Pillar · Acquisition
Acquisition. Top of the funnel.
Channels, paid and organic, top-of-funnel growth — how compounding companies bring the first user in the door.
Acquisition Channels
Thirty-three ways to get the right people in the door — each classified by what it costs, how fast it reads, and the stage it fits. A map for deciding which channels are worth testing.
Browse all channels →Acquisition · Essay forthcoming
Top of the funnel. Channels, paid and organic, top-of-funnel growth — how compounding companies bring the first user in the door. The full essay for this pillar is being written. In the meantime, the indexed studies and writing below sit underneath it.
Studies
Studies in this pillar. 29 indexed.
№ 01HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Flywheel — HubSpot.6M+monthly blog visitorsHubSpot№ 02Duolingo's TikTok-Fueled Growth — Duolingo.88MMAU (Q4 2023)Duolingo№ 03Airbnb's Craigslist Cross-Posting Hack — Airbnb.10xlisting growth (2009-2011)Airbnb№ 04Canva's Template-Driven SEO Engine — Canva.170M+monthly active usersCanva№ 05LinkedIn's Profile-as-SEO-Page Strategy — LinkedIn.900M+membersLinkedIn№ 06Calendly's Scheduling Link as Growth Loop — Calendly.10M+usersCalendly№ 07Zillow's Zestimate as SEO Moat — Zillow.220M+monthly unique usersZillow№ 08Loom's Shared Video as Acquisition Channel — Loom.25M+usersLoom№ 09Peloton's Content + Community Retention Flywheel — Peloton.92%12-month retention ratePeloton№ 10Twilio's Usage-Based Developer-First Pricing — Twilio.$3.8Brevenue (2023)Twilio№ 11MongoDB's Open-Source to Atlas Cloud Transition — MongoDB.$1.7Brevenue (FY 2024)MongoDB№ 12Morning Brew's Merch-Tiered Referral Program — Morning Brew.4M+subscribersMorning Brew№ 13Harry's Pre-Launch Waitlist Referral Campaign — Harry's.100Kemails in one weekHarry's№ 14Notion's Template Community as SEO Engine — Notion.100M+users (2024)Notion№ 15TikTok's Algorithm-First Growth Model — TikTok.1.5B+monthly active usersTikTok№ 16OpenAI's Token-Based API Pricing — OpenAI.$2B+annual revenue run-rate (2024)OpenAI№ 17Beehiiv's Built-In Referral System for Newsletters — Beehiiv.750K+newsletters on platformBeehiiv№ 18Ramp's Savings Transparency as Viral Engine — Ramp.$30B+annualized transaction volumeRamp№ 19Linear's Opinionated Design as Brand Engine — Linear.10K+companies using LinearLinear№ 20Midjourney's Discord-Only Distribution Strategy — Midjourney.16M+Discord server membersMidjourney№ 21Threads' Instagram Cross-Promotion Launch — Threads.100Msignups in 5 daysThreads№ 22Intercom's Messenger Widget as Acquisition Channel — Intercom.25K+paying customersIntercom№ 23Vercel's 'vercel' Command as Acquisition Hook — Vercel.3.5M+developers using VercelVercel№ 24Supabase's 'Open-Source Firebase' Positioning — Supabase.1M+databases createdSupabase№ 25ChatGPT's Viral Launch Without Marketing — OpenAI.100Musers in 2 monthsOpenAI№ 26Perplexity's Search Replacement Habit Formation — Perplexity.10M+monthly active usersPerplexity№ 27Waze's Density-First Rollout: How Crowdsourced Maps and Daily Driving Turned Passengers into Evangelists — Waze.95–99% of users acquired via word-of-mouthShare of users who heard about Waze from another person (Uri Levine, Lenny's Podcast)Waze№ 28tbh's School-by-School Takeover: How Nikita Bier Engineered Viral Critical Mass in 9 Weeks — tbh.360,000 installs/day at peakDaily install rate at peak growth (Nikita Bier, Lenny's Podcast)tbh№ 29How Gojek Built a Two-Sided Marketplace Outraised 100-to-1 — and Still Won — Gojek.>100% MoM growth for 16–18 months after app launchMonth-over-month order growth (2015–2016)Gojek
Writing
Writing in this pillar. 5 indexed.
2025 · 12 · 05Designing Referral Programs That Actually WorkReferrals4 min2025 · 11 · 28Landing Page Anatomy — 11 Elements That ConvertLanding Pages4 min2025 · 11 · 20Attribution Modeling for Growth TeamsAttribution4 min2025 · 10 · 12SEO for SaaS — A Growth Team's GuideSEO4 min2026 · 06 · 30Systematic Channel Testing — How to Find Your Channel Without Burning the BudgetAcquisition3 min