Plan<ul><li>Big launch at TechCrunch50</li><li>Hire marketing specialists</li><li>Buy AdWords and optimize landing pages</li><li>Set up affiliate marketing programs</li></ul>Results<ul><li>Economic failure. They were acquiring users for $233-$388 and selling them a $99 product.</li><li>This strategy failed because people weren't actively looking for what they were building. Search is a way to harvest demand, not create it.</li></ul>

1st Marketing plan: Paid search

Plan<ul><li>Give users better tools to spread the love & Encourage sharing</li><li>Referral program where both parties get benefits (Inspired by PayPal $5 signup bonus)</li><li>Surveys, split tests, landing page/signup flow optimizations</li><li>Big investment in analytics</li></ul>Results<ul><li>35% of daily singups from referral program</li><li>20% of daily signups from shared folders</li><li>15% month-over-month growth</li></ul>

2nd Marketing plan: Word-of-mouth

<ul><li>Understand how your product fits into your user's life</li><li>Know where your target audience hangs out and speak to them in an authentic way</li><li>Put something in users hands and get real feedback ASAP</li><li>Keep the main thing the main thing. Always focus on improving the product</li></ul>

Takeaways

<UL><LI><img alt="Dropbox startup lessons learned 2011" src="https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/dropbox-startuplessonslearned2011-111018153141-phpapp01-thumbnail-2.jpg?cb=1319110905"></LI></UL><OL><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="2" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/2-Background_ulliCofounder_CEO_Dropbox_liululliEarlier" title="Background <ul><li>Cofounder &amp;amp; CEO, Dropbox" dir="ltr">
 Background &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Cofounder &amp; CEO, Dropbox
 </a>
 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Earlier: MIT comp sci (‘05), started online SAT prep co, engineer @ startups &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Easiest way to share files across computers &amp; with other people &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Founded in ‘07, launched Sep ’08 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sequoia &amp; Accel-backed startup in SF &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Millions of users, rapidly growing &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="3" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/3-Some_context_ulli100000_many_millions" title="Some context <ul><li>100,000  many" dir="ltr">
 Some context &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;100,000  many
 </a>
 millions of users in 18 months since launch &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;No advertising spend &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hostile environment: lots of competitors, software download &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Mostly done by engineers w/ some guidance but no prior marketing experience &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="4" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/4-How_we_applied_lean_startup" title="How we applied lean startup" dir="ltr">
 How we applied lean startup
 </a>
 principles at Dropbox (sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident)
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="5" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/5-Paul_Graham_Early_and_often" title="Paul Graham: Early and often" dir="ltr">
 Paul Graham: Early and often
 </a>
 Joel Spolsky: When it doesn’t completely suck (avoid “Marimba Phenomenon”) When to Launch?
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="7" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/7-VC_There_are_a_million" title="VC: “There are a million" dir="ltr">
 VC: “There are a million
 </a>
 cloud storage startups!” Drew: “Do you use any of them?” VC: “No” Drew: “…”
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="8" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/8-Building_a_bulletproof_scalable_crossplatform" title="Building a bulletproof, scalable, cross-platform" dir="ltr">
 Building a bulletproof, scalable, cross-platform
 </a>
 cloud storage architecture is hard
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="9" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/9-ulliquotproduct_ended_up_turning_all" title="<ul><li>&amp;amp;quot;[product] ended up turning all" dir="ltr">
 &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&amp;quot;[product] ended up turning all
 </a>
 my Word docs and half my Excel Spreadsheets into 0 byte files. Needless to say, I am not happy.&amp;quot; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;From competitor’s support forum:
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="11" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/11-Dropboxs_minimum_viable_product_3" title="Dropbox’s minimum viable product: 3" dir="ltr">
 Dropbox’s minimum viable product: 3
 </a>
 min screencast on Hacker News (Apr 07): Lots of immediate, high-quality feedback
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="13" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/13-Private_beta_launch_video_12000" title="Private beta launch video " dir="ltr">
 Private beta launch video 
 </a>
 12,000 diggs; beta waiting list jumps from 5,000 to 75,000 in one day (Mar 2008)
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="14" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/14-What_we_learned_ulliBiggest_risk" title="What we learned <ul><li>Biggest risk:" dir="ltr">
 What we learned &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Biggest risk:
 </a>
 making something no one wants &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not launching  painful, but not learning  fatal &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Put something in users hands (doesn’t have to be code) and get real feedback ASAP &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Know where your target audience hangs out &amp; speak to them in an authentic way &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="17" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/17-Public_launch_Sep_2008_Time" title="Public launch (Sep 2008): Time" dir="ltr">
 Public launch (Sep 2008): Time
 </a>
 to get real &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Our Web 2.0 Marketing Plan &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Big launch at TechCrunch50 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Buy some AdWords &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hire, um, a PR firm, or a VP of Marketing, or something &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="18" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/18-Experiment_Paid_search_ulliHired_experienced" title="Experiment: Paid search <ul><li>Hired experienced" dir="ltr">
 Experiment: Paid search &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hired experienced
