Greg Isenberg is a multi-exit Silicon Valley entrepreneur and owner of Late Checkout product studio. He has:
- Headed Product Strategy at WeWork
- Been an advisor to Reddit
- Founded a startup, Islands, which was sold to WeWork
- Founded 5by, which was sold to StumbleUpon
Guest Author: Greg Isenberg
I figured out a playbook to make products grow REALLY fast in 2024 (especially SaaS). Silicon Valley is sleeping on this
It’s the same playbook that Alex Hormozi is using and why he wrote the BIGGEST check of his LIFE last week into a startup called Skool
My 3 realizations:
#1 – Attach the RIGHT creator
Not all creator partnerships are created equal. Hormozi & Skool are perfect for each other because of WHO his audience is and WHAT the product does.
I’ll call it what it is…his audience is mostly people trying to get rich. So, if he can find a product that enables them to do what they want. That’s the sweet spot.
Skool allows anyone to start a community + membership. So, his audience can hop on, charge a monthly fee and spread via social.
This is the important part.
It helps get his audience where they are trying to get to. The right creator partnership isn’t the biggest creator. It’s the creator partner that if ONLY they used your product… they’d accomplish their goals way quicker.
This creates the top of the funnel.
#2 – Attach a GENEROUS affiliate cut
Many startups have an affiliate program, but they need to 2x the payout and need a free trial. If you refer someone to Skool to start a community/membership (cost is $99/month), the person who refers get 40% of the referring fee.
This takes the Alex Hormozi or creator flywheel and multiplies it like crazy. Creator partnerships without a strong affiliate program is a salad without the salad dressing. And the key is a free-trial with it.
Make it easy for the second order followers to “buy” into the ecosystem even for free.
# 3 – Make it FEEL like a game
Let’s talk about how Skool probably added $30M of enterprise value in a few days thanks to a game. It’s not enough to have a creator, have a generous affiliate program, have a free trial in 2024.
You need to make it feel like a game.
Example:
Hormozi announced Skool Games a few days ago.
How it works:
The more people you refer to Skool, the higher you move up on the leaderboard. Prizes include hanging out with Hormozi IRL in vegas and getting access to behind-the-scenes content.
2600 joined in the last few days.
Each who pay $99/month for a Skool subscription to participate in Skool Games.
Imagine that. Let’s do some quick math.
That’s $99 x 2600 = $257k of MRR added in a few days
That’s $3M+ ARR.
Not unreasonable to suggest that Skool probably added $30M of enterprise value to Skool at a 10x multiple.
To summarize:
How to create grow a product (especially SaaS)
1) Attach the RIGHT creator (top of funnel)
2) Attach a GENEROUS affiliate cut with a free trial
3) Make it FEEL like a game
Happy weekend!
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Quick update:
I’m buying Skool subscriptions $99/month for people who join my paid membership. https://lnkd.in/eURBvTdZ
Join to ask me private Q&A every few weeks, monthly email on on startup ideas worth building, live events with people like Andrew Wilkinson etc. First come, first served
