The Cold Start Problem
by Andrew Chen · first published 2021
73% recommend27% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains how to launch network-effect products and two-sided marketplaces, with case studies and strategies for the hard and easy sides. Suits founders of networked or community products. By an ex-Uber growth lead.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…and contribute. It is the most difficult part of most software projects and especially social ones. Every HN-like project needs to have a plan around this. Andrew Chen explains it well in his book “The Cold Start Problem”.
on “"Hacker News" for retro computing and gaming” ↗Fwiw, Andrew Chen led Uber's Rider Growth when the company was in hypergrowth. His book, The Cold Start Problem, is great, and anyone building a two-sided marketplace should read it. This guy knows referral programs. Highly credible advice. Probably one of the best business books I ever read: https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Start-Problem-Andrew-Chen/dp/006...
on “How to design a referral program” ↗Bingo. Andrew Chen, formerly of Uber, says exactly that in his excellent new book The Cold Start problem. The driver side is the hard side of the market and must be constantly tended.
on “Uber and Lyft’s new road: Fewer drivers, thrifty riders and jittery investors” ↗read andrew chen's book Cold Start Problem.. tackles this on all possible angles.
on “Ask HN: How to solve the cold start problem for two-sided marketplace?” ↗The Cold Start Problem, by Andrew Chen, devotes a chapter to this as a case study. I don’t recall it covering these negative aspects, which are obviously important to consider. Still a great book for startup growth ideas though.
on “Insider Trading at Coinbase” ↗…implementation in nature) are a) achieving network effects [1], and b) solving the Eternal September problem [2]. Both these hurdles are much more strategic than technical in nature. Andrew Chen's "The Cold Start Problem" goes into some fascinating detail about this [3]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September 3. https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Start-Problem-Andrew-Chen/dp/006...
on ““Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with diverse viewpoints”” ↗+1 to @sillysaurusx's comment. I'd like to add on a recommendation to read The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen. It goes into the trials and tribulations of creating a product dependent on network effects. More than just a problem of no longer having an "artificial" influx of users via HN, you…
on “Show HN: I made Hacker News but for research papers” ↗* Crossing the Chasm * The Mom Test * The Almanack of Naval Ravikant * The Cold Start Problem
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗…building the product than marketing it, I found the following recent reads helpful in achieving a balance: 1. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore - making your product work for the masses 2. The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen - achieving escape velocity, getting viral referral traffic 3. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - it might seem a bit gimmicky but negotiation always comes off gimmicky Motivational…
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗The Cold Start Problem? I have listened to it on Audible 3 times. It’s on par with Zero to One in terms of an important startup book (imho). Chen goes in to strategies for building the hard side and easy side of a new marketplace.…
on “Launch HN: Certainly Health (YC S23) – Book doctors without surprise bills” ↗…then expand. - See if you can engage any local groups which might engage with the idea - I could see local city/town facebook groups liking this. Or maybe on nextdoor.com. - Check out the book "The cold start problem" by Andrew Chen. He goes into many examples of lots of companies that had this issue and how they over came the issue and got their first customers - http://andrewchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ColdStartPr...
on “Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users” ↗The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen, if your startup idea is in the "networked product" domain. I have re-read that book 3 times now, its that good
on “Ask HN: Must-Read Books for Startups?” ↗…thoughtful comment! I used to share some of your skepticism — a lot of network visualizations do feel like scientistic performance art. That started to shift for me after discovering NFX and reading The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen. I began thinking more seriously about network effects when I applied for my first U.S. patent after leaving JP Morgan Chase, where I spent 14 years in technology, leadership, and innovation.…
on “Show HN: I built a biological network visualization tool” ↗Great read, I didn't know about the Swiss approach to infrastructure projects, but I like it. In a sense, it's how successful networks are built: slowly, but steadily. I'm reminded of the Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen, where he states that starting at a smaller scale, you'll get a small network with more engagement that you can sustainably grow over time, whereas large companies that roll out a networked…
on “Swiss vs. UK approach to major tranport projects” ↗The Cold Start Problem is informative and a great read. Not only is it great about its subject matter, but it is a rarely non-self-aggrandising business book. It's about solving a particular problem, not the usual "Look what…
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?” ↗