 </a>
 SEM &amp; affiliate marketing guy ($$) &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Picked out keywords, made landing pages &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hid the free account option for people arriving via paid search, replace with free time-limited trial &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Went live in early 2009 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="21" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/21-Experiments_failing_left_and_right" title="Experiments failing left and right" dir="ltr">
 Experiments failing left and right
 </a>
 &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Problem: Most obvious keywords bidded way up &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Probably by other venture-backed startups &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Problem: Long tail had little volume &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Problem: Hiding free option was shady, confusing, buggy &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Affiliate program, display ads, etc sucked too &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Economics totally broken &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="22" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/22-But_we_were_still_doing" title="But we were still doing" dir="ltr">
 But we were still doing
 </a>
 well…? &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Reached 1mm users 7 months after launch &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Beloved by our community &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="23" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/23-What_we_learned_ulliLots_of" title="What we learned <ul><li>Lots of" dir="ltr">
 What we learned &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lots of
 </a>
 pressure (or guilt) to do things the traditional way. But think first principles &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fortunately, we spent almost all our effort on making an elegant, simple product that “just works” and making users happy &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;And we worked our asses off &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;And hired the smartest people we knew &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“Keep the main thing the main thing” &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="24" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/24-What_we_learned_ulliMostly_ignored" title="What we learned <ul><li>Mostly ignored" dir="ltr">
 What we learned &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Mostly ignored
 </a>
 (or woefully mishandled): &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;hiring non-engineers &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;mainstream PR &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;traditional messaging/positioning &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;deadlines, process, “best practices” &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;having a “real” website &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;partnerships/bizdev &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;having lots of features &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Product-market fit cures many sins of management &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="26" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/26-Why_were_conventional_techniques_failing" title="Why were conventional techniques failing," dir="ltr">
 Why were conventional techniques failing,
 </a>
 yet we were still succeeding?
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="27" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/27-AdWords_wasnt_the_problem_ulliNobody" title="AdWords wasn’t the problem <ul><li>Nobody" dir="ltr">
 AdWords wasn’t the problem &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nobody
 </a>
 wakes up in the morning wishing they didn’t have to carry a USB drive, email themselves, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Similar things existed, but people weren’t actively looking for what we were making &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Display ads, landing pages ineffective &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Search is a way to harvest demand, not create it &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="29" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/29-Steve_Blank_Market_Type_ulliExisting" title="Steve Blank &amp;amp; Market Type" dir="ltr">
 Steve Blank &amp; Market Type
 </a>
 &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Existing Market &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Resegmented Market &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;New Market &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Marketing tactics for one market type fail horribly in others &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="30" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/30-New_strategy_encourage_WOM_viral" title="New strategy: encourage WOM, viral" dir="ltr">
 New strategy: encourage WOM, viral
 </a>
 &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Give users better tools to spread the love &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Referral program w/ 2-sided incentive permanently increased signups by 60% (!!) &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Inspired by PayPal $5 signup bonus &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Help from Sean Ellis: Surveys, split tests, landing page/signup flow optimizations, encourage sharing  big wins &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Big investment in analytics &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="31" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/31-Trailing_30_days_Apr_2010" title="Trailing 30 days (Apr 2010)" dir="ltr">
 Trailing 30 days (Apr 2010)
 </a>
 : users sent 2.8 million direct referral invites
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="32" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/32-Results_ulliSeptember_2008_100000_registered" title="Results <ul><li>September 2008: 100,000 registered" dir="ltr">
 Results &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;September 2008: 100,000 registered
 </a>
 users &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;January 2010 (15 mos later): 4,000,000 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Mostly from word-of-mouth and viral: &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;35% of daily signups from referral program &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;20% from shared folders, other viral features &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sustained 15-20%+ month-over-month growth since launch &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI><LI>
 
