I’m going to tell you something that might sound crazy. The referral program that helped us grow RemoteTeam to a 7-figure exit was a total accident. We didn’t have some grand, master-planned viral loop strategy. It was born out of desperation, a ton of mistakes, and one simple realization that changed everything.
For nine years, I’ve been in the trenches building communities. First with MovieLaLa, a movie marketing platform, and then with RemoteTeam, which was acquired by Gusto. I’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and what most people get wrong. Growing a community isn’t about shortcuts or hustle. I’ve found a simple, reliable system that works every time.
The Early Days: Burning Money and Chasing Vanity Metrics
When we first started RemoteTeam, we did what everyone tells you to do. We threw money at paid ads. We were spending thousands on Google and Facebook, and sure, we were getting sign-ups. But they weren’t the right sign-ups. They were tire-kickers. People who would sign up, poke around for five minutes, and then disappear forever. Our churn rate was abysmal.
We were obsessed with top-of-funnel growth. We celebrated every new user, but we weren’t paying attention to what happened after they signed up. We were so focused on acquisition that we completely neglected retention. It was a classic startup mistake, and it was costing us a fortune.
We tried content marketing. We wrote blog posts, created guides, and hosted webinars. We were generating a lot of content, but it wasn’t translating into a real, engaged community. It felt like we were just shouting into the void. We were getting traffic, but not building relationships.
The Turning Point: The Power of a Simple Referral
The turning point came when we were running out of money. We had to cut our marketing budget to almost zero. We were forced to get creative. We started talking to our existing users, the ones who were actually using and loving our product. We asked them a simple question: “Why do you use RemoteTeam?”
Their answers were a revelation. They weren’t using our product because of some fancy feature or a clever marketing campaign. They were using it because it solved a real, painful problem for them. And they were already telling their friends about it.
That’s when it hit me. Our best marketing channel wasn’t paid ads or content marketing. It was our own users. They were our evangelists, our sales force, our community builders. We just needed to give them a little nudge.
Building a Referral Program That Actually Works
We decided to build a referral program. But we didn’t want to make the same mistakes we made with our other marketing efforts. We didn’t want to just throw money at it and hope for the best. We wanted to build a system that was simple, effective, and aligned with our users’ motivations.
Here’s what we did:
We made it a two-way street. We didn’t just reward the referrer. We also gave a discount to the person they referred. This made the referrer look good and increased the chances of the new user signing up.
We kept it simple. No complicated rules or tiers. Just a simple, straightforward offer: give a discount, get a discount. We made it easy for people to share their referral link. We put it right in their user dashboard where they couldn’t miss it.
We focused on the right incentive. We didn’t offer cash. We offered a discount on our product. This ensured that we were attracting users who were genuinely interested in our product, not just people who were looking for a quick buck. It also increased our customer lifetime value.
The Results: From Near-Death to a 7-Figure Exit
The results were staggering. Our user growth exploded. Our customer acquisition cost plummeted. Our churn rate dropped significantly. We had created a viral loop that was feeding on itself. New users would sign up, fall in love with the product, and then refer their friends. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
This referral program was the engine that powered our growth all the way to a 7-figure acquisition by Gusto. It wasn’t some complex, data-driven marketing hack. It was a simple, human-centric approach to community building. We stopped chasing vanity metrics and started focusing on building real relationships with our users.
My Community-Building Playbook
Over the years, I’ve refined this approach into a simple, repeatable playbook for building a thriving community around a product.
Solve a real problem. Your product needs to be genuinely useful. If it’s not, no amount of marketing or community building will save you.
Talk to your users. They are your best source of feedback and ideas. They will tell you what’s working, what’s not, and what you need to build next.
Identify your evangelists. Find the users who are already telling their friends about your product. These are the people who will be the foundation of your community.
Empower them to share. Make it easy for your evangelists to spread the word. Give them a simple, compelling reason to refer their friends.
Build a community, not just a user base. A community is more than just a collection of users. It’s a group of people who are connected by a shared interest or purpose. Foster those connections. Create a space where they can interact with each other, share ideas, and help each other out.
Building a community is not a short-term tactic. It’s a long-term strategy. It takes time, patience, and a genuine desire to connect with your users. But if you get it right, it can be the most powerful growth engine you’ve ever imagined. It was for us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.