You can grow by pumping fuel or by building an engine.
Mechanic growth buys users: ads, outbound, paid partnerships. Organic growth earns them: word of mouth, content, community. Mechanic scales fast but stops when spending stops. Organic compounds but takes longer to start.
| Organic | Mechanic |
|---|---|
| Word of mouth, SEO, community | Ads, sales, paid acquisition |
| Compounds | Burns down |
| Slow to start | Instant on |
| Cheap long-term | Expensive long-term |
| Hard to measure | Easy to attribute |
Using paid acquisition to mask poor retention. The CAC goes up, the numbers look fine, then the bill comes due.