David Park's AI Startup Growth Playbook

Create a brand new social media account (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) to experiment with content and bypass algorithm bias. Post consistently (1+ videos/day). Track views and engagement to identify winning content formats.

“Nowadays that's not really the case at all like there are many cases where Founders will just make one video on their Tik Tok and that video will just immediately go viral.”

Partner with a creator who resonates with your target audience. Consider creating a new account specifically for this creator to be the face of your product. Negotiate a monthly rate for a set number of videos. Test different creators and content styles to optimize for engagement.

“You can actually have a Creator just make a completely new fresh account again um and they can kind of be the face of your product.”

Develop a repeatable video format that incorporates your product in a natural and engaging way. Experiment with different hooks and angles. Once you find a successful formula, create variations to maintain audience interest. Repost these on multiple accounts. Track performance and refine the series based on data.

“The next part is turning that viral video like being able to kind of squeeze as much of the upside as you can out out of that viral video.”

Create multiple accounts on each platform to increase the surface area of luck. Post variations of your viral video series across these accounts. Even if some accounts have low follower counts, they still have the potential to go viral. This allows for more rapid A/B testing of content.

“In at our Peak we had probably seven different accounts uh seven different accounts on each platform so that there's like 24 accounts 24 videos posted every day.”

Directly ask your target users about the influencers they follow and trust. Prioritize relevance and authenticity over follower count.

Reach out to potential influencers via multiple channels (DMs, email, LinkedIn). Tailor each message to demonstrate your familiarity with their content and explain why a partnership would be mutually beneficial.

Structure deals that align incentives by tying a portion of payment to metrics like conversions or views. Begin with the full suite of offerings to whittle down to the most important offerings.

Give these influencers a good sense for what you do, then let them operate on autopilot. Good influencers will continue to create good content.

Use keyword research tools (e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush) to identify high-value keywords relevant to your AI startup. Focus on keywords with buying intent.

Develop valuable, informative content that incorporates your target keywords naturally. Optimize title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags.

Identify pages with featured snippets and create the perfect answer to 'leapfrog' other results. Snippets are the key!

Drive brand name searches by increasing surface area. More visibility will make you more legit in Google's eyes.

Take previously viewed organic content from content in first module and reuse to improve reach and performance.

Focus on what demographics work with content from influencer partnerships to better target paid ads.

Ads should have at least a 3:1 LTV TAC ratio. If they don't, they're not worth it and need to be iterated on.