Lessons from Growing a Piracy Streaming Site
16 days ago
- #startup-lessons
- #growth-hacking
- #customer-trust
- Contemporary piracy services use ads for marketing, but the author avoided this to maintain tastefulness and attract better customers.
- Marketing relied on word-of-mouth and a growth hack involving Reddit's API to filter and engage potential customers.
- Built trust with users through transparency, personalized emails, and excellent customer service, including offering refunds without questions.
- Focused on a niche market (sports streaming) to maintain high quality and attract tech-savvy customers willing to pay more.
- Encouraged honest feedback and recommendations, even pointing users to competitors if HeheStreams wasn't a good fit.
- Implemented a referral program that rewarded both referrers and new subscribers, driving growth.
- Applied the same business principles successfully to a Mexican ecotourism business, emphasizing the importance of trust and personality.
- Reflects on the lessons learned from running an illegal streaming service, advising against the exit strategy due to legal repercussions.