Great point Andrew! I've seen many people pulling back from build-in-public or purely launching on Product Hunt as many of the readers are lookey-lous or copy-cats, not necessarily customers.
yup! Exactly -- you end up building for other micro-SMB founders, not for your actual audience. Building in public can work if your customers are also other SMBs, or if you are a developer publishing content for other developers while building an API business. But not appropriate for everyone.
True, those Product Hunt users might not be direct customers, but the exposure and social proof still contribute to your brand's credibility in the long run.
A great read thanks for sharing Andrew. The 10 magic metrics is pure gold! thanks. There is a small grammar error in this sentence:
"If you generalize this rule more fully, you realize that traction works on an “Easy come, Easy go” basis. If users come slowly, and an audience is built over time, """they are will""" have high retention. But when they come quickly and all at once, they will leave quickly too. Again, easy come, easy go.
Hi Andrew, your insights on viral spikes and "Looky-Loos" really resonate.
This might sound like a dumb question to you.
I am a junior growth in a B2B SaaS company, with a PLG motion and a free trial.
We’re seeing a pattern (both from organic and paid) : a good volume of signups from these channels, yet very few convert to paying customers (<50% from free trial to paid).
Given your "durable, scalable, valuable" framework, what strategies would you recommend to ensure to attract high-intent users who are more likely to convert?
How can we better filter for quality leads earlier in the funnel?
I often have this conversation with startup founders. You did a great job capturing the reality of going viral. It's not the silver bullet to growth that it's often thought to be.
Durable and scalable > Quick spike virality
I plan to share this post next time the "let's go viral" discussion comes up.
Great point Andrew! I've seen many people pulling back from build-in-public or purely launching on Product Hunt as many of the readers are lookey-lous or copy-cats, not necessarily customers.
yup! Exactly -- you end up building for other micro-SMB founders, not for your actual audience. Building in public can work if your customers are also other SMBs, or if you are a developer publishing content for other developers while building an API business. But not appropriate for everyone.
True, those Product Hunt users might not be direct customers, but the exposure and social proof still contribute to your brand's credibility in the long run.
A great read thanks for sharing Andrew. The 10 magic metrics is pure gold! thanks. There is a small grammar error in this sentence:
"If you generalize this rule more fully, you realize that traction works on an “Easy come, Easy go” basis. If users come slowly, and an audience is built over time, """they are will""" have high retention. But when they come quickly and all at once, they will leave quickly too. Again, easy come, easy go.
I actually see this as opportunities rather than problems: https://www.vincentschmalbach.com/turn-your-viral-moment-into-real-business-value/
Hi Andrew, your insights on viral spikes and "Looky-Loos" really resonate.
This might sound like a dumb question to you.
I am a junior growth in a B2B SaaS company, with a PLG motion and a free trial.
We’re seeing a pattern (both from organic and paid) : a good volume of signups from these channels, yet very few convert to paying customers (<50% from free trial to paid).
Given your "durable, scalable, valuable" framework, what strategies would you recommend to ensure to attract high-intent users who are more likely to convert?
How can we better filter for quality leads earlier in the funnel?
Thanks for your thoughts!
I often have this conversation with startup founders. You did a great job capturing the reality of going viral. It's not the silver bullet to growth that it's often thought to be.
Durable and scalable > Quick spike virality
I plan to share this post next time the "let's go viral" discussion comes up.