Offer Playbook
Top 50 startup offers that won customers
The offer is often the whole growth strategy: what a customer gets, what it costs them, and why they should act now. These 50 offers — referrals, free trials, freemium plans, guarantees, memberships and more — helped companies in India and around the world grow. Each playbook explains what the offer was, who it was for, when and why it worked, what it cost, and how a founder can run a version of it on a small budget.
The top 50, ranked
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Read the playbook
Dropbox
Dropbox Two-Sided Referral: Free Storage for Inviter and Friend
Extra free storage for both the person who invites and the friend who joins.
- Referral
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Read the playbook
Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio Free Launch Offer: How Free 4G Won 100 Million Users
A launch period of free 4G data and calls for new subscribers.
- Free trial
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Gmail
Gmail’s invite-only launch: scarcity plus far more storage
Access by invitation only, with much more free storage than rival webmail services.
- Invite-only & scarcity
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Hotmail
Hotmail’s email signature: a free product that advertised itself
Free email, with a line at the bottom of every message inviting the reader to get their own.
- Viral loop
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime: one yearly fee for free fast shipping
A yearly membership that made fast shipping free on eligible orders.
- Membership
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Read the playbook
Zappos
Zappos Free Shipping Both Ways and 365-Day Returns Playbook
Free delivery and free returns, so buying shoes online carried no risk for the customer.
- Risk reversal
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Uber
Uber’s free first ride and referral credits
Ride credit for new riders and for the people who invited them.
- Referral
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Paytm
Paytm cashback: paying users to switch to digital payments
Cashback on recharges, bills and merchant payments made through the wallet.
- Cashback & rewards
- Growth stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club: a $1 razor subscription
A very low monthly price for razors delivered by subscription.
- Intro price
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Warby Parker
Warby Parker’s home try-on: five frames, no commitment
Several frames sent home to try free before buying a pair.
- Risk reversal
- Launch stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Netflix
Netflix’s free trial month: try first, pay later
A free first month before the subscription started.
- Free trial
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Spotify
Spotify freemium: free with ads, paid without
A free ad-supported tier, with Premium for ad-free listening and more control.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Costco
Costco’s hot dog combo: a price that never changed
A food-court hot dog and drink combo kept at the same low price for decades.
- Loss leader
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Zomato
Zomato Gold: a dining membership for regulars
A paid membership with benefits at partner restaurants and, later, on delivery.
- Membership
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
CRED
CRED: rewards for paying your credit card bill on time
Rewards for paying credit card bills through the app, for members with good credit.
- Cashback & rewards
- Launch stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Tesla
Tesla’s owner referral program
Rewards for owners whose friends bought a Tesla, and perks for the buyer.
- Referral
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
HelloFresh
HelloFresh: a steep discount on the first box
A large discount on the first meal-kit boxes of a subscription.
- Intro price
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Slack
Slack’s freemium plan: free for teams until they need history
A free plan for whole teams, with paid plans for searchable history and more features.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Swiggy
Swiggy at launch: no minimum order and fast delivery
Food delivery without a minimum order value, subsidised to build the habit.
- Loss leader
- Launch stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Robinhood
Robinhood’s waitlist: move up the line by inviting friends
A pre-launch waitlist where inviting friends moved you closer to the front.
- Invite-only & scarcity
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Flipkart
Flipkart’s cash on delivery: pay only when the parcel arrives
Pay in cash at the door, so first-time online shoppers didn’t have to trust a website with their money.
- Risk reversal
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Domino’s
Domino’s 30-minute delivery promise
A promise of pizza delivered within 30 minutes, or a free pizza.
- Risk reversal
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
OnePlus
OnePlus’s invite system: phones you had to be invited to buy
The first phones could only be bought with an invite, which buyers could then pass on.
- Invite-only & scarcity
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Google Pay
Google Pay (Tez) scratch cards: rewards for every payment
Scratch cards with cash rewards for paying and inviting friends on UPI.
- Cashback & rewards
- Launch stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
PhonePe
PhonePe cashback: rewards to make UPI a habit
Cashback on recharges, bills and payments made through the app.
