Distribution plays · № 5 of 7 · borrows your users’ feeds
Build something users want to show off
Ship results that flatter the user — identity, not features. “Everyone wakes up wanting to look good. That desire can become your distribution.” They post; your product tags along.
What the evidence says
There’s a named 4-layer build: track events year-round → aggregate → present → distribute (push/email). Pick only 3–5 identity metrics — “You’re in the top 8%” beats “Powered by [product]” — and you need ~6 months of history before the first recap. Trophy guidevendor
The catch
This play amplifies traction; it doesn’t create it. No recurring users, nothing to recap. Two subtler traps: data errors in a personal recap are reputationally embarrassing, and comparative rankings can demoralize your low-engagement majority.
The cheap test
Search your support inbox and social mentions for what users already screenshot. Wordle’s share grid was built after Josh Wardle noticed players sharing emoji grids by hand — 90 → 300,000 players in two months, then 2M weekly.
First steps, from the essay
- Find the output or milestone users would screenshot (support inbox and social mentions hold the clues)
- Make it about identity, not features
- Design for sharing: brand subtly — nobody shares logos, they share wins
- Add a share button that pre-fills the post; extra taps cost shares
- Build yearly/monthly recaps if the product has recurring usage
The cast
- 2025: 200M engaged users within 24 hours; shared 500M+ times
- Time-bound by design — annual recaps create waves, not trickles
- The New York Times bought it for “low seven figures”
- Ships its own yearly recap in November, deliberately ahead of December’s wave
- 5M+ Duolingo users hold year-plus streaks and post them unprompted; Strava floods Instagram every December
- The Cold Start Problem: why networks and shareable loops beat paid acquisition