> Skip to content
  • Published: 7 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473575608
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

The Cold Start Problem

Using Network Effects to Scale Your Product




From Airbnb to Uber, a revelatory exploration of how hidden networks can turbo-charge businesses – from one of Silicon Valley’s best-respected investors

'A true Silicon Valley insider' Wired

Why do some products take off? And what can we learn from them?

The hardest part of launching a product is getting started. When you have just an idea and a handful of customers, growth can feel impossible. This is the cold start problem.

Now, one of Silicon Valley's most esteemed investors uncovers how any product can surmount the cold start problem - by harnessing the hidden power of network effects. Drawing on interviews with the founders of Uber, LinkedIn, Airbnb and Zoom, Andrew Chen reveals how any start-up can launch, scale and thrive.

  • Published: 7 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473575608
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

About the author

Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen is best known for his newsletter on tech and business, which has grown to nearly 200,000 followers in just over two years. He is currently a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, the investment company behind Twitter, Airbnb, Github, Lyft and Skype. He was formerly head of rider growth at Uber, where he oversaw an increase from 15 million to 100 million active users of the platform.

Praise for The Cold Start Problem

A true Silicon Valley insider

WIRED

Chen walks readers through interviews with 30 world-class teams and founders, including from Twitch, Airbnb and Slack, to paint a picture of what it takes to turn a start-up into a massive brand

TechCrunch

Articulates the stages that every product must go through to be successful . . . and illustrates what companies need to do to achieve the

Forbes