- Cashback & rewards
- Growth stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
JioCinema
JioCinema’s free IPL streaming
Free live streaming of IPL cricket to pull viewers onto the app.
- Loss leader
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Zoom
Zoom’s free plan: meetings free up to a time limit
Free video meetings with a time limit on group calls, and paid plans to remove it.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Canva
Canva freemium: free design tools, paid Pro
A free design editor with templates, and Canva Pro for premium content and brand tools.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
HubSpot
HubSpot’s free CRM: free forever, paid hubs on top
A free CRM for unlimited users, with paid marketing and sales tools built on top.
- Freemium
- Scale stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s Forever Free plan
Free email marketing for small lists, with a Mailchimp footer on every free email.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Duolingo
Duolingo: free lessons, paid Super
Free language lessons for everyone, with a paid subscription for no ads and extra features.
- Freemium
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Airbnb
Airbnb’s referral travel credit
Travel credit for guests who invited friends, and for the friends who booked.
- Referral
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
PayPal
PayPal’s early sign-up and referral bonus
Cash in your account for signing up and for each friend you referred.
- Referral
- Launch stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Clubhouse
Clubhouse’s invite-only launch
Membership by invitation only, with each member getting a small number of invites.
- Invite-only & scarcity
- Launch stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Superhuman
Superhuman’s waitlist and one-to-one onboarding
A waitlist with a survey, then a personal onboarding call before you could use the product.
- Invite-only & scarcity
- Launch stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Groupon
Groupon’s daily deal: big discounts that unlock with enough buyers
One deep local discount a day, valid only if enough people bought it.
- Intro price
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Starbucks
Starbucks Rewards: stars for every purchase
Points (stars) on purchases that turn into free drinks and food, tied to the mobile app.
- Cashback & rewards
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Swiggy
Swiggy One: one membership for free delivery
A paid membership with free delivery and extra discounts across Swiggy’s services.
- Membership
- Growth stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Flipkart
Flipkart Plus: a loyalty program earned by shopping
A free loyalty membership unlocked by shopping, with coins and member benefits.
- Membership
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Costco
Costco’s membership fee: the store that sells access
A yearly fee to shop at the warehouse, which keeps prices low for members.
- Membership
- Scale stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Amazon Kindle
Kindle Unlimited: read as much as you like for one monthly fee
A monthly subscription to read from a large library of ebooks.
- Membership
- Scale stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Lenskart
Lenskart’s home eye test and try-on
An eye test and frame try-on at home, so buying glasses online felt safe.
- Risk reversal
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Meesho
Meesho’s zero commission for sellers
Sellers list and sell without paying a commission on their orders.
- Loss leader
- Growth stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn Premium’s free month
A free first month of Premium before the subscription started.
- Free trial
- Scale stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
Peloton
Peloton’s home trial: ride it, return it if you don’t love it
A trial period at home with free pickup and a refund if the buyer returned the bike.
- Risk reversal
- Growth stage
- Needs capital
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Coming soon
Casper
Casper’s 100-night trial
Sleep on the mattress for 100 nights and return it for a refund if you don’t like it.
- Risk reversal
- Launch stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Coinbase
Coinbase’s referral bonus in bitcoin
A crypto reward for both the person who invites and the friend who signs up and trades.
- Referral
- Growth stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Calendly
Calendly’s viral loop: every booking link is an ad
A free scheduling link that everyone who books a meeting sees and can sign up from.
- Viral loop
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
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Coming soon
IKEA
IKEA Family: a free membership with member prices
A free loyalty membership with member-only prices and perks in store.
- Membership
- Scale stage
- Medium effort
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Coming soon
Shopify
Shopify’s free trial: build your store before you pay
A free trial to set up an online store, followed by a low-priced first period.
- Free trial
- Growth stage
- Easy to copy
How we ranked them
- Impact — How much the offer moved the business, as far as public sources show.
- Durability — Whether the offer (or what it built) lasted beyond the launch buzz.
- Lessons for founders — How much an early-stage founder in India can learn from it and adapt it.
The ranking is our editorial judgement against these criteria. Every number in the playbooks comes with a source.
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