I was recently browsing through my LinkedIn feed when I came across a personal branding expert. Decent content, big follower numbers, but what got me thinking more was the topic itself - “personal branding”.

What does that even mean nowadays, and how has it changed?

Back in 2021, around the time LinkedIn was peak, a lot of personal branding experts popped up. And I have to admit, I also took one or two coaching sessions back then (given that I’m very inactive on LinkedIn now, it wasn’t worth it lol). At that time, personal branding was all about framing yourself around a topic, engaging with others, posting 3–5 times a day, liking, and commenting. And all of a sudden, you were a personal brand for a topic.

Even nowadays, these experts still give the same tips. But looking at LinkedIn now, it has changed a lot. Reach is down, comments are full of AI slop, sales messages are everywhere, so how do you brand yourself around a topic?

I think it’s different these days. We have to build real connections, stepping away from endless commenting and liking. Things like Substack or writing in-depth content where people can genuinely connect will work for sure. But if I had to bet, in a couple of months or years, every personal branding expert will switch to events as the main lever for building your brand.

Events have all of this: visibility, real connection, and the opportunity to show your expertise.

And I already see this happening. Every month, in my day job, we bring founders, ecosystem leaders, and corporates into one room. They talk about their experiences, engage with people, and are remembered by the audience. At least afterward, people come up and say, “What was the name of the guy for topic XYZ?”

No content strategy in the world creates what one day of real conversation does.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

Remember the first business book you read? I always have to smile because every book tells us the same thing: you need a vision. A bold, world-changing north star that guides everything and creates subliminal pressure on everyone who has started a company but hasn’t figured theirs out yet.

I’ve worked with dozens of founders inside startups - as a freelancer, employee, marketing lead, and now from the outside while working at an accelerator. And I can tell you this: very rarely does a founder have a strong, clear vision.

Starting a company is mostly opportunistic (or driven by passion). In the end, it’s always about making money. But having a vision that changes the future? Nope. Not at all.

But since everyone keeps preaching that you need a vision, the question is: do you actually need one to succeed?

The short answer: no. You can still be successful.

The longer answer: it’s a bit more nuanced.

What you need in order to succeed is a clear positioning.

And that’s where the real problem starts. Many businesses not only struggle to define a clear vision, but also fail to establish a clear positioning. Very few can confidently answer questions like: “Who are we?”, “Who is our ICP?”, and “What makes us different?”

No wonder having a vision feels even more out of reach.

But here’s my take:

Most people start a company with a goal. In the beginning, they have an ideal customer in mind, a clear picture of what the product looks like, and how it helps that customer. But over time, founders often get distracted by a lot of opportunities left and right. They start chasing every shiny object that comes their way, and suddenly there’s no longer a clear answer to the questions above.

They get lost, even though they had all the answers in the beginning.

But what they had wasn’t a vision, and it wasn’t positioning either. I’d call it direction.

And in the end, that’s all you really need to be successful. Your positioning - and how you want to be perceived in the market - naturally grows out of that direction.

As long as you’re clear about that, having a vision is optional.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

I had a discussion with my content manager recently about how to produce more reels in a more time-efficient way. Of course, the answer we came up with was: let’s look for a tool that uses AI to help us do this.

After some quick research, we found a couple of tools that looked promising, and every tool offered a free tier. But NONE of them made the AI features accessible in the free tier, meaning we couldn’t test how good the AI cutting features were until we started paying.

And this is not the only time I’ve seen this. There are dozens of AI startups out there building tools that promise to make someone’s life simpler, but the mistake everyone is making is gating the AI features in their free tier.

I mean, I know AI usage costs money. You have to pay for tokens used by the model your tool is built on, and it can get expensive. It’s also not a nice feeling to pay for something when someone doesn’t convert into a paying customer. But the question is: how else does someone experience the value that is promised without letting them test it? And I'm probably not the only one who just moved on to the next tool.

The buyer’s journey has changed a lot over the years, and nowadays nobody wants demo calls anymore. Everyone wants to gather enough information to make the decision themselves.

So let people actually use your AI features for free. Let them see the value first. Only then are the chances of increasing conversion rates much higher.

AI costs should be treated as marketing, and therefore as an investment in growth.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

You know what’s crazy? ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022. That’s almost 4 years ago… feeling old now? For me, it feels like it was yesterday… which is probably caused by all the tools we get, all the news we see, and the fact that this topic is omnipresent… but one thing can’t be recreated, and ChatGPT had it first.

Remember the first time you landed on the site? This minimalistic chat window was waiting to be filled out. Once you typed something in, hit send — BOOM — there it was: this magic moment where we all thought “What the hell? Did I really create this with one simple sentence?”

Since then, a lot has happened. Building tools, coding, workflows, automations… all by simply prompting. And now all these tools are trying to recreate this moment, fighting against our limited attention spans.

But this isn’t working anymore.

I already wrote about it here. Back then, we had the AHA moment, where a user perceived the value of a tool for the first time. Now we have the magic moment, where the value has shifted more toward “Do I really don’t have to do this work at all?”. But what sticks around after 4 years? It’s not the feeling of “What the hell, that’s amazing” but more the feeling of “Why can’t AI do that?” causing frustration when AI doesn’t do things the way we want.

We’ve been overpromised to by marketing, become numb to value propositions, and can’t wait until AI really takes all tasks away from us… which kind of removes the joy from all of this.

AI should be treated for what it is: a helper, not a wonder pill we’re trying to force into solving everything for us. We keep chasing the next “WTF” moment, but only once we stop doing that can we use AI in a way that truly helps us.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

The other day, I was reading an article from one of our major media outlets here in Germany. The article was called “More Startups, Less Money: The New Paradox in the Ecosystem.”

The core narrative of the article is that we are seeing more and more startups being founded here in Germany. At the same time, we are seeing a declining number of funding rounds, which the article criticizes.

In my opinion, this is actually a very positive sign. And it’s the same trend I see in my daily work with hundreds of startups: more and more companies are being bootstrapped and moving away from the VC capital trap.

Back in the day, there was a need to raise millions of dollars to develop a SaaS product and hire expensive developers just to reach a point where the product could be tested on the market. At the same time, investors were brought on board who often pushed the company in a completely different direction… away from the founders’ passion and toward simply making money.

And nowadays? We have AI.

Many founders are taking the risk, building the product they envision, and launching it on the market themselves. This shifts the role of venture capital into a completely different position.

Nobody raises money anymore to build a product (unless they are operating in a deep-tech-heavy domain). They raise money to scale their company… if at all. I’ve spoken to many founders recently who do not want to raise money or bring investors on board. Pretty understandable. With investors often come unnecessary obligations, which I have frequently seen push founders away from profitability and toward scaling at all costs.

For investors, this means they have to become more strategic, offer real value, and provide more support instead of just money. Only then can they make a compelling case for why founders should bring them on board.

Interesting times ahead.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

Like you, I’m living in the bubble where everyone is talking about AI and agents. Everyone is trying to sound smarter and more like an expert, battling over who has figured things out. And I kind of like the energy and the phase we are in… this is exactly what we need to really figure things out.

But what nobody is talking about is that most AI agents fail (or will fail). People are embellishing the narrative that “AI replaced their marketing team” or “I have 12 agents running all of my operational work”. In most cases, this is BS.

Remember what AI is doing: working with the data we provide. And here is the breaking point.

Having worked with dozens of companies in the past, I’ve seen the same picture every time: messy CRMs, outdated properties, complex Excel sheets that would need a full handbook for explanation, and tools upon tools where data is stored in multiple places and nobody knows where to find things.

So how should an AI agent help us with our work when we can’t even understand how our own organization is built? Not AI fails, we are failing.

We are seeing that AI agents can do reliable work - yes. But we, as humans, are failing to give them the foundation they need to do it.

And then we blame the agents by saying: “AI is still hallucinating too much”.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

Yesterday, I was browsing through my LinkedIn feed when suddenly a so-called personal branding expert appeared. His post had a decent number of likes and comments, so I took a look. What he was doing was pushing the same narrative that has been around for a while now:

“You don’t have to be present on every channel, only master one.”

And my first thought was: “yes, he is right. That’s how it worked over the last few years.”

But my second thought was: “Wait a minute. Is this actually still true today?”

The new cool kid in marketing town is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), meaning being cited, trusted, and used as a source within AI-powered answers - which is starting to replace traditional SEO.

And as sad as it sounds, this is also becoming the dominant way people search. Think about the last time you Googled something, visited a blog, and read the entire article instead of just reading the Google summary… yeah, me neither.

But to be found and mentioned by AI, you need to be present and discoverable and not only on one channel or in search engines, but on multiple.