 <a data-slide="33" href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/33-Wrapping_up_ulliLearn_early_learn" title="Wrapping up <ul><li>Learn early, learn" dir="ltr">
 Wrapping up &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Learn early, learn
 </a>
 often &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Best practices aren’t always best &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Know your market type &amp; how your product fits into your user’s life &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
 </LI></OL>

Startup Lessons Learned Drew Houston @drewhouston 

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

startup

Startups

<ol><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/2-Background_ulliCofounder_CEO_Dropbox_liululliEarlier">Background <ul><li>Cofounder & CEO, Dropbox </a></li></ul><ul><li>Earlier: MIT comp sci (‘05), started online SAT prep co, engineer @ startups </li></ul><ul><li>Easiest way to share files across computers & with other people </li></ul><ul><li>Founded in ‘07, launched Sep ’08 </li></ul><ul><li>Sequoia & Accel-backed startup in SF </li></ul><ul><li>Millions of users, rapidly growing </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/3-Some_context_ulli100000_many_millions">Some context <ul><li>100,000  many </a>millions of users in 18 months since launch </li></ul><ul><li>No advertising spend </li></ul><ul><li>Hostile environment: lots of competitors, software download </li></ul><ul><li>Mostly done by engineers w/ some guidance but no prior marketing experience </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/4-How_we_applied_lean_startup">How we applied lean startup </a>principles at Dropbox (sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident) </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/5-Paul_Graham_Early_and_often">Paul Graham: Early and often </a>Joel Spolsky: When it doesn’t completely suck (avoid “Marimba Phenomenon”) When to Launch? </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/7-VC_There_are_a_million">VC: “There are a million </a>cloud storage startups!” Drew: “Do you use any of them?” VC: “No” Drew: “…” </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/8-Building_a_bulletproof_scalable_crossplatform">Building a bulletproof, scalable, cross-platform </a>cloud storage architecture is hard </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/9-ulliquotproduct_ended_up_turning_all"><ul><li>&quot;[product] ended up turning all </a>my Word docs and half my Excel Spreadsheets into 0 byte files. Needless to say, I am not happy.&quot; </li></ul>From competitor’s support forum: </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/11-Dropboxs_minimum_viable_product_3">Dropbox’s minimum viable product: 3 </a>min screencast on Hacker News (Apr 07): Lots of immediate, high-quality feedback </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/13-Private_beta_launch_video_12000">Private beta launch video  </a>12,000 diggs; beta waiting list jumps from 5,000 to 75,000 in one day (Mar 2008) </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/14-What_we_learned_ulliBiggest_risk">What we learned <ul><li>Biggest risk: </a>making something no one wants </li></ul><ul><li>Not launching  painful, but not learning  fatal </li></ul><ul><li>Put something in users hands (doesn’t have to be code) and get real feedback ASAP </li></ul><ul><li>Know where your target audience hangs out & speak to them in an authentic way </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/17-Public_launch_Sep_2008_Time">Public launch (Sep 2008): Time </a>to get real <ul><li>Our Web 2.0 Marketing Plan </li></ul><ul><li>Big launch at TechCrunch50 </li></ul><ul><li>Buy some AdWords </li></ul><ul><li>Hire, um, a PR firm, or a VP of Marketing, or something </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/18-Experiment_Paid_search_ulliHired_experienced">Experiment: Paid search <ul><li>Hired experienced </a>SEM & affiliate marketing guy ($$) </li></ul><ul><li>Picked out keywords, made landing pages </li></ul><ul><li>Hid the free account option for people arriving via paid search, replace with free time-limited trial </li></ul><ul><li>Went live in early 2009 </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/21-Experiments_failing_left_and_right">Experiments failing left and right </a><ul><li>Problem: Most obvious keywords bidded way up </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Probably by other venture-backed startups </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Problem: Long tail had little volume </li></ul><ul><li>Problem: Hiding free option was shady, confusing, buggy </li></ul><ul><li>Affiliate program, display ads, etc sucked too </li></ul><ul><li>Economics totally broken </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/22-But_we_were_still_doing">But we were still doing </a>well…? <ul><li>Reached 1mm users 7 months after launch </li></ul><ul><li>Beloved by our community </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/23-What_we_learned_ulliLots_of">What we learned <ul><li>Lots of </a>pressure (or guilt) to do things the traditional way. But think first principles </li></ul><ul><li>Fortunately, we spent almost all our effort on making an elegant, simple product that “just works” and making users happy </li></ul><ul><li>And we worked our asses off </li></ul><ul><li>And hired the smartest people we knew </li></ul><ul><li>“Keep the main thing the main thing” </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/24-What_we_learned_ulliMostly_ignored">What we learned <ul><li>Mostly ignored </a>(or woefully mishandled): </li></ul><ul><ul><li>hiring non-engineers </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>mainstream PR </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>traditional messaging/positioning </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>deadlines, process, “best practices” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>having a “real” website </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>partnerships/bizdev </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>having lots of features </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Product-market fit cures many sins of management </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/26-Why_were_conventional_techniques_failing">Why were conventional techniques failing, </a>yet we were still succeeding? </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/27-AdWords_wasnt_the_problem_ulliNobody">AdWords wasn’t the problem <ul><li>Nobody </a>wakes up in the morning wishing they didn’t have to carry a USB drive, email themselves, etc. </li></ul><ul><li>Similar things existed, but people weren’t actively looking for what we were making </li></ul><ul><li>Display ads, landing pages ineffective </li></ul><ul><li>Search is a way to harvest demand, not create it </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/29-Steve_Blank_Market_Type_ulliExisting">Steve Blank & Market Type </a><ul><li>Existing Market </li></ul><ul><li>Resegmented Market </li></ul><ul><li>New Market </li></ul><ul><li>Marketing tactics for one market type fail horribly in others </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/30-New_strategy_encourage_WOM_viral">New strategy: encourage WOM, viral </a><ul><li>Give users better tools to spread the love </li></ul><ul><li>Referral program w/ 2-sided incentive permanently increased signups by 60% (!!) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Inspired by PayPal $5 signup bonus </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Help from Sean Ellis: Surveys, split tests, landing page/signup flow optimizations, encourage sharing  big wins </li></ul><ul><li>Big investment in analytics </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/31-Trailing_30_days_Apr_2010">Trailing 30 days (Apr 2010) </a>: users sent 2.8 million direct referral invites </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/32-Results_ulliSeptember_2008_100000_registered">Results <ul><li>September 2008: 100,000 registered </a>users </li></ul><ul><li>January 2010 (15 mos later): 4,000,000 </li></ul><ul><li>Mostly from word-of-mouth and viral: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>35% of daily signups from referral program </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>20% from shared folders, other viral features </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Sustained 15-20%+ month-over-month growth since launch </li></ul> </li><li><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587/33-Wrapping_up_ulliLearn_early_learn">Wrapping up <ul><li>Learn early, learn </a>often </li></ul><ul><li>Best practices aren’t always best </li></ul><ul><li>Know your market type & how your product fits into your user’s life </li></ul> </li> </ol>

Early Marketing at Dropbox (2010)

1st Marketing plan: Paid search

2nd Marketing plan: Word-of-mouth

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