From 0 to $1B – Slack's Founder Shares Their Epic Launch Strategy

This:

These tweets are real, and they're the stuff of founders’ dreams. And yet Slack hasn’t run any big integrated marketing campaigns — they don't have an elaborate email strategy or buy million-dollar billboards. (In fact, they hit those user numbers without a CMO.) So how did the company not only launch with enviable momentum, but so quickly win users' hearts? If there’s one theme that emerges when founder Stewart Butterfield talks about Slack's success, it’s that the company made customer feedback the epicenter of its efforts.

Seems misleading, when the article turns to this:

The big lesson here:Don't underestimate the power of traditional media when you launch. Itmustbe your primary concern, starting months beforehand and continuing for weeks afterward. Pull the strings you have. Work closely with your PR firm to find your hook. It can be personalities on your team, impressive customers you already have in the bag, prestigious investors, etc. But don't leave it to two weeks beforehand and throw something together.

It's hard to learn something from this stories. All started with a team working a few months on something, before they had a prototype they could use themselves; then a well connected founder who could convince some fairly famous companies, with dozens of employees to use his prototype; then a famous founder and a few other related people with enough notority so they could pull a PR effort for a launch. And get 8,000 signups on the first day.

What could I possibly learn from a startup that got 8,000 signups on launch day? I either have to pay $20,000 in ads for this or be incredibly lucky to launch an inpredictable hit 2048-style.

So, fun to read, but no lessons learned here.