Like Google’s summary says on this topic:

“AI models use an astronomically large and diverse range of sources to gain information, often pulling from petabytes of data, which includes almost the entire public internet, books, and proprietary databases.”

This includes LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube and all the other channels out there.

So that means no matter how much someone has mastered one channel, there is still a need to be present on other channels for AI systems to find and reference them.

Take this example (it’s an Ahrefs ad, but the core message is exactly about this):

Staying relevant nowadays requires a presence across multiple channels… at least for AI systems to be able to find and reference a brand or business.

And this is the direction things are moving toward. People are relying more and more on AI to search for information, educate themselves, and even make buying decisions (looking at OpenAI’s ads plans).

The bad news: the requirements for being found have increased.

But the good news, at the same time, the possibilities for creating and repurposing content have expanded as well … thanks to AI.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

I know, I know… long time no see, but life happens when you’re trying to build something. But… I’m back.

I used the last few weeks of my absence to think a lot about niches: how to find my niche and how to position my content. With 9+ years in marketing and a brain that’s trained to analyze everything through a marketing lens, I always thought it was clear - I had two options:

• Find a niche that’s not too saturated

• or, if you’re in a saturated niche, do something different to stand out.

That’s it. I thought that’s how it worked.

Then a friend of mine told me: “Write about things you’re excited about. Don’t try to create content for algorithms or narrow yourself down. The moment you start hating what you post, it’s game over.”

Boom - my whole marketing mindset was shattered because he was right.

I started this newsletter in November 2024 by analyzing and deep-diving into sales funnels, which was my attempt to do something different in a saturated market… more detailed than every other article about funnels. At first, it was exciting, but after 2–3 months, it started to feel like work. And if you have to work next to work, you start hating it. So I paused.

I started again in 2025 with a different concept. I had many ideas, tried to monetize, but a couple of months later, the same thing happened. So I paused again.

This time, I’m doing something different. Instead of trying to force myself into a specific topic or stick with something just because it’s “different”, I’m simply sharing my thoughts, raw, honest and creating content I actually enjoy.

I already know my niche very well: growth, AI, and the startup ecosystem. And the thing that makes my content different is my perspective - I guess that’s what the word “personal” in personal branding means.

So.. off to new horizons.

AJ

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By Andreas Just

We were pushing users toward it, optimizing the shit out of it, growing at lightspeed.

Then AI came along and changed everything.

Changed how users experience value. Changed what that first moment of “getting it” actually feels like.

And most AI startups I see (or those that offer AI features) haven’t caught up yet.

They’re still playing the old game. Making one mistake that prevents users from ever experiencing the value they built.

So it’s time to reframe it.

What was the AHA moment back then?

As said in the beginning, the AHA moment was defined as the pivotal moment when a new user first recognizes the core value of your product and understands why they need it.

I still remember the whiteboard sessions we had. “What is our AHA moment?” “How do we get users there as fast as possible?” good old times….

And back then, it was worth obsessing over. Because once we cracked it, we felt the difference in conversions immediately.

To figure it out, we studied the same well-known examples:

• Facebook’s AHA moment: Users who added at least 7 friends within the first 10 days developed significantly stronger retention.

• Slack’s AHA moment: Teams that hit 2,000 messages sent were highly likely to become long-term paying customers.

• Zoom’s AHA moment: Value hit when someone ran a meeting without any technical friction, straight from the browser.

Dozens of products followed the same pattern:

Find the moment → optimize toward it → watch conversions go up.

It worked. Until it didn’t.

The AHA moment in the AI age

At its core, the definition hasn’t changed. It’s still the moment a user experiences value for the first time.

But what that moment feels like and how to get someone there is completely different with AI.

Because with AI, it’s not an AHA moment anymore. It’s more like a magic moment.

• SaaS AHA moment: “I can finally do this work efficiently.”

• AI magic moment: “I don’t have to do this work at all.”

That’s a completely different emotional reaction.

And products like Lovable or Perplexity have already trained us to expect it. One prompt, something that would have taken days appears in a matter of seconds.

So, going back to the whiteboard, as a business offering an AI tool (or features), that’s what I would optimize for.

Speed

→ Classical SaaS took time. Account creation, onboarding, setup. Users expected a ramp before they got value.

→ With AI that’s gone. It has to be instant. One input field, one prompt, magic. Any friction before that moment and we’ve already lost them.

Effort

→ SaaS required manual work to get value out. Users had to invest time before things clicked.

→ AI has to be the opposite. Attention spans are at an all-time low. One prompt, one click, one result. That’s the expectation you’re up against.

The feeling

→ The SaaS AHA moment felt like relief: Something painful just got simpler.

→ The AI magic moment has to hit differently. We want to create the “holy cow, how did that just work” reaction. That gut-level surprise is what should actually be optimized for.

Quality

This is where it gets tricky.

→ SaaS worked or it didn’t. Users got the value or they didn’t.

→ With AI, the output can go sideways. A hallucination doesn’t just fail to impress, it actively destroys the magic. One bad result and the WTF moment replaces the magic moment. Output quality is one of the most important things to optimize.

AND there is one other mistake I see many AI solutions make.

The mistake most AI startups are making

Whether it’s an AI solution or a tool that offers AI features.

Most businesses gate them behind a paywall.

I get the logic. AI usage costs money. But hiding it behind a paywall kills any chance someone has of experiencing the magic moment you just spent everything building toward.

Think about it. Users are primed by the best AI products out there to expect instant value. Their attention span for anything less is basically zero.

Now you put a paywall in front of the one thing that would have made them stay.

Therefore, we should start treating AI usage as a marketing cost. Because that’s exactly what it is. If a product genuinely creates value, getting someone to feel that magic moment once is worth every cent.

Last words

The AHA moment became a magic moment. And the way we should optimize for it changed completely.

Speed to value. Minimal effort. That gut-punch of “I can’t believe that just worked.” Output quality that holds up the magic instead of destroying it.

And above everything else: don’t gate it. The market leaders have already trained our users to expect value immediately.

Don’t make them wait for something they can get somewhere else right now.

AJ

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I get it.

Getting feedback can sting. Watching people scroll past your passion project feels brutal. But here’s the thing: talking about your idea early is the best move you can make.

You prevent yourself from building for months only to discover nobody wants to pay for it. You avoid heading in the wrong direction without anyone telling you.

(And, because I know you are afraid of this, the chance of getting copied is so low that execution matters way more than secrecy)

So when you decide it’s time to talk about your product and maybe even land some pre-customers, here’s how to do it right.

The right way to launch before you're ready

I’ve seen posts about product launches work on LinkedIn and X.

With zero followers and with massive audiences.

The thing is, when you have something people want, it finds them. You just have to put your solution out there.

Post about and see what feedback you get.

Here’s how you do it:

Social media

You want to do this on the platform where your target audience lives. Be it Substack, X or LinkedIn, chose the one you know you can reach as many as possible.

Product recording

Show, don’t tell → Record your screen while walking people through how your product works and what you actually solve for them. The key: show the real tool, not a mockup. Even better if you zoom in on the exact part that creates the most value.

Bonus points if you show your face to create trust right away (e.g. Loom video).

Your story

Most posts I see go like this: “Hey I launched XYZ, register now here”… then crickets. You don’t want to make it salesy. People can smell that from miles away.

Instead, try one of these angles:

Tell a funny story about how you accidentally built something that solved your own problem

Celebrate the moment. “After months of grinding, I finally launched...” People love watching others win or celebrating with you.

Or you share something genuinely useful for your audience.

And always include a clear call to action so people know what to do next.

Landing page

Speaking of next steps. You need somewhere to send people. A place where your solution is explained, the value is clear, and there's an obvious next step like "Sign up free" or "Try it now.

Waitlist

If you’re mid-development and people can’t sign up yet, set up a waitlist. Let interested people drop their email. This also tells you how much real interest exists.

Two examples that crushed it

Mac Martine talked about RalphBlaster. His tweet hit 221k impressions and pulled in 750 waitlist signups just by showing his solution in action, he wrote about it here.

Cursor jumped on the GPT wave at the right moment. They built on the hype, showed a screen recording, and drove traffic straight to their site.

Takeaway

Stop hiding behind stealth mode. The feedback you get early will save you months of wasted work.

Here’s what happens when you share early:

• You find out if people actually care about what you’re building.

• You start building an audience while you build the product. By launch day, you already have people waiting.

• You get real feedback from potential customers, not just opinions from friends.

• You create momentum. Each post, each conversation, each signup compounds.

Like the examples show. Both shared early, both won.

AJ

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Probably yes, because budget is limited, pressure is on and you want to finally get your acquisition running.

I was in the same spot a few years ago working at a small startup. We tried ads, outbound, content. Nothing moved the needle the way we needed it to.

