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 · 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. 26 indexed.

01HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Flywheel HubSpot.SEO · Content6M+monthly blog visitorsHubSpot02Duolingo's TikTok-Fueled Growth Duolingo.Social · Viral88MMAU (Q4 2023)Duolingo03Airbnb's Craigslist Cross-Posting Hack Airbnb.Platform Hack · Supply-Side10xlisting growth (2009-2011)Airbnb04Canva's Template-Driven SEO Engine Canva.SEO · Templates170M+monthly active usersCanva05LinkedIn's Profile-as-SEO-Page Strategy LinkedIn.SEO · Network Effects900M+membersLinkedIn06Calendly's Scheduling Link as Growth Loop Calendly.Viral · PLG10M+usersCalendly07Zillow's Zestimate as SEO Moat Zillow.SEO · Data-as-Product220M+monthly unique usersZillow08Loom's Shared Video as Acquisition Channel Loom.Viral · PLG25M+usersLoom09Peloton's Content + Community Retention Flywheel Peloton.Content · Community92%12-month retention ratePeloton10Twilio's Usage-Based Developer-First Pricing Twilio.Usage-Based · Developer-First$3.8Brevenue (2023)Twilio11MongoDB's Open-Source to Atlas Cloud Transition MongoDB.Open-Source · Cloud Transition$1.7Brevenue (FY 2024)MongoDB12Morning Brew's Merch-Tiered Referral Program Morning Brew.Referral · Newsletter4M+subscribersMorning Brew13Harry's Pre-Launch Waitlist Referral Campaign Harry's.Pre-Launch · Waitlist100Kemails in one weekHarry's14Notion's Template Community as SEO Engine Notion.SEO · Templates100M+users (2024)Notion15TikTok's Algorithm-First Growth Model TikTok.Algorithm · Discovery1.5B+monthly active usersTikTok16OpenAI's Token-Based API Pricing OpenAI.Usage-Based · API$2B+annual revenue run-rate (2024)OpenAI17Beehiiv's Built-In Referral System for Newsletters Beehiiv.Referral · Newsletter750K+newsletters on platformBeehiiv18Ramp's Savings Transparency as Viral Engine Ramp.Transparency · Viral$30B+annualized transaction volumeRamp19Linear's Opinionated Design as Brand Engine Linear.Design · Brand10K+companies using LinearLinear20Midjourney's Discord-Only Distribution Strategy Midjourney.Discord · Community16M+Discord server membersMidjourney21Threads' Instagram Cross-Promotion Launch Threads.Cross-Promotion · Network Effects100Msignups in 5 daysThreads22Intercom's Messenger Widget as Acquisition Channel Intercom.Widget · Product-as-Marketing25K+paying customersIntercom23Vercel's 'vercel' Command as Acquisition Hook Vercel.Developer Experience · CLI3.5M+developers using VercelVercel24Supabase's 'Open-Source Firebase' Positioning Supabase.Open-Source · Developer-First1M+databases createdSupabase25ChatGPT's Viral Launch Without Marketing OpenAI.Viral · AI100Musers in 2 monthsOpenAI26Perplexity's Search Replacement Habit Formation Perplexity.AI Search · Habit10M+monthly active usersPerplexity
Writing

Writing in this pillar. 4 indexed.

The studio register

Once a month, no more. When a slot opens, when a study publishes, or when the math says something we did not expect.