Good analogy for finasteride and minoxidil.
Think of your hair follicle as a person on fire.
Taking Finasteride is like putting out the fire, taking minoxidil is like giving the person medical attention.
If you only put out the fire, then the person doesn't get any worse but is still injured. He can either get somewhat better naturally if the fire wasn't too strong (Regrowth on finasteride) or not get burned any worse and stabilize. Sometimes, this isn't enough and the person still keeps getting worse if the fire wasn't put out completely/too much damage was caused.
If you only give him medical attention and don't put out the fire, You're fighting an uphill battle, where you try to out-heal the damage the fire is causing. It's technically possible but not as effective.
If you do both, the person has the best chance of not only surviving, but improving.
I just see people asking questions like "can I maintain on minoxidil" or "can I regrow on finasteride" and I thought this simple analogy might help.