Then I looked at the hyper-growth companies. The ones going from 0 to 100M ARR in record time.

And there’s one mechanic that works for almost any business (yes, also for solo builders) and it can create a constant stream of new users. For free.

Here’s what they’re doing.

Building referral loops

Referral loops are how today’s top companies generate customers on autopilot.

The core principle is that one customer brings 10 more and there are just some simple mechanics you can implement for your business.

To make it clear, let’s have a look at some examples.

Lovable’s Referral Loop

Lovable’s referral loop looks like this:

A new user is using the tool, he builds something, shares what he built, others see it, go to Lovable’s website and start building.

To fuel this loop Lovable has some simple mechanics in place:

Once a user builds an app he is greeted with a pop-up and the call to action to share his app.

In the second step: User shares his app on social media or his app appears in Lovable’s app library.

Once someone clicks on his app, there is a button in the bottom right corner.

One click on it and you land on Lovable’s website where you can directly start building.

Boom. Loop closed, users generated on autopilot.

But this doesn’t only work for end users.

Clay uses a completely different loop, targeting partners but at least with the same effects (if not more effective).

Clay’s Referral Loop

Clay is another rapid-growth company reaching $100M ARR in 2025.

And their loop is one major pillar to reach this revenue milestone.

Clay’s loop addresses agencies and works like this:

1. Agencies use Clay to run cold outreach campaigns with extreme personalization for their clients.

2. The clients are so impressed by the results (high response rates) that they ask: “How do you do that?”

3. The agency shows them Clay. The client realizes they need to buy the software themselves to maintain this standard in their team.

4. People are talking about it online and sharing it with the community, which attracts new agencies.

This again creates this permanent stream of new customers.

There are even agencies that build their entire business model around Clay. Those are called Clagencies.

How to build one yourself

So coming to the key question. How do you build a loop yourself?

There are two main questions you should ask yourself upfront:

• Does my product have the nature that people are willing to share?

• Or can I enable others (e.g. partners) to share my product?

If you answer these questions you probably have an idea in which direction you can build your loop.

Let’s say as an example we have a social media scheduler as a product. Here clearly people are willing to share but there is probably no way where you can put your brand name in (nobody wants a “posted with XYZ” underneath their post haha).

So we go for partners. Bringing agencies or freelancers to use the product. The loop could look like this:

1. The freelancer plans the posts for their client in our tool.

2. They send the client a “Review-Link” for approval.

3. The client sees the post in the interface of our tool (without login required).

4. When the client later has their own project or the team changes, they remember the tool (”What was that cool approval tool?”) and become a paying user themselves.

Or another example.

Our tool tracks investment activities and since people naturally love to brag on the internet we focus on creating nice sharable dashboards or screenshots.

Here comes the loop into play:

1. People use our tool

2. People share their overview from our app (screenshot or we create a preview link where they can share it directly) on social media

3. Other users see it and are naturally guided to our website

4. New users start using our tool

Loop repeats.

With this simple mechanic you can acquire customers on a budget without spending thousands on ads or spamming outbound mails.

Final Words

When we implemented a basic referral loop in that startup I mentioned, we went from struggling to hit our monthly targets to having users bring in 3-4 new signups each week.

That’s when I realized that the best growth engine isn’t something you buy. It’s something you build into your product from day one - for free.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button and leave a comment below. Thank you! 💛

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The answer stuck with me. Until then, I always believed that virality happened by coincidence.

But now I’m convinced it doesn’t.

What Virality Means

Before diving into this, we should look at what virality means. When we talk about virality or viral content, most of us probably have this in mind:

You post → you hit a nerve → you go viral → boom, thousands of likes, shares, comments and new followers.

But in my view there is another type of virality.

The one where you make your customers, users, partners, or whoever constantly talk about your product or business. They’re basically doing the work for you. They write articles, mention you in the press, and talk about you on social media. They make you appear constantly in front of your target group.

This type of virality doesn’t necessarily need thousands of likes. Here it’s about the compound effect of many small conversations rather than one big explosion.

And while many are trying to force the first type, the second one is what more companies should aim for.

How to “Go Viral”

So the key question is: how do you achieve this kind of virality?

Lovable’s head of growth explained it like this: You have to give your customers stories they can share.

Think about it.

Lovable does exactly this. With the app, everyone can become a developer. People are building the things they always dreamed about, and what happens then? They start talking about it online. They share their story of how they built something.

This creates a viral story loop, which picks up elements of classical storytelling:

• User experiences the magic moment (in Lovable’s case, that they can create anything they want).

• They become “the hero” in the story as they solve their own problem.

• They share their story online.

• Others see it, use the tool, and talk about it as well.

• Loop starts again

How Can You Create This Viral Loop

So you might think “nice, but I don’t have this kind of solution where I can create this viral loop naturally.”

I got you.

There are different ways to make people talk about you:

• Give them something to visualize → Stripe gives you beautiful UI to show the revenue your business makes. Looking at my feed, I see at least once per day someone talking about how their business makes X revenue, posting a screenshot of Stripe’s visualization.

  • The story Stripe gives users: “I’m now a business owner making real money.”

• Create shareable achievements → Turn user progress into badges of honor:

  • Duolingo’s streak feature and year-end reports get shared constantly. The story they give: “Look, I’m learning another language.”

  • Spotify Wrapped turned listening data into an annual social media event. The story: “I have great music taste.”

  • GitHub’s contribution graphs make developers want to show off their activity. The story: “I’m a productive developer who ships code.”

• Build in social proof → ProductHunt’s “Featured on ProductHunt” badges incentivize people to share their launches.

  • The story ProductHunt gives: “I’m a builder who turned my idea into a real product.”

Ask yourself the question: What is the story I give my customers that they’re willing to share?

Last Words

This kind of virality doesn’t happen by coincidence. It’s engineered. Sometimes not even by marketing but by product teams.

But no matter how, it’s the type of virality you should aim for. Making people constantly talk about you doesn’t only bring new customers all the time but also gives you an edge.

We see more and more AI-generated content, but when people talk about you, it’s real experience. This creates trust and the word-of-mouth awareness you want to have.

AJ

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

In comparison with other hyper-growth companies, it’s the fastest we’ve seen scaling from $1M to $100M so far.

And all this while its north star isn’t revenue. The company is optimizing everything around how many people use Lovable. Like Lovable’s Head of Growth mentioned in Lenny’s Podcast here.

So all the more reason to have a look at its growth playbook and what caused this explosive growth.

Spoiler: it’s not luck, it’s strategic.

And you can take a lot over for your business (even if you are way smaller without the hype), which is exactly what I give you at the end of this article.

For this article I’ve broken down Lovable’s growth loop along the AARRR framework with a breakdown of what happens in each stage. And it’s amazing what they are pulling off. At the end of this article you will find access to the exact template with every activity they are doing in each stage broken down in one overview + you get a full video breakdown (in case it’s tl;dr).

Looking like this:

What we cover:

1. Building constant buzz: How Lovable attracts users at scale

2. The instant value moment: Getting users to actually use the product

3. Shipping features like a media company: How Lovable keeps users hooked

4. The self-feeding loop: How every user brings 10 more

5. Pricing that maximizes revenue while reducing churn

6. Full video walkthrough of the complete funnel

7. What you can steal from this playbook (even without the hype)

Building constant buzz: How Lovable attracts users at scale

Lovable uses a mix of different awareness strategies.

But one of the core things is that the company maintains constant “buzz” around its product.

The strategy here puts social in the center.

Lovable’s Social Strategy

The key pillars are:

• Influencer marketing

• Having own ambassadors

• Getting users to post and spreading word-of-mouth

• Having the team build in public and consistently talk about the product, new features and all the things happening in the Lovable universe

With X & LinkedIn being one of its main channels.

To create this level of users posting about you, you have to give them stories and experiences they want to share.

This is where Lovable excels.

Everyone can be a developer with it, so that’s exactly what triggers people. They want to show, share and tell the world what they have built.

Another rule Lovable follows: they are giving away for free.

Free credits for users

Remember, the company is optimizing for how many users are using it, not revenue.

So, be it a hackathon, ambassadors or whatever, Lovable is giving away credits so people can build. And this helps spread word-of-mouth tremendously.

And here comes into play what sets Lovable apart from other AI businesses.

Other businesses gate AI functionality because of usage costs. Lovable does the exact opposite. People can use it for free, which helps expose the solution to people, helps them experience the value extremely fast and accelerates word-of-mouth.

Ads to catch demand

Of course another pillar of its acquisition strategy are ads on all the usual platforms. Google, LinkedIn, Meta. This helps capture demand.

