Death by papercuts
A common trend I see in product development is where a product gains its initial attention for holding a high bar in its craft and principles. This tends to attract people because the product feels cleaner, more focused, or higher quality compared to similar products.
When the product eventually finds its market fit, scaling the product rapidly becomes the focus of new development. Growth tactics often overtake feature refinement as the development priority. As a result, the feeling of a ‘principled product’ is slowly eroded.
Instead of the user intention always being the priority of the interface, the user is bombarded with UI that represents the business intention. I don’t need to give examples of this because you have more than likely seen this happen in multiple products that you have used and loved, eventually replacing them with something newer that starts the cycle all over.
It might feel this process can not be avoided when business intentions become the priority, but I believe to some degree it can. One product I worked on that held its principles really well is WhatsApp. Up until the founders left the company, they were relentless in keeping the product free of upsells and growth strategies that tried to influence the user. WhatsApp was scaling aggressively and I often point to this as part of the reason why it grew so rapidly. A product should treat you like a friend, not a salesperson.
The best way to avoid death by papercuts is to integrate your growth strategies early on by building them into the value of the product. Set limitations as to what is acceptable in the user experience. Knowing your boundaries and how to grow the product within them will make you more focused and deliver even more clear value for your users.
At the end of the day, if your users feel respected and happy, they won’t have an unnecessary reason to leave if a competitor comes along with a new product trying to persuade them away.