors/day — growing this is the binding constraint on everything downstream.)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 1 — Guest Browser">
    Reads a strain page, maybe scans a label, listens to a soundtrack. Zero friction, no account. **Trigger:** returns for another lookup. Visitor → install runs \~1-2%.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 2 — Free Account (the save moment)">
    Wants to remember a strain or track a purchase. Creates a **free** account — no paywall here. Starts building stash, favorites, manual orders, share cards. This investment is the upgrade hook: they now have data they don't want to lose.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 3 — Trial Start (8-12% of installs)">
    A Pro-gated moment (analyze my order, Stats Dashboard, Suggest Strain) meets accumulated personal data. Starts the **7-day free trial** — a deferred decision, not a credit-card cliff.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 4 — The Trial Week (make-or-break)">
    Day 1: Gmail sync / Historical Import (capped) backfills their history; first AI Notebook on a strain they own. Day 3: Stats Dashboard nudge. Day 5-6: trial-ending reminder with their own week's insights. **35-50% of trials convert** — this week is the single highest-leverage surface in the product.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 5 — New Pro Subscriber (months 1-3)">
    Net install → paid lands at 3-5%. Early churn is the danger: 6-8%/mo in the first months, targeting 5% at steady state. Retention levers: weekly summary, badge/rankings progression, annual-plan offer (25-35% mix target).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 6 — Habit Formation (months 3-12)">
    Logs orders weekly, generates Notebooks, checks stats, shares cards, refers 1-2 friends. Annual conversion happens here.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 7 — Power User → Studio candidate (v4.0)">
    Maxes out Pro. When Studio ships in v4.0, these users see AI-media previews below their reports and become the upgrade cohort. No upgrade-rate assumption is baked into Year-1 revenue — targets get set from observed preview engagement.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 8 — Evangelist / Founder">
    A small subset becomes public advocates (Reddit, podcasts, YouTube). The Founders perks program (founder badge, early access, direct line to the founder — no lifetime pricing) is aimed exactly here. Identify and amplify them — feature them, give them product input.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Blended LTV (the CAC ceiling for partnership spend)

**Assumptions (stated so they can be checked against real cohorts):**

* Mix: 70% monthly ($12.99) / 30% annual ($99.99 ≈ $8.33/mo) → blended ARPU ≈ **$11.60/mo gross\*\*
* Churn: **6%/mo blended** at steady state, with heavier churn in months 1-3 → effective average lifetime \~11-13 months (not the naive 16.7 months that flat 6% implies)
* Take rates: Apple 30% in each subscriber's first year (15% only if Small Business Program enrollment is confirmed), RevenueCat \~1%, refund leak 2-5%

| Measure                                                   | Value                                     |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Blended gross LTV**                                     | **\~\$130-150**                           |
| **Blended net LTV** (after Apple / RevenueCat / refunds)  | **\~\$95-115**                            |
| AI serving cost over lifetime (≤\$2.50/mo cap)            | \~\$28-33 (subtract for contribution LTV) |
| **Blended contribution LTV** (net LTV − lifetime AI cost) | **\~\$65-85**                             |

Implication: there are **no paid ads — founder decision, full stop** (not a platform-policy artifact). The CAC ceiling at a 3:1 LTV:CAC discipline must come off **contribution LTV**, not net LTV: \~$65-85 / 3 ≈ **$20-29 per acquired subscriber\*\*. That ceiling governs influencer-partnership spend (creator gifting, sponsorships) if that spend is ever used — see Stage 2 of [Revenue Projections](/planning/pricing/revenue-projections). The old draft's \~$330 blended LTV assumed 3% churn, $19.99 Studio buyers, and Founders rev-share flywheels; none of that is in the launch model.

***

## What each persona pays — at a glance

| Persona                 | Tier                      | Pays                   | Notes                                                                                                                |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Casey the Curious       | Guest                     | \$0                    | Acquisition layer                                                                                                    |
| Fiona the Tracker       | Free                      | \$0                    | Habit + share-card virality layer; costs pennies                                                                     |
| Pat the Patron          | Pro                       | $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr | Historical Import included (capped); \~\$130-150 gross LTV                                                           |
| Sam the Specialist (×5) | Pro today, Studio at v4.0 | \$12.99/mo now         | \$19.99/mo upgrade path ships with AI media                                                                          |
| Frankie the First-In    | Pro (early evangelist)    | $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr | Recruited with perks (founder badge, early access, direct input); Founders lifetime cancelled — no lifetime products |

***

## Related

* [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy) — Model of record, funnel assumptions, unit economics
* [Rollout Plan](/planning/pricing/rollout-plan) — Phase 0 through Studio v4.0
* [Revenue Projections](/planning/pricing/revenue-projections) — Stage-based scenarios built on this funnel
* [Tier Comparison](/planning/pricing/tier-comparison) — Canonical feature-by-tier matrix