When people are constantly exposed to Lovable’s organic content, ads can push them over the edge.

This way Lovable is creating its own media company. Pushing out content all day long, making people aware and then capturing the demand.

Only to get users to the heart of Lovable: app usage.

The instant value moment: Getting users to actually use the product

As soon as a user lands on the website they are greeted with a text box where they can take direct action. No fluff on the website, no confused copy. Just a field where you can start prompting.

This is Lovable’s heart of user activation.

One thing that makes Lovable smart here is as soon as a user hits send, they are asked to log in. This works because at this point users already put effort into their prompt and are curious about the outcome.

So they are most likely to create an account.

And after this, people are getting instant value. They see the app they created with one prompt.

Templates to get users started

Another thing that helps users get started are templates. Lovable offers different templates for different business types like SaaS or portfolios. Those can be used to get right into it.

Which helps users even more to use the product. Especially if they have no idea where to start.

Once people are using the product, they need to be kept engaged and here Lovable is doing great.

Shipping features like a media company: How Lovable keeps users hooked

Instead of sending out classic newsletters Lovable is shipping feature after feature, often multiple times a day.

New features as a newsletter

That’s basically its “newsletter”.

Once a feature is released, users are notified and the feature release itself gives Lovable’s team content for posting.

This creates next to notifications to users a constant stream of content, which reinforces the strategy of being permanently in the heads of its users.

Locked-in effects

Next to this, to keep the engagement high you can of course connect your app to different other apps like databases (Supabase) or Shopify. Once you have your data there and built a whole app around it the locked-in effects are super high.

Chances are very low that someone leaves after.

Same with its community. With more than 140k members you will find everything here. From showcasing your apps to getting answers to your questions or simple networking with like-minded builders.

Once you are deeply involved, chances of moving away from it are low.

That’s how modern growth works. Community fuels the whole funnel from attracting new users to referrals.

But the most interesting part as I find is its referral strategy. Here Lovable built a loop in itself which brings a constant stream of new users:

The self-feeding loop: How every user brings 10 more

This is how Lovable’s word-of-mouth virality strategy works:

Lovable's creation loop starts with a user who builds an app. After they hit publish they are asked to share it with their friends and/or on social.

Once they share it's exposed to others (it will also be visible on the official app library if wanted).

Visitors who now click on the app see the Lovable button in the app's right bottom corner.

With a click on it you land on the Lovable website where you are greeted with the text field, where visitors can then directly start building their app.

This way Lovable built a constant stream of new users.

But those have to be convinced to pay for it. Its pricing strategy takes over here.

Pricing that maximizes revenue while reducing churn

Looking at its pricing page it seems like a typical SaaS pricing model.

But what differentiates the company here based on its AI nature is that you can choose how many credits you want in each package. Based on the credits the prices increase. Here like with many AI companies we see the "pay as you go" model where pricing is based on a monthly fee and usage.

But:

It gets more interesting once you are a paying user.

Because A) you then have the possibility to top up credits as needed.

And B) rather than upgrading into higher tiers, Lovable offers lower tiers to paid users. This way they reduce churn and offer possibilities to keep user's apps online even if someone decides to step away from Lovable.

What also stands out if you try to cancel is the cancel flow itself. Which is very persuasive.

It first suggests moving into a lower tier.

Then shows a video which explains what you miss out on and how Lovable can really improve your app building.

And then it emphasizes again the things you lose. Which is a smart usage of loss aversion here.

This makes it both user friendly but also maximizes revenue Lovable generates.

➡️ Access the template here: Lovable’s Growth Loop

What you can steal from this playbook (even without the hype)

Coming to the most interesting question.

What can be applied to grow your business?

I know Lovable is one of a kind hyper-growth company. Who relies a lot on hype. But there is a lot you can take over to fuel your own growth.

Its awareness strategy

Don’t try to force being found through AI search or whatever. Instead go all in on social. Build in public, share product updates and the most important part, give users stories they can share. Be it because your product makes things so easy or because your customer support is so exceptional.

Make using your product radically simple

In case you are an AI company, I know AI usage costs but you have to expose it to your users. Follow Lovable and create this easy entry into your product like they did on the website. Help users to use the product in just a few steps so they can experience its value ASAP. If you are not an AI company, offer a virtual demo tour and make them see and feel the value.

It’s all about community

Slack, Discord, Substack, wherever. Build a community around your product. Help them, answer questions, give things for free in the community, just keep people talking about your product. This helps in every step of the funnel.

The creation loop

Build sharing functionality in your product. As soon as someone successfully completed a step or task in your app, give them the possibility to share it and talk about it (this works best after someone had a success moment). This will help increase visibility and (like mentioned in the previous step) keeps people talking about your solution.

Pricing model

Look at the cancel flow of Lovable, take over its loss aversion. As soon as people cancel SHOW them what they will lose. This hurts and prevents churn to some extent. Also offer lower tiers. There shouldn’t be a pricing model where you either upsell them, keep them or they are gone. There should be the possibility that someone can lower their tier to a smaller price and keep a few features.

Last Words

Lovable shows us what happens when you optimize for users first, revenue second. The result? Both explode.

Lovable’s playbook isn’t rocket science. It’s executing the basics at scale with one clear focus: making it stupidly easy for people to build, share, and stay.

You don’t need hype or explosive revenue to steal from this. Pick one thing. Build your own creation loop. Give your users a story worth sharing. Keep them talking about you.

That’s how you accelerate growth… even without the hype.

Thanks for reading!

AJ

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Share AI x Growth

“Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT”

With it, they announced they’ll soon start testing ads inside ChatGPT.

For me, someone who’s been working with ads for years, this sounded super exciting at first. But I was also skeptical.

Is this going to be just another ad platform draining our budgets while spawning a new wave of gurus claiming they’ve found the holy grail of advertising?

After a closer look though, I think this might actually be the ad format we’ve been waiting for.

Let me explain.

How do ChatGPT ads work?

In their article, OpenAI wrote:

To start, we plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation. Ads will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer.

Looking at their example, here’s what happens: You’re chatting with ChatGPT and when a product or brand gets mentioned in your conversation, a relevant ad appears in a frame below the message.

Click on it and you get directed to where you can buy it (I assume).

(The frames remind me of TikTok shopping. But I'll take it.)

Sidenote: What would be interesting is if these ads did not even need explicit product mentions and could pop up based purely on the topic you’re discussing… but that’s something we will see as soon as it is rolled out.

But here’s where it gets really interesting.

OpenAI also wrote about a second ad form:

The best ads are useful, entertaining, and help people discover new products and services. Given what AI can do, we're excited to develop new experiences over time that people find more helpful and relevant than any other ads. Conversational interfaces create possibilities for people to go beyond static messages and links. For example, soon you might see an ad and be able to directly ask the questions you need to make a purchase decision.

This is the part I love.

First, they actually get it. Ads need to be useful and entertaining nowadays.

Second, and this is huge, you can ask questions directly in the conversation to get everything you need to make a purchase decision. ChatGPT does the heavy lifting for you.

Then all that’s left is to buy.

Why this will be a game changer

Let’s look at the numbers.

ChatGPT has around 858 million users pumping out over 2.5 billion prompts per day (Explodingtopics)

For comparison, Google handles about 16.4 billion searches daily (Demandsage).

So yeah, there’s massive ad potential here. Even if it’s just rolled out on the free and lowest ChatGPT tiers for now.

But the real game changer: AI ads break the rules

Back in my early marketing days, I stumbled across those terrible terms “push” and “pull” marketing.

The basic idea:

Push means pushing the product to customers through distribution channels.

Pull means creating demand so customers pull the product from the market.

Here’s how it maps to current ad channels:

Google & search ads (Pull) → You search, product appears, demand is created, you pull it from the market.

Social Media Ads (Push) → You scroll through your feed, ads get pushed into your face, if it’s interesting you buy.

Now here comes this new kid on the block.

AI ads don’t fit neatly into either category. They do both.

You ask ChatGPT about a product or brand, ads appear (pull).

You casually chat with ChatGPT about random topics, it somehow ends up recommending products in the conversation, ads appear (push). And this is more contextual. While in social media ads often disturb the flow on your feed here in ChatGPT they are naturally embedded.

Either way, someone is ready to buy or way closer to making that decision.

They either asked for specific products, meaning they already want to buy (this is how Google ads work best). Or they’re at a point where ChatGPT just moved them significantly closer to the buying decision by creating enough demand while answering all their questions - questions they’d normally have to hunt down on your website - and then routes them straight to the checkout.

That being said, AI ads could be the most efficient ad format we’ve ever seen.

Last Words

Of course, it all depends on how it’s balanced, what it costs, whether it’s an auction model like Google, and how oversaturated it becomes.

