Growth
Growth loop
By Rubén García · 3 min
A growth system where every new user creates the input for the next one, so it feeds itself.
Reforge popularized the concept in 2018 as an alternative to the funnel. There are four acquisition loop types: viral, content, paid and sales.
Classic example: Dropbox's referral program.
A funnel is linear: people enter at the top and some leave converted at the bottom. A loop is circular: the output of one cycle (a new user, a piece of content, revenue) is reinvested as the input of the next.
Examples: a user creates content that Google indexes and attracts new users (content loop); a customer generates revenue reinvested in ads (paid loop); a user invites others to use the product with them (viral loop).
What you measure in a loop is its speed and conversion at each step: the faster and more efficient the cycle, the more growth accelerates.
