In my quest to launch Chestnote successfully, I’m learning as much as I can from the companies I admire. To respect your busy schedule, I dedicated just one slide to the strategy, timing and tactics of each company to realize enormous growth. If you’re hungry for more information after reading this presentation, I encourage you to check out the sources at the end of this document. Have fun reading through the unlikely stories of some of the most successful mobile applications today! Peter * Co-founder at Chestnote (www.chestnote.com)

1. How did successful apps
reach their first 100K users?
A growth hacking case study
By Peter Wellens from Chestnote

2. Hello everyone!
In my quest to launch Chestnote successfully, I’m learning as much
as I can from the companies I admire. To respect your busy schedule,
I dedicated just one slide to the strategy, timing and tactics of
each company to realise enormous growth. If you’re hungry for more
information after reading this presentation, I encourage you to
check out the sources at the end of this document.
Have fun reading through the unlikely stories of some of the most
successful mobile applications today!
Peter * Co-founder at Chestnote

3. WhatsApp (1 billion Monthly Active Users (MAU))
Exists since 2009
Strategy: “No Ads, no Games, no Gimmicks”,“Do one thing and do it
well”
Timing: WhatsApp replaced pay-per-message SMS and MMS with a
virtually free service, in an era when smartphone usage was
skyrocketing.
Growth hack: “0% marketing, 100% product”. WhatsApp founders
famously refused to allow ads, and choose to make the product as
easy to use as possible instead. Combined with great privacy, word
of mouth (WOM) within the founder’s inner circle did the rest.

4. Tinder (25 Million MAU)
Exists since 2012
Strategy: Overcoming social stigma attached to dating apps.
Timing: Tinder launched in an era when smartphone usage was at an
all-time high in high schools and colleges.
Growth hack: Via ‘hyper local saturation campaigns’, Tinder targeted
sub-communities (fraternities and sororities) in colleges and sought
out the most popular and attractive pioneer users for their app.
This eliminated any stigma attached to the app. Tinder also hosted
‘Tinder-launch parties’ that could only be attended if you had
Tinder installed on your phone.

5. LinkedIn (860 Million MAU)
Exists since 2003
Strategy: Building a professional network based on connections.
Timing: Launching shortly after the dotcom bubble, LinkedIn was only
able to launch because its founder had cashed in with PayPal and
bankrolled early development.
Growth hack: In the early days, only successful people who were
recruiting or offering VC investment were allowed on LinkedIn. This
made the network very sexy early on. Another major hack was the
‘pending invitation’ feature, which automatically expired after 2
weeks, and activated users to return to Linkedin.

6. WeChat (900 Million MAU)
Exists since 2011
Strategy: The ultimate all-in-one app.
Timing: WeChat launched when China had 62% smartphone penetration.
Growth hack: By making other apps obsolete with their all-in-one
approach, WeChat allows users to invite other in different settings.
Together with strategic partners, WeChat gives away tons of free
merchandise to push adoption of new features. For example, they gave
away free money when users tried their new payment system.

7. Snapchat (200 Million MAU)
Exists since 2011
Strategy: A more natural way of communicating, without any clutter.
Timing: At the beginning of the Internet everyone decided everything
should stick around forever. Snapchat made communication more human,
giving people a sense of privacy when these concerns were growing.
Growth hack: Not college, but high school is where the app really
took off. It allowed people to text without parental ramifications,
which quickly popularized the app for 13 to 21 year olds. Facebook’s
attempt to enter the market with ‘Poke’ in 2012 backfired, and
fueled the popularity of Snapchat. And sexting, of course.

8. Slack (1 Million Daily active user (DAU))
Exists since 2013
Strategy:“Be harsh in the interest of being excellent”,“Core
features: search, synchronization and sharing”
Timing: Slack created a market where one really didn’t exist before,
that of internal team communication.
Growth hack: 10 companies tried Slack in beta, assuring 15.000
initial users. Later on, Slack identified it’s ‘magic number’ and
stimulates users to achieve it. Users who send 2.000 messages on
Slack are 93% likely to become a paying user. In the app, ‘hooks’
(push notifications) get users to invest time on Slack projects.

9. Chestnote (? DAU)
Exists since 2015 (interested to test our application on iOS?
Testers can apply via peter@chestnote.com)
Strategy: “Zen-design”,“Context over content”,“Make messages matter”
Timing: Chestnote launches a slow messaging service at a time when
smartphone users are over encumbered with instant messages. A focus
on meaning and emotion in messages is key for Chestnote.
Growth hack: A flawlessl and easy onboarding experience. A number of
international communities, who share Chestnote’s values, get to use
the app before launch, in order to kickstart user acquisition.

10. Sources
Expandedramblings.com
Qz.com
Venturebeat.com
Parantap.com
A16z.com
Growthhackers.com/growth-studies → I highly recommend
checking this link if you liked this presentation.