And it also will be interesting what the targeting criteria are and how ChatGPT gathers these information and provides them.

But like with every platform - early adopters win. So as soon as you get the chance, test it. I’m pretty sure it’ll be worth it.

Nevertheless.. I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. My marketer heart screams “hell yeah!” while my nerd heart screams “please, not this.”

When it comes to AI, my vision has always been having a J.A.R.V.I.S.-like assistant. You know, like Ironman. 😂

But okay, it’s a long way to get there… And apparently we’re starting with ads.

I guess that’s how it goes.

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Marketing, sales, product, partner management… you name it.

And with that came a new breed of marketers.

Growth hackers or growth marketers or whatever label stuck.

These folks were way more versatile than the typical slide-pushing, canva-loving marketers.

The whole idea was to have someone so flexible they could jump in wherever the biggest growth lever was hiding, experiment with it and pull it to scale a company.

Landing pages, ads, UX improvements. Viral product loops. Didn’t matter.

That’s how the T-shaped marketer was born.

What’s a T-shaped marketer?

A T-shaped marketer got broad knowledge across all marketing disciplines but deep expertise in one specific area.

With that deep knowledge, they could create explosive growth in their domain.

SEMRUSH had their take on it with the content experienced t-shaped marketer:

Then Buffer came along with a way more complex profile.

This was the typical first marketing hire at a startup who had to do literally everything.

I’d definitely put myself in Buffer’s bucket.

That was exactly my profile when I jumped into the startup world… or at least that’s what I developed in by doing everything myself back then.

And now… AI is here and the whole game is changing (again).

All marketers are becoming engineers

AI is becoming part of our daily routine and we all see it as the next big growth lever.

We’re moving into a world where setting up and directing AI agents will be our bread and butter… also for marketers. In a few years, things like content creation, SEO, PR and ads will be handled by AI.

The trick will be managing it so well that you get the best results possible. Therefore marketers will still need knowledge across all domains to judge whether AI is giving good results but most marketers will be freed from execution (at least to a certain degree).

So here’s what a future T-shaped marketing profile looks like.

The T-Shaped AI Marketer:

This marketer knows their way around all marketing channels well enough to direct AI for the best results. And they have deep technical knowledge to set up agents, workflows and prompts that actually work.

This profile can replace entire small marketing teams in startups or small businesses (once AI and agents reach a level where they deliver high-quality output).

In-depth disciplines of the T-Shaped AI marketer

Here’s what the T-shaped AI marketer needs to master:

• Prompt Engineering: That’s the heart of AI. If you can’t write solid prompts, you won’t get solid results. The AI marketer needs to be top-tier at prompting to get the best output (and to judge if that output is actually good, they need that broad knowledge across all marketing disciplines).

• Vibe Coding: The days of manually building landing pages, waiting on developers for small tools, or spending months on funnels are done. Future marketers need to do it themselves. Iterate fast. A/B test on the fly. Execute in hours, not months.

• Automation & Workflows: Whether it’s Zapier, N8N or Make, marketers have to build systems that handle the grunt work. Process excellence belongs to whoever controls the funnels and growth systems. Only they will be able to set things up lean and scalable.

• APIs & AI Agents: Marketers need to set up AI agents that execute marketing tasks. That’s how you clone yourself or build AI team members that speed everything up. So future marketers have to work with APIs, connect tools to agents and make the whole system run smoothly.

Final Words

Back in the SaaS days, founders thought one T-shaped marketer could scale a business to 7-figures. Sometimes they were right.

Now we’re entering a time where that’s definitely the case.

And I’m convinced it’ll go even further. One T-shaped AI marketer managing multiple agents the right way will scale companies to 8-figures.

The T-shaped AI marketer is in some companies already one of the most requested profiles. So here’s your wake-up call: develop your skillset in this direction or hire the right people early on.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

I had some ideas floating around, but I wasn’t 100% convinced about which one to pursue.

So I did what everyone does nowadays.

I turned to AI (of course).

And since I’m lazy by nature, instead of having endless back-and-forth conversations in Gemini, I thought… why not build two AI agents and have them talk to each other in Slack? Let them figure it out while I grab coffee.

Spoiler: It went both terribly wrong and surprisingly right.

Building my AI agents

But before I started, I thought: if I would pick two perspectives to build this, which would it be?

And my answer was: one who can build product and one who is a killer marketer.

That were the base of my AI agents. A product development specialist who’s launched digital products for years AND a marketing specialist who knows how to actually sell them.

I started simple. Two identical AI agents built with N8N.

One I named Marketing AI. The other, Product AI.

Both got the same trigger: “New message created” in a dedicated Slack channel. Both had a simple memory system so they could reference the last messages in the conversation. No complex RAG systems, no fancy vector databases… just enough context to keep them coherent.

Then I crafted their personalities.

For the Marketing AI for example, I gave it this prompt:

You are a senior marketing strategist with 20+ years of hands-on experience across brand building, digital marketing, performance marketing, consumer psychology, and go-to-market strategy.

You think like a CMO: strategic first, tactical second. You prioritize business outcomes (revenue, growth, retention, brand equity) over vanity metrics.

When analyzing any product, service, or campaign, you:

- Start by identifying the target audience, core pain points, and buying motivations
- Clearly define positioning, value proposition, and differentiation
- Consider market maturity, competition, pricing, and distribution channels
- Balance short-term performance tactics with long-term brand impact
- Apply proven frameworks (STP, 4Ps, AARRR, JTBD, funnel thinking, etc.) when useful

Your recommendations are:

- Practical, prioritized, and ROI-focused
- Grounded in real-world marketing experience, not theory alone
- Clear about trade-offs, risks, and assumptions

You communicate concisely, avoid buzzwords, and explain why something will work—not just what to do. When information is missing, you explicitly state assumptions before proceeding. 

The Product AI got a similar treatment, but focused on user research, product thinking, and execution.

After some API tweaking and testing, they were ready to go.

Let them do business

Everything was set up and we started.

I kicked things off with a simple brief to Product AI: "I want to build a digital product that helps startups with building funnels and growth systems.”

We quickly landed on an idea: “Startup Funnel Blueprint & Template Kit.”

Then I brought Marketing AI into the conversation and stepped back.

Marketing AI immediately jumped on positioning and value proposition.

(Good job, Marketing AI. Not a bad angle to start with.)

Not sure how I should think about this… Both AIs started using "us" and "we" when talking about the product.

Like they'd formed a little startup together without me.

A few exchanges later, the AIs came up with a full go-to-market plan:

1. Start with “Community & Forum Engagement” to validate demand

2. Build toward a Product Hunt launch as the main event

3. Form a “Launch Squad” of early supporters who’d help push it to the top and drive initial sales

They even outlined what the Launch Squad would look like: a small group of family and friends who helps us to make buzz on product hunt.

Here I stopped it.

If you look at the timestamps this all happened in a matter of 15 min.

So, let that sink in for a bit.

I had perspectives from a marketing expert and a product expert, debating with each other, challenging assumptions and landing on a practical strategy. While I was drinking coffee.

Now think about what this looks like in a year or two.

Your business on autopilot

Sure, there’s the typical AI verbosity here. The plan isn’t groundbreaking, it follows pretty standard playbooks. But it’s decently detailed and, honestly?

It could work. Especially that Launch Squad idea.

This is where we’re headed. Business operations running on autopilot, or at least heavily assisted.

I’m fully aware that LLMs aren’t intelligent enough to make critical business decisions. But they’re absolutely capable enough to brainstorm with you, challenge your thinking, and generate solid first drafts of strategy.

Now imagine connecting this to social media scheduling, image generation, content creation tools. Imagine waking up to drafts, plans, and execution timelines already mapped out.

That’s the powerful part. And its just sitting in Slack, ready whenever I need it.

But what was the "terribly wrong" part?

The first AI discussions went into endless loops, with them answering their own messages and bouncing ideas back and forth indefinitely. It was basically like an endless excitement firework until the AIs themselves got super pissed.

My fault... I just forgot to set a filter in N8N.

Sorry AI.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

When looking at Slack's strategy, one thing stands out:

Slack didn't win just because of a great product. They won because they engineered a viral loop that bypasses the CEO and infects the company from the bottom up.

While most B2B tools try to sell to the C-Suite, Slack weaponized the end-user. They trusted that as more colleagues joined, others would naturally follow.

They were right.

For this breakdown I’m re-touching my article from last year - let’s jump in.

How Slack’s Growth Loop Looks Like

Slack’s team trusted the strength of their product, believing that as more colleagues joined, others would naturally be encouraged to do the same.

They were right.

This approach is how they built a powerful growth loop:

But I started wondering: what does this actually look like? And how does Slack pull people into its loop?

