growth 9 plays
growth plays you can steal. each one is a real case with the numbers, why it worked, and how to run it on a crypto or consumer app.
- a waitlist that moves when you share, and invite codes worth leaking let people jump the queue by bringing friends, and make the way in a code people want badly enough to pass around. referralsviralityacquisition added Oct 16, 2026
- give users something to brag with, and a button to post it turn a user's result into a card they're proud of and put a share button on it. every post becomes an ad written by your user. viralityreferrals added Oct 16, 2026
- go narrow: own one city or one country before you add a second win one place so completely that people use you without being asked. open the next place only after that. geographyacquisition added Oct 16, 2026
- go where your users already are and bring them over your users already live on someone else's platform. plug your product into it as the better way to do the same thing, and bring them over. acquisitiondistribution added Oct 16, 2026
- pay referrers in cash, the way paypal did reward both sides of a referral with something of known value, like cash or a commission. people refer when they can see exactly what they get. referralsacquisition added Oct 16, 2026
- pick the cheapest channel and do nothing else for months test a few acquisition channels cheaply, find the one where a user costs less than they're worth, then pour everything into it for months. acquisitiondistribution added Oct 16, 2026
- replace the email waitlist with calls get on a call with every early user, hand-pick the first 50 and build what they ask for. a call gets you the attention an email no longer does. onboardingacquisition added Oct 16, 2026
- skim the milk: launch to the whales first launch to the richest, keenest slice of the market at a premium and make getting in feel like a privilege. open the cheaper door later. positioningacquisition added Oct 16, 2026
- free thing, app-only, one day: how a chicken chain hit #1 on the app store give every user one free thing, claimable only inside the app, on one announced day. the installs stack into a single window and the chart ranks you on that burst. acquisitionapp-storegiveawayoffline-to-online added Oct 15, 2026