10x Growth Four Years

A story about how GIPHY achieved explosive growth through ambitious goal setting and creative problem solving.

"We did 10x every year for the first 4 years. It went like 300,000 people, then 3 million, 30 million, 300 million. When we got to a point where we needed to hit 300 million, we knew there was no way without getting onto Facebook. But Zuckerberg had just said he would never put GIFs on his platform like 2 months before, and everyone said 'you're dead.'

We said 'no, we need to get GIFs onto Facebook.' So we hacked this whole solution into Facebook through a flash player where you could actually play GIFs. We did it and saw the 10x growth. Then next year we were on stage at F8 with Mark Zuckerberg, and he was sending GIFs on the GIPHY platform.

It really is about putting the goal out there and then going towards it. You take something no one thinks is ever going to be big, like a GIF search engine, put 10x on the board, and then figure out every possible way you can get to that 10x. That's when the creativity opens up."

12:44 - 13:22
Full video: 47:02
AC

Alex Chung

Currently the founder and CEO of GIPHY. His latest startups include Artspace, a leading ecommerce destination for contemporary art, The Fridge, a private social network acquired by Google, and General Displays a GE venture developing GE's next generation of HDTVs.

Founder
CEO