The hotmail growth hack

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This is a really simple and old growth hack that Hotmail employed. It leveraged their users and grew to over 12 million users in 18 months. Willix Halim, VP of Growth at Freelancer.com wrote about this growth hack in an article he wrote. Here's an excerpt from it:


Here's the full article:
My top five "Growth Hacking" techniques
#growth hacking #growth #hack #hotmail
  • Although this share is very much appreciated, I don't know if a Hotmail growth hack is still relevant in today's web culture.
    • [1] reply
    • Sure it is. Why do you think Aweber, GetResponse, MailChimp, etc, all provide a "Powered by" at the end of all emails?

      -g
      • [3] replies
  • It was certainly a very clever idea for the time period. While it is debatable how well this exact strategy might work today, a majority of free services still implement some sort of viral friend referral system.
    • [1] reply
    • It's good to understand how the idea came about and the results it generated. As the market and the landscape change, strategies also change.

      I didn't share this so you guys could implement this in your business but rather to share the growth hacking way of thinking and approach to solving problems and achieving growth.
  • It is brilliant how analysis led to such a simple, yet effective way for Hotmail to grow. I think many people that are saying this wouldn't work today simply haven't looked at the bottom of their email lately. This works so well that everyone seems to be doing it.
  • Banned
    That's a great growth hack.

    It goes to show that being aware of all your metrics and taking immediate action on the data can lead to great success.
  • Great method, Many companies are still using this brilliant growth hack technique with different ways!
  • great job, thanks
  • some sort of viral friend referral system.
  • Let's find modern new ways to incorporate viral growth.
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    The hotmail growth hack

    This is a really simple and old growth hack that Hotmail employed. It leveraged their users and grew to over 12 million users in 18 months. Willix Halim, VP of Growth at Freelancer.com wrote about this growth hack in an article he wrote. Here's an excerpt from it: One of the first web-based email systems, called "HoTMail" originally, was launched in July 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith with an initial seed investment of US$300,000. Growth was very slow at the start as they were focused on conventional marketing strategies such as buying billboards and radio ads.