Pillar · Referral
Referral. Users bring users.
Virality, advocacy, referral mechanics — when users bring users without further spend.
Referral · Essay forthcoming
Users bring users. Virality, advocacy, referral mechanics — when users bring users without further spend. 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. 20 indexed.
№ 01Duolingo's TikTok-Fueled Growth — Duolingo.88MMAU (Q4 2023)Duolingo№ 02LinkedIn's Profile-as-SEO-Page Strategy — LinkedIn.900M+membersLinkedIn№ 03Calendly's Scheduling Link as Growth Loop — Calendly.10M+usersCalendly№ 04Loom's Shared Video as Acquisition Channel — Loom.25M+usersLoom№ 05Zoom's 40-Minute Limit as Conversion Engine — Zoom.$4.4Brevenue (FY 2023)Zoom№ 06Dropbox's Double-Sided Referral Program — Dropbox.3900%user growth in 15 monthsDropbox№ 07PayPal's Paid Referral Blitz — PayPal.5Musers in early growthPayPal№ 08Tesla's Tiered Referral Program — Tesla.$0traditional ad spendTesla№ 09Uber's Ride Credit Referral Engine — Uber.100M+riders (by 2018)Uber№ 10Robinhood's Free Stock Referral Program — Robinhood.23M+funded accounts (2023)Robinhood№ 11Airbnb's Travel Credit Referral 2.0 — Airbnb.300%increase in referral bookingsAirbnb№ 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№ 14Beehiiv's Built-In Referral System for Newsletters — Beehiiv.750K+newsletters on platformBeehiiv№ 15Ramp's Savings Transparency as Viral Engine — Ramp.$30B+annualized transaction volumeRamp№ 16Threads' Instagram Cross-Promotion Launch — Threads.100Msignups in 5 daysThreads№ 17ChatGPT's Viral Launch Without Marketing — OpenAI.100Musers in 2 monthsOpenAI№ 18Webflow's Designer Community as Growth Engine — Webflow.3.5M+usersWebflow№ 19Wise's Word-of-Mouth Flywheel: How Being 8–10× Cheaper Turned Customers into a Growth Engine — Wise.70% of new users acquired via word-of-mouthShare of new Wise customers who first heard about the product from a friend (Nilan Peiris, Lenny's Podcast)Wise№ 20tbh'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
Writing