Greylock's Josh Elman on the one element all virality has in common & keys to word of mouth approach

TL;DR

Exploring the different types of virality and the importance of inception in creating a viral product.

Transcript

what I thought I'd talk about today you know we talked about launch scale it's really like how do you get something working how do you get it scaling this is just I love to talk about stuff that I'm thinking about and talking about with founders all the time whether they're the founders of the company's I'm on the board of or their founders of othe... Read More

Key Insights

• ❓ Virality is a desired outcome for entrepreneurs but is often misunderstood and challenging to achieve.
• 🍗 Inception, the moment when someone becomes motivated to try a product, is crucial for virality.
• 🤑 Building a great product and ensuring it is easy to communicate and find are essential for word-of-mouth virality.
• 🤑 Memorable and easy-to-spell product names aid in word-of-mouth virality.
• 👨‍🔬 App Store search can impact the discoverability and virality of a product.
• 🤑 Word-of-mouth virality can be engineered through a positive user experience and effective communication.
• 🤑 Leveraging strong testimonials and user stories can contribute to word-of-mouth virality.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the concept of inception in relation to virality?

Inception refers to the moment when someone becomes motivated to try a product based on word-of-mouth or recommendations. It is the core concept of virality and determining why people want to spread a product.

Q: How can a product engineer word-of-mouth virality?

Building a great product is essential for word-of-mouth virality. A product should provide a good experience that people will talk about and remember. Making it easy to communicate and ensuring it is clear and easy to find are also important factors.

Q: Why is it important to have a memorable and easy-to-spell product name?

A memorable and easy-to-spell product name makes it easier for people to remember and communicate about the product. This is crucial for word-of-mouth virality as it ensures that people can easily find and recommend the product.

Q: How can App Store search affect virality?

If a product has a difficult or similar name to other products, it may be hard to find in the App Store search results. This can hinder virality, even if the product is spreading through word-of-mouth.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Virality is a desired outcome for many entrepreneurs, but it is often misunderstood and difficult to achieve.

• Inception, the moment when someone becomes motivated to try a product based on word-of-mouth or recommendations, is the key to virality.

• Building a great product, making it easy to communicate, and ensuring it is memorable and easy to find are essential for word-of-mouth virality.