The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects

by Andrew Chen

These networks often have “sides,” whether they are buyers and sellers, or content creators and consumers. Generally one side of the network will be easier to attract—this is the easy side of the network. However, the most important part of any early network is attracting and retaining “The Hard Side” of a network—the small percentage of people that typically end up doing most of the work within the community. For example, most of Wikipedia was written by a tiny percentage of prolific editors. A small group of drivers, about 5 percent of Uber’s users, carry most of the load within the rideshare marketplace—riders are numerous but engage less frequently and deeply. To attract the hard side, you need to “Solve a Hard Problem”—design a product that is sufficiently compelling to the key subset of your network. Tinder did this for the most attractive users in its network, which I’ll use as an example.