# Growth loops Human Guide

## What This Is For
Overview Identify and design growth loops (flywheels) that create sustainable traction. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for growth marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Growth loops agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for growth loops.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Growth loops guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Designing growth mechanisms for a product
- Building sustainable viral or referral traction
- Reducing reliance on paid acquisition
- Analyzing competitor growth strategies
- Optimizing product for product-led growth
- **Mechanism**: Users create content in-product → Share on social/external platforms → New users discover and signup
- **Example**: Figma designs shared as links, Loom videos shared in emails
- **Strength**: Exponential user acquisition if content is inherently shareable
- **Challenge**: Requires highly shareable output and strong incentive to share
- **Mechanism**: User creates → Shares creation → Others consume → Become engaged users
- **Example**: Twitter threads, Medium articles, Notion templates shared publicly
- **Strength**: Growth tied directly to product usage and network effects

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, When to Use, The 5 Growth Loop Types, Viral Loop, Usage Loop, Collaboration Loop, User-Generated Loop, Referral Loop, How It Works, Step 1: Define Product Value.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Growth loops human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the phuryn/pm-skills skill entry for `growth-loops`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Growth Loops

## Overview
Identify and design growth loops (flywheels) that create sustainable traction. This skill evaluates five proven growth loop mechanisms to reduce reliance on paid acquisition and build product-led growth.

## When to Use
- Designing growth mechanisms for a product
- Building sustainable viral or referral traction
- Reducing reliance on paid acquisition
- Analyzing competitor growth strategies
- Optimizing product for product-led growth

## The 5 Growth Loop Types

### 1. Viral Loop
Product content created by users gets shared on external platforms, bringing new users back to the product.
- **Mechanism**: Users create content in-product → Share on social/external platforms → New users discover and signup
- **Example**: Figma designs shared as links, Loom videos shared in emails
- **Strength**: Exponential user acquisition if content is inherently shareable
- **Challenge**: Requires highly shareable output and strong incentive to share

### 2. Usage Loop
Users create content or value within the product, then share it, which invites new users or drives re-engagement.
- **Mechanism**: User creates → Shares creation → Others consume → Become engaged users
- **Example**: Twitter threads, Medium articles, Notion templates shared publicly
- **Strength**: Growth tied directly to product usage and network effects
- **Challenge**: Requires content creation friction to be very low

### 3. Collaboration Loop
Users invite colleagues to co-create or collaborate within the product, expanding the user base within organizations.
- **Mechanism**: User creates → Invites colleagues for collaboration → Colleagues discover product value
- **Example**: Google Docs invitations, Figma team projects, Slack channels
- **Strength**: Deep organizational penetration and high retention
- **Challenge**: Works best for collaborative/team-based products

### 4. User-Generated Loop
Users discover new content or features through other users' creations, then create and share their own content.
- **Mechanism**: User discovers content → Creates similar content → Shares creation → Others discover
- **Example**: TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube trends driving creator participation
- **Strength**: Creates content flywheel and network effects
- **Challenge**: Requires critical mass of quality content to sustain

### 5. Referral Loop
Users invite other potential users in exchange for rewards, incentives, or social recognition.
- **Mechanism**: User refers → Referred user joins → Referrer gets reward → Shares more referrals
- **Example**: Dropbox referral bonus, Uber rider referrals, PayPal signup bonuses
- **Strength**: Directly incentivizes acquisition; easy to measure ROI
- **Challenge**: Requires valuable incentive without eroding unit economics

## How It Works

### Step 1: Define Product Value
Clarify the core value users experience:
- Primary action users take in your product
- Value created per user action
- Network effects present (if any)
- Friction points in the experience

### Step 2: Evaluate Loop Fit
Assess which growth loops align with your product:
- Product type (collaborative, content-based, utility, etc.)
- Target user behavior and sharing habits
- Network effects already present
- Existing user base and engagement

### Step 3: Design Loop Mechanics
Create specific loop implementation:
- Trigger that initiates sharing or invitations
- Incentive for participation (intrinsic or extrinsic)
- Ease of sharing mechanism
- Conversion rate from invite to activation
- Frequency of loop repetition per user

### Step 4: Calculate Loop Coefficient
Estimate growth velocity:
- Invites/shares per user per cycle
- Conversion rate of invites to new users
- Net new users per cycle
- Time per cycle iteration