Not all signups are created equal.

VIPhawk
VIPhawk
Aug 27, 2017 · 2 min read

I was standing in line at a coffee shop.

It was a few months after launching my startup — long before we raised funding or leased an office — so I was still hopping around coffee shops to use as makeshift workplaces. I glanced down at my phone, because the thought of small talk with strangers is terrifying. Growth was steady so far, so there was usually some news (good or bad) waiting for me on my two-generations-old iPhone whenever I happened to glance down.

When we were newly launched, I had written a hacky function to send me an email every time someone new signed up. This amounted to dozens of emails every day, so I was more or less blind to them as they streamed in, but at this point was too lazy to turn the function off.

But in a moment of serendipity, as I glanced down, I noticed the most recent signup was from a prominent blogger with a huge online following. I just happened to recognize his name and email, so as I inched along the coffee line, I immediately sent him an outreach email saying hello and offering sample product for him to review.

That blogger ended up writing us a fantastic review that generated a ton of revenue, which came at just the right time. But what if I hadn’t happened to glance down? Or if the line had been faster? Or if I hadn’t followed up in the moment when we’d piqued his interest?

Turns out, almost everyone I know who’s built an audience — for their startup, blog, podcast, band, or otherwise — has a similar story. It turns out that not all signups are created equal, and some people are more valuable to your growth than others.

After my startup was acquired, I thought about what I could build to help audience-builders. I realized that actually, this single moment of serendipity was one of the most important factors in our success — and I could have easily missed out.

This story, and the countless stories just like it I’ve heard, inspired me to build VIPhawk.

At VIPhawk, our mission is to scale serendipity.

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VIPhawk

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