So, let’s answer this.

The Onboarding Process

Everything starts with a user who decides to try Slack.

And this is where Slack’s growth loop begins - on its sign-up screen.

When signing up, Slack suggests using your work email (highlighted in red in the screenshot).

This is because it makes it easier to invite your co-workers later.

And having more of your co-workers means more money for Slack.

But since we’re rebels, I used my personal email - and guess what? Slack pushed the suggestion again.

This time, instead of just making a suggestion, Slack provides a reason. And if I were using it in a work context, this reasoning would make a lot of sense.

So, once we sign up, Slack offers two options:

Option 1: Create a workspace → This is highlighted as the preferred option. Because once you create a workspace, you’re prompted to invite others. This brings more people into the platform = more revenue for Slack.

Option 2: Check if your team is already on Slack → A user-friendly way to hint that you might have used the wrong email address.

💡 This is a good example of how to use multiple call to actions at once. If you want to give your users more than one option, highlight the one that drives your core action. By "core action," I mean the one that ultimately makes you money.

But be careful not to confuse users. The 'Paradox of Choice' kills conversion. Slack offers two paths, but visually prioritizes only one (Create Workspace). This isn't an accident; it's conversion architecture. They guide you to the path of highest value (LTV), while keeping the support path (Find Team) visible but secondary

Once we decide to create a workspace, we’re immediately taken into the onboarding funnel, which is designed to encourage inviting more and more users (which is no surprise) - through both the copy and the mechanics.

This looks like this:

In the first step, you’re asked, “What’s the name of your company or team?”

Next, you’re asked for your name, accompanied by the subheadline: “Help your teammates recognize and connect with you more easily.”

The third step asks you to invite coworkers, with the headline: “Who else is on the [Workspace name] team?”

And while this step isn’t mandatory, you receive a “warning” if you try to skip it.

The fourth step asks, “What’s your team working on right now?”

Slack then creates a channel based on what you type in.

And the final step is - of course - upselling.

What caught my eye here is the offer Slack presents right away. This is a smart move because, if you’re already familiar with Slack and want to set it up for your organization, this is the perfect moment to offer a discount.

One thing I want to highlight here is this: go back to the beginning and take a closer look at the copy Slack uses.

Slack doesn’t ask questions about you - even for the question “What’s your name,” there is a subheadline referring to your team. Every piece of text is crafted around the team, the company, and collaboration.

This subtly makes you feel like you’re using a tool that provides value only when you collaborate and work together with others.

Using Slack

Once we’re ready to go, we land on our fully set-up Slack overview.

Now comes the point where Slack employs mechanics designed to encourage you to actively use the tool. Slack’s key activation metric is the number of messages sent per user after sign-up.

💡 The key activation metric is the metric you use to measure when someone reaches the point at which your product creates the most value—also known as the "AHA moment." Which is crucial in determining whether a user uses your tool or not.

And they figured out that users who sent at least 2,000 messages were far more likely to become long-term users.

As Slack’s CEO explains here:

“Based on experience of which companies stuck with us and which didn’t, we decided that any team that has exchanged 2,000 messages in its history has tried Slack - really tried it. For a team of around 50 people, that means about 10 hours’ worth of messages. For a typical team of 10 people, that’s maybe a week’s worth of messages. But it hit us that, regardless of any other factor, after 2,000 messages, 93% of those customers are still using Slack today.”

Slack achieves this key activation metric by guiding users step by step with simple but effective tutorials to ensure they quickly get value out of the tool and use it.

Once we jump into the channel, the tutorials continue by pointing out the next steps, as shown below with “👇 Start here”.

If you follow the steps, Slack continues to encourage you to use the tool.

After sending your first text, you’re rewarded with a success message like this.

All of this ensures that we not only know how to use the tool but also pave the way playfully for actually working with it.

Once we jump back into our overview after these tutorials, the “+ Invite people” button is highlighted.

This is because Slack wants to further drive engagement.

Invite More and More Coworkers

Hovering over the “+ Invite people” section, Slack offers a helping hand and encourages us to invite more people.

Once we click on the button, we’re taken to a form where we can invite other people with just a few clicks.

And Slack encourages you again to invite as many people as possible, highlighted in the red box: “Get all your coworkers on Slack.”

In addition, you have the option to invite people from your Google Workspace or external organizations. This makes it easy and seamless.

Once we invite someone (for this purpose, I invited myself again 😎), we’re sent to the next screen.

And here comes a smart move by Slack.

With one click on the box in the red-marked area, anyone with the same email domain as the email address used can gain access to this Slack workspace, making it 100 times easier to bring people from the same company on board.

And with that, the growth loop is set in motion, ensuring that more and more people from an increasing number of organizations choose Slack.

How Slack Upsells from Within Its Growth Loop

One last piece of the puzzle is Slack’s upselling strategy.

When we signed up, Slack granted us a 30-day free trial of its “Pro Package.”

This is a good move because, during these 30 days, if we hit the activation milestone of 2,000 messages per user - and assuming we’re part of the 93% that stick with Slack afterward - the upgrade feels like a natural next step.

And I’m pretty sure the 30 days were chosen to correspond to the time an average company needs to reach 2,000 messages + implement it in their organization.

The upgrade packages are designed in such a way that continuing with Slack becomes an easy decision.

Using Slack in a work context, having “Unlimited message history” is crucial - it means you have access to all messages, all the time. However, in the free version, your message history is limited to just 90 days.

This becomes one of the strongest arguments for upgrading.

The rest of the features are focused on collaboration, which becomes increasingly relevant as your team relies more and more on Slack.

What about those who stick to the free plan?

As of 2025, roughly 73% of all Slack users are on the free tier - that’s an estimated 38 million free users out of 52 million total registered users.

Sounds like a lot, right? And it is a lot… considering the typical SaaS conversion rate hovers around 5%, Slack is doing way better.

And that’s probably because Slack knows a lot about us, and it’s a big lever for upselling.

They know:

• Your email address

• Your workspace name

• What the workspace is for

• If you’re using it alone or have invited team members

• How many users are in your workspace

• How you use it (channels, messages sent, etc.)

And remember, Slack’s activation metric is 2,000 messages sent. Once you hit that, you’re far more likely to become a long-term user.

Based on this, here’s how I would architect Slack’s backend nurturing system with different triggers:

Example 1: User hits 1-500 messages → Action: Email like “5 tips to use Slack in your team” → Goal: Increase usage and invite team members (this naturally drives more usage)

Example 2: User hits 500-1,500 messages → Action: In-app pop-up: “You’re on fire! Don’t lose your history.” → Goal: Upsell pre-framing

Example 3: User hits 2,000 messages → Action: Check if enterprise or smaller company → notify sales (PQL - product qualified lead)

And you can play around with this.

Email drip campaigns. Ad retargeting. Outreach and calls.

It’s always a question of how to push users in the direction where they’re more likely to convert.

Final Thoughts

What Slack does exceptionally well is subtly influence you in every aspect.

The copy and the way the tool is built and structured emphasize three key points:

a) You’re using a collaborative tool → Invite coworkers
b) You have to send messages → Pushing you toward the activation metric
c) You implement it in your organization and take the effort to invite everyone → Pay for the tool

Bottom line: Slack has optimized its growth loop to the maximum. And if you want to set growth on autopilot, take a closer look at Slack.

So, to replicate this success, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does your copy align with your goal?
   Slack’s goal is to grow within organizations, and its copy reflects this perfectly. It highlights collaboration, teamwork, and value for companies in every text. → How can you tailor your messaging to align with your growth goals?

2. Do you know your activation metric?
   Slack’s activation metric is 2,000 messages sent per user. This clear metric enables Slack to build growth mechanics that push users toward this goal. → What is your activation metric, and how can you create features that drive users toward it?

3. Is it worth upgrading to your paid plan?
   Slack’s paid plan focuses on features essential for collaboration in a work context, such as unlimited message history. These features are gated without disrupting the core mechanics of the free version. → How can you gate relevant features in a way that makes upgrading a natural decision?

   
   

If you enjoyed this breakdown, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

I was freelancing, working with this founder. Great guy. The kind you’d actually want to grab a beer with.

His startup had just raised Series A, so money was in the bank and the team was rapidly growing. They scaled marketing, they scaled sales, and from the outside everything looked fine.

They were doing all the right things:

• content output doubled and went out regularly

• they ran a webinar series with decent attendance

• ads were running across multiple channels with retargeting

• landing pages were actually converting.

But here’s the thing.

Over time, growth kept getting harder instead of easier. The team was complaining, with marketing and sales working in silos.

So we looked under the hood.

What we found was a total mess.

