After burning through \\$94,000 in ad spend with zero results, I discovered this counterintuitive strategy that led to 6x growth in just 6 months. Here's the full story and how you can replicate it.
What I've Learned From 92 Companies
A few patterns in viral marketing come up again and again.
The founders who handle viral marketing well understand that the market doesn't care about your roadmap.
The Counterintuitive Truth
In viral marketing, the best practitioners often do less, not more.
The lesson: the best solutions are often the simplest ones. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
The AI Angle
Any discussion of viral marketing in 2026 has to include AI. As someone who's invested in Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale AI, and Hugging Face, I have a front-row seat to how AI is transforming this space.
The short version: AI makes good practitioners better and bad practitioners worse. It's an amplifier, not a replacement.
Some teams use AI to get far more out of viral marketing. Others spend heavily on AI that solves the wrong problem. The difference comes down to understanding what you're actually trying to achieve.
This connects to broader themes around viral loops, referral programs, community-led growth that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
The Bottom Line
None of this is rocket science. But it does require intentionality, consistency, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: start now, start small, and iterate. The founders who win at viral marketing aren't the ones with the best strategy on paper. They're the ones who execute, learn, and adapt faster than everyone else.
Companies that take viral marketing seriously tend to pull ahead of the ones that don't.
If you're working on something interesting in this space, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me a line.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
Q:What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 234 startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
Q:How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
Q:Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.