How to consistently go viral (playbook)

Some takeaways:

1. There are only a few core reasons why people download apps, and they each link back to basic human motivations:
2. Finding a mate (e.g. Tinder)
3. Making or saving money (e.g. Robinhood)
4. Unplugging from reality (e.g. Netflix)
5. Optimize for the aha moment in seconds. With attention spans shrinking, it’s critical to demonstrate your core value to users within the first three seconds of using an app. This often requires ruthlessly cutting features and being creative with available APIs and mechanisms.
6. The number of invitations sent per user drops 20% for every additional year of age from 13 to 18. To maximize growth, focus on demographics with high urgency and frequent interactions. With their high social communication rate, teens are particularly valuable for network-effect products. In contrast, targeting adults often requires heavy investment in advertising to acquire users.
7. If you’re looking for a startup idea, look for latent demand: Look for existing user behaviors that are being done in a very inefficient way. If people are using a clunky method to achieve a goal, it signals an opportunity to create a more effective and user-friendly product.
8. It’s extremely difficult for large tech companies to launch hit social apps. The best apps are launched based on hunches about basic human motivations, not the kind of clear market signals and evidence that big companies require before taking new bets. Big companies also require too much process for them to keep up with the pace of iteration required to succeed. Nikita says that big companies take about 12 to 24 months to respond to competitive threats.
9. Creating durable consumer social products is extremely difficult. Nikita views it as a “black swan event” that happens maybe once a decade. While you can become skilled at making apps go viral, creating lasting engagement is much more challenging and involves a lot of luck.