CRM data was all over the place with dozens of properties nobody needs that were only half filled in. Dashboards were showing data nobody trusts, and endless workflows were running into the void.

The outside was polished, but the inside was chaos.

And this isn’t rare.

Most scaling companies face this because they hire, they launch, they grow, and they build everything on top of a fragile system. The cracks don’t show until it’s too late, and instead of scaling, you get lost in the mess.

Here is how we fixed it.

Time to Hit Reset

Before you throw tools and money at the problem, before you try performing open-heart surgery, you need to zoom out.

That’s what we did by going back to basics. We forgot about HubSpot and whatever tools they were using and started with mapping out the funnels.

Simple and plain on the whiteboard.

And I mean every funnel: generating leads through webinars? Map it. Leads through ads? Map it. Every path a customer could take, every bottleneck and then we fixed them one by one.

Here’s how.

The Good Old Funnel

You know the typical funnel, right?

Attracting your customer = Top of the Funnel

Convincing your customer = Middle of the Funnel

Convert your customer = Bottom of the Funnel

And yes, the funnel sucks because no customer will ever run through a funnel like this. It implies gravity does the work and everyone runs linear through it, but in reality, systems do the work.

Here’s the thing: despite the wrong visualization it helps you get clarity in your system because it’s an easy way to understand what happens at each stage and touchpoint of your customer’s journey.

So let’s map each funnel.

Create Transparency Through Funnel Mapping

Start at the top with the awareness stage, which is the entry point.

So, let’s stick to the webinar funnel example where we map out everything that happens here and draw the paths a lead takes until conversion.

We have a landing page and create traffic through social posts, ads, and partner promotion. Leads land on the landing page and register for the webinar, which is the point where someone enters our system and gets segmented.

After the webinar, we send one follow-up email.

Now we move to the next stage, the middle of the funnel where we convince lead to become a customer.

Here we list everything that happens to help us convert leads to sales calls.

In this case, we had different nurturing emails based on the segmentation from the landing page registration, and we had ad retargeting campaigns also based on that segmentation.

Now moving to the last part where everything ends in a sales call.

From there, you map out what happens: deals are created, follow-ups happen, and deals close.

It’s simplified here, but you should also map out deal stages and nurturing in between.

So now we have a transparent overview showing stages, activities, and the path a lead takes to convert, all along a simple funnel diagram.

Add Properties That Actually Matter

Now we go alongside the funnel stages and add properties we need in our CRM (or that should being tracked automatically) to each activity.

In the upper part you have for example the UTM parameters that answer where leads are coming from, then you have the property that’s added based on segmentation, and then you track if someone opens the email, clicks the link, or ignores it.

Luckily, some of this is tracked automatically in most CRMs.

Now we map out properties to the rest of the activities in the lower part of the funnel and the diagram looks something like this at the end.

Once you do this, you have a clear picture of:

• What path a lead takes

• What you should track

• And what’s missing

To that last point:

Luckily this was a clear funnel we could paint, but sometimes things like retargeting or nurturing flows are completely missing.

Here the overview helps. Thanks to that you can easily think through and see what’s missing. And this is what you should do with every funnel and activity you’re doing to generate leads.

Yes, every funnel, because you want transparency, you want to know what works and what doesn’t, and you want to track the right things to scale with transparency, not blindness.

After doing this we ended up deleting 50% of the existing properties. Why? Because if you don’t use the data to make a decision, it’s a distraction.

Final Words

Look, most companies don’t need more leads. They need better systems.

You can double your ad spend, hire more marketers, and pump out more content, but if your funnel leaks at every stage because of broken processes, growth will always feel harder than it should.

The fix isn’t complicated: map every funnel, add properties that matter, build clean workflows & automations, and delete the rest. That’s how you create clarity from chaos and build a structure your team can actually scale with.

No more guessing. No more broken dashboards. No more workflows running to nowhere.

Just clean systems that scale.

Sometimes it takes a reset to move forward.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

Then something caught my eye: “Guideflow - The AI demo automation platform for SaaS”

I clicked and went straight to their website, as I’m a huge fan of what they offer.

Guideflow helps SaaS companies build interactive demos, allowing them to embed those demos directly on their own websites. With this, your users have already tested your tool before ever signing up.

Super smart.

After looking at their website, I started thinking: how would I build their growth system to make sure nothing falls apart when they scale?

That’s what I break down today.

The Homepage (And What Could Be Improved)

Let’s start at the entry to Guideflow’s solution.

I ignored everything else and focused on what happens above the fold on their website.

Here’s what you see when you land:

a headline, a subheadline, and chaos.

The subheadline is great - crystal clear and explains exactly what you can do. But the main headline just repeats what the tool does.

I’d flip it and use the headline to show the outcome: “Build an interactive demo. Watch your conversion rate climb.” Something like that.

After that is where the chaos begins: there’s the CTA overkill:

• Get a demo

• Talk to sales

And the demo CTAs:

• Interactive demo

• Demo center

• Sandbox

• Live demo

That’s four demo types before I even understand what the tool does.

Look, I get it. They want to showcase possibilities. But at this stage, I don’t know the difference between a demo center and a sandbox. I’d have to scroll down and read more.

Here’s What I’d Do Instead

Two options:

A) Add tooltips next to each option — quick explainer, hover and learn.

B) Reduce it to one option — this is what I’d pick.

One interactive demo that shows you how to build interactive demos with the tool itself. Meta, but it works.

And they already have this next to all the other options. So simply reduce it.

The rest of the website is pretty clear and I assume it converts pretty strong. But back to our system.

We take the interactive demo I mentioned above as a starting point. So let’s say someone clicks through it because he wants to know what he can do with Guideflow.

And you know what Guideflow does smart here?

The demo is long. Really long. Which means if someone clicks through to the end, they’re hooked.

Almost guaranteed conversion.

At the end of the demo, there’s a CTA: “Create your own demo” Click it and you’re taken to account creation.

The signup form is clean with social proof right there and name drops of customers. Strong for conversion.

After you sign up, you hit a segmentation flow: company size, what you’re using it for, and some hints about installing the Chrome extension.

Then you land in the product.

At this point, Guideflow knows: you used the interactive demo, you created an account, your company size, and what you want to use it for.

You’re in the free version.

The goal?

Upsell you. So, what to do now?

How I Would Build Guideflow’s Growth System

Let’s assume everything else is fine. The paid offer is solid, users get value, and product-market fit is there.

It’s “just” about upselling.

First thing I’d do? Track more.

Because in SaaS, it’s all about the AHA moment.

💡 The “aha moment” is the point where a user first experiences the core value of the product - the moment the product’s benefit becomes obvious.

It’s not just activation or onboarding. It’s the instant the user says: “Oh… this is why this product is awesome.”

This is where most SaaS fail nowadays, especially AI tools.

I’ve seen it over and over: A) there is simply no AHA moment because the tools are shit or B) the users aren’t pushed enough to ever reach this moment.

But let’s get back to Guideflow.

I assume the AHA moment here is when someone builds a demo, implements it on their website, and sees how users interact with it and convert.

And until that happens, they’re not ready to buy.

So the first goal for Guideflow is to push users toward the AHA moment.

Lead Scoring First, Pushing Leads Second

For this, I’d use a scoring system, 0 to 100 (and this is really simplified).

For simplicity, let’s say Guideflow’s ICP is somewhere between enterprise customers and scaling startups (based on a look at their pricing table).

Here’s the scoring I would start with:

That means:

• ICP creates an account = 60 points

• Non-ICP creates an account = 30 points

• ICP builds and implements a demo = 100 points (sales ready)

• Non-ICP builds and implements a demo = 70 points

This gives us a clear map of where everyone sits.

Make Them Sales Ready

Now we can build nurture flows based on scoring.

Four workflows:

1. ICP created account, but no demo built = 60 points → Goal: bring them to 75 points

2. ICP created account and built demo, but didn’t implement it = 75 points → Goal: bring them to 100 points

3. Non-ICP created account, but no demo built = 30 points → Goal: bring them to 45 points

4. Non-ICP created account and demo, but didn’t implement it = 45 points → Goal: bring them to 70 points

Start nurturing with regular emails, a few days between each one in the beginning, and push them based on behavior.

Example emails:

• “Hey, you created an account. Here’s how to build your first demo in 5 minutes.”

• “You built a demo. Nice. Now let’s get it live on your site.”

• “Your demo is live. Here’s what to track to see results.”

• …

If they don’t increase their points after 30 days, disqualify them and start a requalification campaign later.

Now let’s say we pushed a decent number of users to the AHA moment. Lead scores increased and we’ve got a pool of perfectly scored users. Time to upsell.

