Article · ~15 min read

Growth Loops Are the New Funnels

Brian Balfour & Reforge team · Reforge Blog Free Intermediate

The canonical explanation of why linear funnels break and self-reinforcing growth loops compound, from the team that trains growth leaders at top tech companies.

  • Funnels are one-directional and decay; loops feed their own output back into new-user input.
  • Every retained user should generate the next user through content, referral, or reinvested revenue.
  • Designing loops forces you to think about defensibility and compounding, not one-off campaigns.
Open on reforge.com ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. What growth metrics should I actually track as an early-stage startup?
  2. What is a growth loop and why is it better than a funnel?
  3. When does cold outreach stop scaling, and what do I move to next?

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