CohortForge

Automate semester cohorts to predict and prevent student churn waves.

Score: 7.9/10Saudi ArabiaMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

SaaS founders targeting student marketers face crippling low retention as students graduate or lose interest mid-semester, directly killing MRR.

Solution

CohortForge groups your users by enrollment semester, predicts churn spikes via academic calendars, and launches targeted re-engagement campaigns. It stabilizes MRR by smoothing retention across grad cycles. Founders get predictive dashboards and one-click automations.

Target Audience

SaaS founders and product teams building tools for college student marketers

Differentiator

Semester-synced cohorting with AI churn forecasts tailored to college calendars.

Brand Voice

friendly

Features

Cohort Builder

must-have14h

Auto-groups users by semester from imports.

Churn Predictor

must-have18h

Forecasts drop-off based on engagement + calendars.

Campaign Automator

must-have15h

Schedules emails/nudges pre-churn events.

Retention Dashboard

must-have12h

Visualizes cohort health over time.

Data Importer

must-have16h

CSV/API sync for user data.

Custom Nudges

nice-to-have9h

Personalized email sequences.

Export Reports

nice-to-have7h

PDF/CSV retention reports.

Slack Alerts

future12h

Real-time churn warnings.

Total Build Time: 103 hours

Database Schema

accounts

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
saas_nametextNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to supabase auth.users

cohorts

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
account_iduuidNo
semestertextNo
sizeintYes
churn_riskintYes

Relationships:

  • foreign key to accounts.id

campaigns

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
cohort_iduuidNo
typetextNo
statustextNo
sent_countintYes

Relationships:

  • foreign key to cohorts.id

API Endpoints

POST
/api/cohorts

Create cohort from data

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/predictions

Get churn forecasts

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/campaigns

Launch campaign

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/dashboard

Fetch metrics

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14 + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
Backend
Next.js API routes + Supabase Edge Functions
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
Resend (emails)Vercel Analytics

Build Timeline

Week 1: Setup & importer

22h
  • Auth
  • Data sync

Week 2: Cohorting engine

24h
  • Cohort builder
  • Basic viz

Week 3: Predictions & campaigns

26h
  • Churn model
  • Automator

Week 4: Dashboard & LP

20h
  • Full UI
  • Landing

Week 5: Testing & deploy

12h
  • E2E tests
  • Launch

Week 6: Polish

10h
  • Nudges
  • Reports
Total Timeline: 6 weeks • 140 hours

Pricing Tiers

Free

$0/mo

100 users/cohort

  • 3 cohorts
  • Basic predictions

Pro

$30/mo

1k users/cohort

  • Unlimited cohorts
  • Automations
  • Dashboard

Enterprise

$99/mo

Unlimited

  • All + API
  • Custom models
  • Support

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 1602%$36$432
Month 66004%$720$8,640

Unit Economics

$45
CAC
$350
LTV
9%
Churn
91%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 7.8xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Predict & Crush Student Churn Before Graduation Hits

CohortForge syncs with semesters to automate retention—steady MRR guaranteed.

Feature Highlights

Smart cohort grouping
Churn forecasts
Auto-campaigns
Pro dashboards

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'Smoothed our MRR dips perfectly.' - SaaS CEO"
"'Essential for student apps.' - Growth Hacker"

First Three Customers

Share Figma mockups in student SaaS Discords; email founders from AppSumo student tools; free Pro for first feedback loop.

Launch Channels

Product Huntr/indiehackersTwitter #buildinpublicHacker News

SEO Keywords

saas cohort retentionstudent churn predictionsemester user retentionacademic saas analytics

Competitive Analysis

Mixpanel

mixpanel.com
$25+/mo
Strength

Deep analytics

Weakness

No cohort automation

Our Advantage

Student-specific predictions + actions

🏰 Moat Strategy

Proprietary semester churn models from user data

⏰ Why Now?

AI analytics maturing + student creator tools surging

Risks & Mitigation

technicalmedium severity

Prediction accuracy

Mitigation

Rule-based fallback

marketlow severity

Niche too narrow

Mitigation

Broaden to any cohort SaaS

financialmedium severity

Slow ramp

Mitigation

Bootstrap with consulting

Validation Roadmap

pre-build5 days

Land 10 LOIs via LinkedIn

Success: 5 yes

mvp21 days

Onboard 10 betas

Success: 50% retention lift

growth30 days

Affiliate program

Success: 10 referrals

Pivot Options

  • General churn tool
  • Campaign-only platform

Quick Stats

Build Time
140h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$720
Market Size
$300.0M
Features
8
Database Tables
3
API Endpoints
4