The Cold Start Problem
Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product
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The Cold Start Problem
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Narrated by:
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Andrew Chen
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By:
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Andrew Chen
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
A transformative guide to growing any business, from one of Silicon Valley's most esteemed investors.
Why do some products take off? And what can we learn from them?
The hardest part of launching a product is getting started. When you have just an idea and a handful of customers, growth can feel impossible. This is the cold start problem.
Andrew Chen has a solution. As a partner at the pre-eminent VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, he has invested in some of the world's fastest-growing companies. Along the way, he's become one of the most renowned bloggers in tech - hailed by Wired as a 'true Silicon Valley insider'.
Now, Chen reveals how any organisation can surmount the cold start problem. His solution lies in the network effect: the way a service improves as more people sign up. It means that today's leading products - from Wikipedia to to WhatsApp - get more powerful with every additional user.
Drawing on interviews with the founders of LinkedIn, Zoom, Uber, Dropbox, Tinder, Airbnb and more, Chen unpicks how to start and scale these network effects. He reveals how to build an 'atomic network' that is just big enough to sustain itself. He uncovers how to spot the tipping point after which growth takes care of itself. And he explores why some big companies manage to sustain viral network effects for years (while others quickly stop growing).
The result is a one-stop guide to scaling a product, road-tested at some of the world's most valuable companies.
©2021 Andrew Chen (P)2021 Penguin AudioRelated to this topic
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What listeners say about The Cold Start Problem
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-03-24
Most comprehensive writing on Network Effects and Marketplaces
I'm head of product at Boardroom, a dating app for professionals. Andrew's writing helped me understand how to prioritize growth, by focusing on the quality of our atomic networks. We now track zero rates and virality factors for cities to measure their health - ans we've already seen massive value unlocks as a result.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- srivatsa
- 12-19-21
Best book of the year!!
Must read for folks who want to understand network effects in detail. Excellent story telling and enjoyed listening to every chapter. As a growth marketing professional have a very high regard to Andrew and this book is Andrew Chen classic!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 07-26-22
A must read for modern tech companies
In my experience, entrepreneurs that fail to understand network effects are at a huge disadvantage.
That’s why I love this book. It offers a language to hold more sophisticated conversations about network effects, introducing terms like “zeros”, “atomic networks” and prying apart acquisition, engagement and economic effects.
Well done Andrew on a great piece of work.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-18-22
Entertaining but too biased on Uber's experience
I did enjoyed hearing this book but I had trouble believing all of the author stories. Seems too good to be true from my side.
Please note that I don't believe there is a differential value proposition on Uber ride business, so I might be biased as well.
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