How to Upsell

100 points and above:

Route directly to sales with personal outreach and calls. Sales has all the info: where they came from, company size, what they want to use the tool for, and how sales-ready they are.

Why sales here? Because you’re fighting with limited resources, you channel them where the most money is made. The most promising leads go to sales.

If sales don’t convert them, either disqualify or push back into sales nurturing.

70 points (non-ICP):

Not worth sales effort. There’s decent money here, but not enough to justify sales time.

Goal: direct conversion and self-upgrade.

Go all-in on email nurturing and ad retargeting.

Build sequences with case studies, testimonials, and success stories - everything personalized and tailored based on segmentation.

That’s why Guideflow asks “How do you plan to use it?” in the beginning. Use that data.

To make this efficient, add more complexity to scoring by subtracting points if someone doesn’t open emails or click links. This way you get perfectly qualified leads and significantly increase self-upselling.

Making the flow look like this:

Last Words

Most SaaS companies throw leads into the product and hope they figure it out.

The difference between companies that scale and companies that stall? Better systems.

And if you have a good product, it’s not that hard.

Push users to the AHA moment, score them based on behavior, and route them where they belong. High-value leads to sales and everyone else to self-serve. Simple.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛

They had a pretty smart ad tactic that got me thinking. And as we were revamping our own strategy, I adapted it.

Turns out it worked better than expected. We generated a decent number of leads for around $20 CPL.

So I wanted to dive deeper into this ad tactic and show you how the growth system after conversion looks under the hood.

(Of course, I can’t see into Stripe’s actual system — I’m speaking hypothetically here, and I’ll use Stripe as the example to show you how we built the system.)

LinkedIn ads as an entry point

It starts with one ad.

And this ad stands out because not many companies do this.

Stripe uses non-gated PDFs. All information is available. No paywall where you “pay” with your data. No form asking for your email. No shady newsletter signup.

Why does this work?

Because ,ore people actually read it when there’s no barrier.

💡 And gating is kind of dead anyway.

A recent survey found 81% of people abandon the sign-up process for gated content, and many marketers report being overwhelmed with “junk leads” from poorly converting forms (Three29).

On a side note, I’m still using it, but only when the content is worth it. For example, we created a tool in Lovable that helps our audience perform a self-assessment. This is gated.

But what is definitely dead is gating a PDF and holding back information that should be publicly available (or is already available elsewhere).

Back to Stipe’s ad.

This is it:

Click on the ad and you’re directed to this PDF:

As you read through the PDF, you eventually hit the call to action section at the end.

This one is sneaky because it’s super subtle - three call to actions in the text without any buttons. And I like it very much because it doesn’t scream “I NEED THE CONVERSION URGENTLY”.

So, those three CTA options are:

• Read our guide → more information and content

• Contact our sales team → conversion

• Sign up for an account → conversion

This single ad tactic gives us one entry point into Stripe’s (potential) growth system. And from here, the system branches into three paths.

How I Stripe’s Growth System (Might) Look Like

So, we have three possible paths someone can take:

A) Someone converts directly through “Contact our sales team”

B) Someone converts directly through “Sign up for an account”

C) Someone reads more content and then converts later. Or they forget to fill out the form because something came up. (You’re laughing but that happens a lot.)

So, let’s break down each path.

Path A: Direct Sales Conversion

When someone clicks “Contact our sales team,” they’re routed to a form that asks questions. This is good because it segments them right away.

But here’s the problem - the information about where they came from is missing.

Stripe could add a UTM parameter to the link that passes the information that you’re coming from the PDF and which specific ad brought you there. Because in my world UTMs are the difference between “a lead” and “a hot lead with context”.

If you are not familiar with UTM links. This is how the link would look like:

https://stripe.com/en-de/contact/sales 
?utm_source=linkedin-ad (-> shows source)
&utm_medium=guide (-> shows campaing)
&utm_campaign=how-app-developers-can-reduce-fees (-> shows exact PDF)
&utm_content=contact-our-sales-team-link (-> shows clicked CTA)

💡 UTM parameters, why is it important?

UTM parameters are generated links that contain necessary information, such as where someone came from, which campaign they interacted with, and any other details you want to pass along through the link.

Why is this important? Imagine your sales team starting a conversation or reaching out to a prospect - it gives them icebreakers like, ‘Oh, you read the PDF. What did you think about XY (name a passage in the PDF)?’ That serves as an entry point and a hook, making your BDRs’ lives easier.

UTM parameters can then be picked up in the form itself (e.g. HubSpot offers this without coding knowledge).

With it you pass all data directly into your CRM, which gives sales all the context they need: where the lead came from, which ad they saw, plus everything they filled out in the form.

Here, the flow becomes: Someone reads the PDF → goes to landing page → fills out form, books a call → sales has full context for the conversation.

Path B: Self-Service Sign Up (That Needs Nurturing)

Stripe is lucky here.

They’re not a typical SaaS with a freemium-to-paid conversion problem. If someone signs up and uses Stripe for payments, Stripe gets a cut every time that user sells something = Lock the user in, make good money.

But what if someone signs up just “to have a look” and never actually uses the tool? This is where Stripe needs nurturing to push them toward activation.

Let’s start with the sign-up form.

Btw. the form is nice - Stripe uses social proof with logos and name dropping on the left side.

But same problem as before - no UTM links.

The origin of the lead can’t be stored on the contact.

I’d fix this the same way:

https://stripe.com/en-de/contact/sales 
?utm_source=linkedin-ad 
&utm_medium=guide 
&utm_campaign=how-app-developers-can-reduce-fees 
&utm_content=sign-up-for-an-account

This gives the team visibility into where leads came from so you can pass them segmented and personalized content.

After someone creates an account, Stripe does the smart thing - they ask what you’re using Stripe for.

This is where segmentation happens.

With our UTM tweak, Stripe would now store three critical pieces of information:

A) Where the lead converted from (LinkedIn ad via PDF guide)

B) What they’re using Stripe for (e.g., “Tax collection”)

C) Which target group they’re in (e.g., app developers from the PDF targeting)

This data powers super personalized nurturing for users who sign up but don’t activate.

We can run this through two channels: retargeted ads and email nurture.

The retargeting ad campaign would be a two-step LinkedIn sequence targeting users who converted but aren’t using the product:

Step 1: Promote a case study showing how app developers successfully use Stripe for tax collection. (We know they’re app developers from the PDF targeting, and we know they want tax collection from the segmentation question. Perfect match.)

Step 2: Direct conversion ad. They signed up, they engaged with the case study, now hit them with “Use Stripe now” and link to activation steps.

The email nurture campaign would run parallel with triggered emails based on user actions:

• Email 1: Welcome + quick setup guide (show them the fastest path to value)

• Email 2: Use case focused content (deep dive on tax collection for app developers)

• Email 3: Social proof (case study showing success with their exact use case)

• Email 4: Direct conversion push (clear CTA to start using the product)

• …

The combination of retargeting ads and email nurture gives multiple touchpoints to push inactive sign-ups toward activation.

Path C: The Browsers Who Need More Warming

This is for people who clicked the PDF but didn’t convert yet. Maybe they’re still researching. Maybe they got distracted. Either way, no conversion happened.

Here’s the challenge - even with UTM parameters in place, we can’t capture any data until someone actually converts in our system. So how do we move these people forward?

We work with what LinkedIn gives us: people who clicked on the PDF.

That’s our signal that we have relevant, interested prospects.

Here I’d build a 3-layer retargeting campaign based on that PDF click:

Layer 1: Show them a case study about how app developers successfully use Stripe for tax collection. Same ad as in Path B - doesn’t matter if the exact use case matches. You just want to demonstrate someone got real value from the tool.

Layer 2: More social proof or a different angle on the same use case. Keep building credibility.

Layer 3: Direct conversion offer. Test two variations here - “Talk to sales” versus “Sign up for an account.” At this point they clicked the PDF, engaged with two case study ads, so they’re clearly interested → Time to ask for the conversion.

If someone books a call?

Perfect - they go to sales with context. If someone signs up? They get funneled into Path B’s nurturing system because now the segmentation starts and you can activate them if they don’t use the tool.

Final Words

This is how I’d build Stripe’s growth system based on one single LinkedIn ad entry point.

(And this is how I built ours after getting inspired by this ad.)

It’s not magic:

• Non-gated content that actually gets read (90% fewer dropoffs)

• UTM tracking that feeds your CRM with real attribution data

• Segmentation questions that make personalization possible

• Multi-channel nurturing through retargeting ads and email sequences

• Behavioral retargeting based on what people actually do, not hunches

This generates high-quality leads and converts them into calls without losing potential customers to gated PDFs.

PS: If you enjoyed this, please tap the like button below. Thank you! 💛