Is chasing retention harder than acquiring your first users?

In the early days, every new account felt like a major milestone. But once revenue kicked in, watching an active subscriber downgrade or cancel stings far worse than a visitor bouncing from the landing page.

Digging into exit surveys, churn rarely happens because of bugs or missing features. Users leave simply because the product hasn't become a daily habit.

Does the anxiety around churn ever actually go away, or does the feedback loop just become second nature?