How Did Five Invites Grow Instinct With No Ads?

Noah Shinn believes Instinct is growing about 10 or 11 percent day over day, and marketing spend so far is $0. Instinct is invite-only, and every user gets five invites.

The rollout started with 200 people. The count then moved to about 205, then about 210, as a couple of people each shared it with one person. Daily growth sat around 1 percent, then 2 percent, then 3 and 4 percent. Once the user base hit a couple thousand, people started posting use cases online, and the rate climbed through 6, 7, 8, and 9 percent to about 10 or 11 percent day over day. Every day, about 10 percent of the audience, or slightly less because one person can refer multiple people, gives up one of five invites.

People email, a bit ashamed, to ask for an invite because a friend has Instinct and they are not sure they make the list of five. Others brag that three invites are left and they are holding on. Some invites were selling on eBay for about 300 bucks.