Lead Magnet Strategy
The calculator reveals the pain. The pain sells the platform.
The Trojan Horse
Builders underestimate what rebuilding common infrastructure costs them. The Stack Tax Calculator quantifies the hidden bill — auth, payments, compliance — in months and dollars. They calculate their own pain. The platform is the answer they reach themselves.
Auth takes 3 months
"I built auth again and lost a quarter"
Payments take 2 months
"Stripe integration always surprises us"
Compliance + data takes 4 months
"We're still not fully compliant"
| Format | Opt-in | Effort | Virality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive calculator | 15-25% | HIGH | HIGH | Primary |
| Open-source repo | 10-15% | MEDIUM | HIGH | Secondary |
| Checklist/template | 10-15% | LOW | MEDIUM | Not planned |
| Guide/ebook | 5-10% | MEDIUM | LOW | Not planned |
| Webinar | 20-30% | HIGH | LOW | After case studies |
Stack Tax Calculator Blueprint
"Find out exactly how many months your team spends rebuilding what already exists — in 10 minutes."
Current stack
What you're building on today
Time spent
Months per capability rebuilt from scratch
Cost calculator
Team size, day rate, opportunity cost
What's built
Which capabilities already exist in the platform
Gap analysis
What you'd recover by switching
Output: stack tax total (months + $), gap summary, top 3 wins from adopting the platform, link to architecture deep-dive.
Your Stack Tax: [COST]/mo in hidden build time
Direct — here's what you're paying
Why auth alone costs most SaaS builders 3 months
Helpful, not selling
How [segment] teams eliminated the stack tax
Evidence-based
Explorer tier — everything pre-built, nothing rebuilt
Clear ask, limited slots
Conversion Funnel
| Stage | Metric | Target | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | Page visits | 200/mo | — |
| Start | Begin calculator | 50% of visits | 40-60% |
| Complete | Finish all sections | 70% of starts | 50-70% |
| Capture | Email submitted | 80% of completes | 60-80% |
| Engage | Open Email 1 | 60% | 40-50% |
| Convert | Book discovery call | 5% of captures | 2-5% |
| Close | Join Explorer tier | 30% of calls | 20-40% |
All projected. Zero actual data.
Phased Rollout
Calculator questions + scoring logic
Interactive calculator page
10 beta completions from network
Public launch on GitHub + LinkedIn
Track full funnel
Pre-Build Scorecard
Target: 35+/50. Score: 37/50.
Questions
If the calculator is compelling enough to self-serve, does the Explorer tier become unnecessary?
- Which channel converts first — GitHub stars or LinkedIn posts?
- At what completion rate should the calculator be shortened?
- Does quantifying the stack tax build urgency or produce denial?