About Matt Epstein
Operator. Advisor. Author.
I've spent two decades inside the membership businesses everyone studies: building them, scaling them, and learning what actually makes people stay.
The Story
Two decades inside the member's world.
Amazon
My membership education started at Amazon, working on Prime as it grew into one of the world's most influential membership programs: Prime member growth, Prime Music, Prime Day, and the expansion of Prime Now and Amazon Fresh. I watched one promise get stronger every time a new benefit, event, or service plugged into it. The lesson has never left me: members behave differently when the value is undeniable, and decisions made in one corner of the business compound everywhere else over time.
SiriusXM
At SiriusXM, I helped build and scale the standalone streaming business, reshaping the proposition and the member experience for an app-first world. We executed hard and well, and it taught me an uncomfortable truth: strong execution cannot indefinitely compensate for a value proposition that has reached its ceiling. When growth stalls, the honest question is rarely about the funnel. It's about the promise.
Walmart+
At Walmart+, I led member experience, engagement, and retention at scale. Operating membership for millions of households taught me that the renewal is never a date on the calendar. You earn it every day, in every interaction.
Today
Today, I'm a Partner and Growth & Go-to-Market leader at LF Partners, an advisor to recurring-revenue businesses, the founder of Member Growth, and the author of Mastering Membership. Different seats, same work: helping membership businesses grow as one system.
Why Membership Growth
One operating system, not isolated tactics.
Working across product, marketing, pricing, engagement, retention, P&L ownership, and cross-functional leadership led me to one conviction: membership businesses don't fail for lack of effort or data. They fail because acquisition, onboarding, engagement, and retention are run as separate problems by separate teams.
The framework that emerged from that experience is the Membership Flywheel: nine connected stages, run as one system, with clear ownership and the input metrics that actually drive growth. It's how I think, and it's how I work.
How I Work
A practical operator mindset.
Systems over silver bullets
No single tactic fixes a membership. Durable growth comes from how the whole journey works together.
Input metrics over vanity outputs
Churn is a lagging indicator. The work is in the inputs: activation, engagement depth, early risk signals.
Member value before retention tactics
You cannot save your way to loyalty. Retention is earned by value delivered, not by cancellation flows.
Cross-functional ownership
The member journey crosses every team. Growth requires one map, clear owners, and shared priorities.
Testing and continuous improvement
The Flywheel is never finished. Small, compounding improvements beat big-bang relaunches.
Outside of work, I spend time with my family, hike, cook, and see as much live music as I can.
Let's Talk
Let's talk about your business.
If you're building, fixing or scaling a membership business, I'd be happy to compare notes.