Girl, the Funnel is Dead.

I’ve been thinking

Also gm, where are my manners 

But I’ve been thinking
Crypto marketing needs a systems upgrade. Funnels don’t cut it anymore, so I did some digging and I found this pretty cool article, web2 article but still pretty cool one.

And it opened with a simple challenge: Go ask five people at your company to answer this one question:

“How does your product grow?”

In theory, it should be easy. In reality? Not really

Here’s what usually happens:

• Every person gives you a completely different answer

• Some focus on acquisition. Others jump straight to revenue.

• Most answers only explain one slice of the system (usually marketing)

• A few jump straight to token price or TVL, but never talk about actual user behavior

And that’s a huge problem.

Because if the core team doesn’t have a shared understanding of how growth happens, you can’t align on goals, campaigns, or priorities.

So let’s ask it again:

How does your project actually grow?

The answer is

Growth loops.
Not AAARR funnels. Not hacks. Not “how can we get more reach this week?”
Loops. 

Systems that compound. 

Systems that scale. 

Systems that actually make sense in a networked space like crypto.

OH OH, for my multitasking kings/queens, here’s the newsletter in a yap session style

Why the funnel doesn’t work anymore

I am a big believer of funnels, trust me, in some cases they still work. But Funnels are linear. You pour users in at the top, move them through some predefined steps, and hope a few make it out the bottom with a wallet connected and a bag secured.

But funnels:

• Leak like crazy

• Don’t retain value

• Require constant top-up (paid ads, KOLs, airdrops, noise)

• Silo teams (acquisition vs. product vs. community)

They treat growth like a one way street: Awareness → Acquisition → Activation → Retention → Revenue.
Cool in theory. Don’t work well in crypto because everything is so intertwined and the user behavior changes like crazy. 

In this space, sometimes you don’t just want to convert users.
You want them to bring in the next ones. You want them to loop back, contribute again, and make the product better for everyone who comes after them.

And funnels don’t do that.
Loops do.

What’s a growth loop, exactly?

A growth loop is a closed, compounding system where every user action produces output that feeds back into the system, creating new inputs, new users, or stronger value.

It’s made of 3 parts:

1. Input – a user takes action (signs up, creates something, refers a friend)
   

2. Process – the action generates value (a post, a data point, an invite)
   

3. Output – the value reaches others and brings in new users, restarting the cycle

It’s not “acquire, retain, repeat.”
It’s “acquire, engage, leverage → acquire again.”

Think of it like a flywheel. Each rotation adds momentum. Each action makes the next one easier.

Why loops just make more sense in crypto

Crypto isn’t a traditional consumer product space. It's:

• Community-powered

• Networked by design

• Culturally tribal

• Public and transparent by default

• Built on incentives and shared upside
  

In this kind of environment, linear paths fall apart.
What you need is growth architecture that reflects how people actually behave:

They see a tweet → click → claim → brag → tag a friend → that friend joins → the story repeats.
Loop.

They join a campaign → earn → share → onboard someone else → unlock new rewards.
Loop.

They use your product → generate data → get ranked → feel recognized → keep showing up.
Loop.

How to design your growth loop

1. Start with your core user action.
   What’s the one thing you want people to do more of?
   

2. Ask: does that action create value for others?
   If yes, you’ve got the seed of a loop. If not, you’ve got a dead end.
   

3. Design for reinforcement.
   The output of each loop should make the next user more likely to act.
   

4. Measure loop health.
   Are you getting diminishing returns? Is the cycle accelerating or stalling?
   Track reinvestment ratio, loop velocity, and cohort feedback.
   

5. Don’t over-engineer.
   One strong loop is better than six weak ones. Pick the most natural fit and double down.

Growth loops make you think differently

When you design for loops:

• You stop siloing growth into campaigns, content, and product.

• You start aligning the team around systems, not sprints.

• You stop chasing top-of-funnel vanity metrics.

• You start investing in long-term network effects.
  

You move from noise to architecture. From marketing-as-performance to growth-as-design.

And in crypton, a space where user loyalty is fragile and attention is expensive, that shift isn’t optional. It’s survival.

