TestFlight is the New Product Hunt
“A million users isn’t cool anymore! You know what’s cool?
A thousand users.”
Call it the “Clubhouse Effect.”
The buzzy audio startup, which raised money at a high valuation a few weeks ago, has a lot going for it.
It’s an invite-only audio-streaming app where users can listen in (and join) live conversations, and it frequently hosts both tech celebrities (VCs) and real celebrities (Hollywood) in free-form discussions that can’t be found on any other social platform.
It took over the tech-Twitter news cycle during corona-quarantine, as everyone in town was looking for something new to do while stuck at home.
And it’s well capitalized for the future, as the founders seek to expand the audience from niche techies to the world at large.
With its success to date, it’s no surprise that the app has spawned a host of imitators, including apps copying a specific piece of its distribution strategy—invite-only, TestFlight distribution.
One such app that comes to mind is called Roadtrip. Roadtrip is a livestreaming audio app, much like Clubhouse, built around live-listening to music with friends. It was released on the App Store and Product Hunt over a year ago, but was recently “re-released” as a private beta, and has since begun a private invite outreach campaign to tech influencers.
It's an interesting strategy. Some say that Facebook beat MySpace because it started with a smaller, more focused audience. Or that Snap broke out due to its relentless early focus on the needs of teens.
But, we must ask, are the “laws of physics” of product growth consistent over time? Does an app that failed to take off in wide release achieve escape velocity on TestFlight? Does releasing to a smaller audience provide some magic that being publicly available does not?
Time will tell.
