Discord doing things that don't scale

In the crowded landscape of communication platforms, Discord has emerged as a dominant force, boasting hundreds of millions of users worldwide. But in 2015, it was just another startup with a dream. The journey from obscurity to ubiquity wasn’t paved with massive marketing budgets or celebrity endorsements. Instead, Discord’s early growth came from something much more personal and unscalable: direct engagement with potential users on Reddit, particularly in gaming communities.

The Origin Story

Discord was founded by Jason Citron, who had previously created and sold OpenFeint, a social gaming platform for mobile games. After his second gaming studio, Hammer & Chisel, struggled to gain traction with their game Fates Forever, Citron noticed a significant pain point among gamers: the existing voice chat options were cumbersome and unreliable.

“During the development process, I noticed how difficult it was for my team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV,” Citron explained in interviews. The available communication tools were either resource-intensive, complicated to set up, or simply unreliable during crucial gaming moments.

This observation led to a pivot that would change everything. Instead of continuing to develop games, Citron and his team decided to focus on solving this communication problem. Discord was born as a lightweight, reliable voice chat application specifically designed for gamers.

The Reddit Strategy

With the product built, Discord faced the classic chicken-and-egg problem that plagues many communication platforms: without users, the platform has little value, but attracting users to an empty platform is extremely difficult.

Rather than pursuing traditional marketing channels, Citron and his team took an approach that couldn’t possibly scale but proved incredibly effective for getting those crucial first users. They decided to focus intensely on a specific community where they knew their product would resonate: gamers, particularly those playing Final Fantasy XIV, an online multiplayer game that required significant coordination between players.

The tipping point for Discord came through Reddit, specifically the Final Fantasy subreddit. The Discord team connected with a member of this community and asked if they would mention the new platform. This wasn’t a paid promotion or influencer marketing in the traditional sense—it was simply reaching out to a community member who might find value in their product.

This community member posted something along the lines of, “Has anyone ever heard of this new voice over IP app called Discord?” It was a simple, unassuming post that could have easily disappeared into the vast sea of Reddit content. But what happened next changed everything.

The Comment That Changed Everything

A few curious Redditors saw the post and decided to check out Discord. What made the difference wasn’t just that they tried the platform—it was what happened when they did.

When these early adopters joined Discord, they found something unexpected: the developers themselves were there, actively using the platform and ready to engage. These Redditors had conversations with the Discord team, asked questions, and provided feedback directly to the people building the product.

One of these early users then returned to the original Reddit thread and left a comment that would become a miniature inflection point in Discord’s growth trajectory: “I just talked to the devs, they’re in there. It’s really cool. Check it out.”

This single comment sparked a chain reaction. More users from the Final Fantasy subreddit flowed in, curious about this platform where they could actually interact with the developers. They too found value in the product, told their friends, and the growth began to snowball.

The Feedback-First Approach

What made Discord’s Reddit strategy particularly effective wasn’t just about where they promoted the platform, but how they engaged with potential users. As Citron later explained, “The unlock for us was inviting people to give feedback on the app, as opposed to saying, ‘Try this thing out we’re selling to you.'”

This feedback-first approach created a virtuous cycle. By actively seeking and implementing user feedback, Discord rapidly improved in ways that directly addressed the needs of its target audience. This in turn made the platform more valuable to new users, accelerating adoption.

The Discord team didn’t just passively collect feedback—they were actively present on their own platform, engaging directly with users. This level of engagement couldn’t possibly scale as the user base grew into the millions, but it was crucial for building the initial community and establishing Discord’s reputation as a platform built by gamers, for gamers.

From One Subreddit to Millions of Users

From that initial traction in the Final Fantasy subreddit, Discord’s growth expanded organically to other gaming communities. “It sweeps through the school, then it turns sweeping through other high schools in Orange County, then it moves up the state,” Citron described of a similar viral growth pattern.

By December 2015, just months after that pivotal Reddit comment, Discord had grown to over 2,000 users. By January 2016, they reached 20,000 users, and by April of that year, they hit the 100,000 user milestone.

This growth wasn’t driven by traditional marketing tactics but through word-of-mouth within gaming communities. Discord had found a growth strategy that leveraged the interconnected nature of gaming communities—once a few members of a gaming group adopted Discord, the rest would follow to stay connected.

The Grassroots Distribution Model

Discord had discovered a grassroots distribution model that was particularly effective for their product. By focusing intensely on making the platform perfect for a specific group of users—gamers who needed reliable communication—they created a product that those users would naturally want to share with others.

This approach aligns perfectly with Paul Graham’s advice to “do things that don’t scale.” Discord couldn’t possibly have team members personally engaging with every user as they grew to millions, but this high-touch approach was exactly what they needed to get those crucial first few thousand users.

The strategy also embodied another key startup principle: start with a narrow focus and expand from there. As Citron explained, “We thought it made more sense to try and make Discord as amazing as possible for a particular group of people and expand from there. It just so happened that group was gamers.”

Beyond Gaming

While Discord started with a laser focus on gaming communities, the quality of the product and its user experience eventually attracted users from beyond the gaming world. Today, Discord hosts communities for everything from education to art, music, and professional networking.

This expansion beyond gaming wasn’t part of some grand master plan but emerged organically as users found value in the platform for other purposes. Discord’s foundation of user-centricity, built during those early days of direct engagement on Reddit, created a product that could adapt to the needs of diverse communities.

Lessons for Startups

Discord’s journey from a single Reddit comment to a platform valued at over $15 billion offers several valuable lessons for startups:

1. Focus on a specific community: Discord didn’t try to be everything for everyone from day one. They focused intensely on serving gamers, particularly those playing games that required coordination.
2. Be where your users are: Rather than trying to draw users to them, Discord went to where potential users were already gathering—subreddits dedicated to games that would benefit from their product.
3. Engage authentically: The Discord team didn’t just promote their product; they actively engaged with users, sought feedback, and built relationships.
4. Create value before asking for anything: Discord’s approach was to invite feedback rather than pushing users to adopt their product, creating value for users before asking for anything in return.
5. Let users tell your story: Some of Discord’s most effective marketing came from users sharing their positive experiences with others.

Discord’s Reddit strategy wasn’t just about finding a clever distribution channel—it was about building genuine connections with users and creating a product that addressed their needs so effectively that they couldn’t help but share it with others. It’s a powerful reminder that sometimes the most effective growth strategies are the ones that don’t scale.