Types of growth loops and examples (The Situational Kind)

Forget theory. Here’s how growth loops can actually show up onchain, in the feed, and inside your favorite dashboards:

1. Content Loop:  the “look at me, now look at us” model
Scenario: You launch a creator leaderboard campaign like Cookie Snaps.
Creators post content about your project → get scored → unlock a social card → share it → more creators see it → they join → more content.

Every single tweet becomes a trigger for someone else to enter the loop.
The more people flex, the more the algorithm serves it, the more valuable it feels to participate.
You don’t need to push harder, the loop is pulling new users in on its own.

• Loop = content → visibility → engagement → more content

Best for:

• Creator ecosystems

• Projects with onchain rep or engagement metrics

• Anything memetic or flex-friendly (leaderboards, achievements, roles)

2. Referral Loop:  the “bring your friends or miss out”
Scenario: You’re launching a limited airdrop with invite-only access.
A user gets in → shares their referral → both get rewarded → new user gets access → shares their own referral → and so on.

The scarcity is the incentive. The invite is the power.

• Loop = invite → reward → invite again → expand

We saw this with:

• friend.tech and invite keys

• Base’s early quests with NFT mints

• LayerZero’s OFT missions and token-gated referrals

Best for:

• Whitelist campaigns

• Tiered access platforms

• Viral launches with clear reward mechanics

3. Product Loop,  the “better every time you touch it” cycle
Scenario: You build a DeFi dashboard where the more people use it, the more accurate the data becomes.
User connects wallet → platform maps wallet behavior → improves data insights → showcases usage → new users see it → they connect too.

The loop here is product quality compounding over time through user activity.
You’re not marketing the product. The product is the marketing.

• Loop = usage → data → better UX → more usage

See:

• Dune dashboards getting copied + forked

• Cookie Snap creator scoring system becoming a social proof loop

• Zapper portfolio trackers that auto-update, encouraging users to return

Best for:

• Tooling, analytics, data platforms

• Products where usage = more value for everyone

• Systems that get better the more they’re used
  

4. Engagement Loop:  the “you came back, again?” model
Scenario: You build a Telegram bot that gives daily token trivia.
User interacts → gets a streak → climbs the leaderboard → gets a role or prize → shows up again tomorrow.
he loop is built on behavior, not noise.

Or:
In a DAO, you reward members for showing up to weekly calls, voting, or creating proposals.
Every engagement increases their stake or influence, so they stay active, which creates more social pressure for others to do the same.

This is textbook Duolingo energy but with tokenized dopamine.

• Loop = daily use → progress → dopamine → repeat

See:

• Galxe quests

• Layer3 XP tracking

• Rabbithole before it pivoted to agents

Best for:

• Any product with gamified mechanics

• Projects building habits

• Communities trying to avoid the dreaded “lurk-and-leave” cycle

5. Marketplace Loop: the “chicken, meet egg” loop
Scenario: You’re building a decentralized freelance marketplace.
The more devs that list themselves → the more projects post gigs → the more value the platform holds → the more devs show up.

Or:
Creator mints an NFT → collector buys → that transaction is featured → more collectors jump in → more creators are incentivized to launch.

The loop is about supply and demand reinforcing each other, once you hit critical mass, it feeds itself.

• Loop = more creators → more content → more users → attracts more creators

See:

• Mirror (creators minting blogs that drive minting behavior)

• Zora and its incentive system for mint splits

• SuperRare in early days with invite-only artist onboarding

Best for:

• Two-sided networks (buyers/sellers, creators/collectors)

• Protocols where content or action supply grows the user base

• Platforms that benefit from discovery and liquidity

TL;DR: Growth loops work when they’re native to the product

Don’t just slap a referral code on your landing page and call it a loop.
A real loop has:

• A clear input (action)

• A valuable output (result)

• A mechanism for reinvestment (loopback trigger)

When designed properly, your growth starts to feel like inertia.
Every user you win makes the next one easier to get.
Every post, click, claim, or comment builds the next round of attention without you needing to launch a brand new campaign every week.

Also I don’t think I have to say it anymore, in order to grow you need to track 

Anyways

The funnel had its era.
The loop is what comes next.

BYEEEEEE

Got questions? Feedback? You know where to find us 📞—we’re here to help you get organized, even if we’re still figuring out our own lives.

Until next lesson,

stay cookish. 🍪