Design product-led growth mechanics

Design growth loops and product-led growth mechanics into the product

Solo founders and growth PMs designing product-led acquisition where the product itself drives growth, not sales team.

• · Product type and core value proposition
• · Target ICP and their primary problem
• · Current activation rate / aha moment (if available)
• · Available channels (email, in-product, viral, integrations, free tools)

• · Defined aha moment (specific action where user experiences core value)
• · Onboarding flow to aha in <3 minutes (with setup wizard and empty state CTAs)
• · Activation email sequence (5-email welcome with nudges for unactivated users)
• · Viral loop design (if applicable: invites, sharing, embeds, public pages)
• · Acquisition strategy options (free tool, template gallery, content, integrations, freemium)

• · Core value proposition clear (what single action makes user say 'I get it, this is useful')
• · Team understands that activation > acquisition (growing on a leaky bucket loses)
• · Willing to focus on ONE growth lever, not all five at once

• · Aha moment is vague ('user gets value') not a specific action
• · Onboarding has too many steps before aha (users drop off before experiencing value)
• · Viral loop has no mechanism (incentive or network effect not specified)
• · Growth strategy is spread across all channels (nothing gets executed well)
• · Doesn't measure activation or retention (can't tell if growth is building on solid foundation)

• · Aha moment defined with specific example (not just 'user gets value')
• · Onboarding formula: skip email-verify screen, show wizard <3 steps, pre-populate with sample data, progress checklist
• · Viral mechanics table shows different approaches: collaboration invites, shared outputs, referral rewards, embeds
• · Acquisition strategy has options per product type (free tool for problem-solvers, template gallery for customizable products)
• · Retention and referral tied to activation (not separate from growth strategy)