Market SelectionProven Pattern

Build tools around emerging platforms during their viral growth phase for optimal distribution

When a new platform goes viral there is a brief window where people are interested but confused. Building tools during this phase lets you ride the distribution wave.

When to use

When a new platform or technology is generating buzz but mainstream adoption has not happened yet

Don't do this

Waiting until the platform is mature and competitors have established themselves

11 Founders Who Did This

1
Faceless Videoby Jacob and Alex

Noticed faceless videos going extremely viral on TikTok algorithm, identified that consistency was the main pain point, realized with tech advancements these videos could be automated

Result:Built product around proven viral content format, reached 1.1M signups and $1M+ ARR
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2
Hide or Die, Bake a Baby, Vector 3by Cole, Ian, Jake

Built games and marketing services on Roblox during explosive growth (400M monthly users, 1 in 2 US kids under 16 playing daily, spending 2x more time than TikTok)

Result:Cole: $45K/month with 1M daily users, Ian: $25K/month with 150K daily users, Jake: $36K/month agency revenue
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3
NoteFormsby Julien Nahum

Built form builder for Notion within 6 days of their API release, tapping into existing large Notion community with dedicated subreddit and Facebook groups

Result:Rapid user acquisition by cannibalizing platform's existing community instead of building from scratch
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4
Superpower ChatGPTby Saadi

Built ChatGPT extension within 2-3 days of ChatGPT's public launch in late 2022, when the platform was going viral and people were interested but confused about how to use it effectively

Result:Grew to 270K downloads and 150K weekly active users by riding ChatGPT's viral growth wave
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5
Finn versus Finnby Alex

Targeted telemedicine platforms during their viral growth phase when they were raising massive VC rounds but had no online reviews or comparison content

Result:Won search rankings for brand names and comparison queries without needing domain authority, built 7-figure revenue business
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6
Puff Countby Steven Cravotta

Targeted young vapers who were most active on TikTok, where vaping content was already going viral with 20M+ views

Result:TikTok drove tens of thousands of downloads, 75M+ organic views, and 120K followers
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7
AllGPTs / Directory portfolioby John Rush

Built AllGPTs directory in 2 hours during OpenAI Custom GPT announcement. Builds directories around emerging tools and platforms (LLMmodels.org, BestAIagents.org) during their viral growth phase

Result:AllGPTs reached 2M+ visitors by riding the GPT wave. Directory portfolio captures traffic from emerging tech categories
8
Influence Gridby Andy Cloke

Used Exploding Topics to spot TikTok as an emerging platform in late 2019. Built Influence Grid as the first TikTok influencer directory when Instagram had many tools but TikTok had none.

Result:Reached $3K MRR within 6 months and sold for $55K
9
CodeGuideby CJ Zafir

Built documentation tool specifically for AI coding platforms during their viral growth phase (Cursor, Bolt, Lovable adoption exploding in 2024)

Result:Distribution through AI coding ecosystem partnerships drove rapid growth to $42K MRR
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10
Headlimeby Danny Postma

Built Headlime's AI features during GPT-3's viral growth phase, when the technology was new and people were interested but confused about AI applications.

Result:Captured early market share in AI copywriting. The timing advantage contributed to exponential growth and a 7-figure acquisition within 8 months.
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11
Data Fetcherby Andy Cloke

Timed product launch to coincide with Airtable opening its extension marketplace in mid-2020, entering during the platform's viral growth phase

Result:First-mover advantage led to top marketplace rankings and organic customer acquisition from day one
See Data Fetcher growth story →