"Build it and they will come" is a myth. Indie developers need to engineer growth into the product from day one. This guide covers growth loop design, referral mechanics with real Dart code, UTM attribution, and analytics setup — all things you can ship in a weekend.

1. Growth Loops vs Funnels

A funnel is linear and leaky: Ads → Landing page → Sign-up → Paid. When users drop off, growth stops.

A growth loop is self-reinforcing. User actions produce more users.

Content loop example: User creates content → Shares it publicly → New visitor sees the content → Signs up and creates content → Loop repeats

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Loop Type Example Key Mechanic

Viral / Share Figma share links ShareCard, social posts

Content Notion public pages SEO, OGP previews

Referral Dropbox "invite a friend" Two-sided reward

Product-led Slack free tier Freemium + upgrade nudge

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