If you still treat growth like a straight line, you will spend more for less. Funnels push prospects through steps, then stop. Flywheels compound. They capture energy from every win, recycle it across the system, and keep spinning faster with each turn. The shift is not semantics. It is a different way to plan, build, and measure growth.

“Funnels explain what happened. Flywheels explain what happens next.” — Sean Lobdell

Why the flywheel beats the funnel

Classic funnels assume you pour budget in at the top and conversions happen at the bottom. When costs rise or attention falls, you push harder. That logic fails in a world where search, social, communities, creators, and AI surfaces amplify or punish everything you publish in real time.

Jim Collins popularized the Flywheel Effect to describe how momentum is built by many small pushes applied in the same direction. There is no miracle moment, only compounding force applied consistently.

“Our job is to design the pushes that multiply. Each turn should make the next turn cheaper and faster.” — Sean Lobdell

Loops, not lanes

A modern growth engine runs on loops. In a loop, one output creates the next input, so each cycle makes the next cycle more effective.

Brian Balfour describes growth loops as self reinforcing systems that produce compounding returns. His work shifted teams away from single channel thinking toward systems where one cohort powers the next.

“Every channel we touch should either create content, data, or social proof that feeds the next channel.” — Sean Lobdell

The three loops most brands can build now

1. Advocacy loop
Great experience produces reviews, UGC, referrals, community posts, and creator mentions. Those assets drive qualified traffic, which turns into more customers and more advocacy.

2. Content intelligence loop
Search, email, and social content yields engagement and queries. That behavior tells you what to create next. Better content ranks higher and converts better, which expands the audience and improves your data.

3. Product value loop
Feature usage and outcomes fuel case studies, benchmarks, and “before and after” proof. Proof improves win rates and pricing power. New revenue funds more product value.

“If a program does not close its own loop, it is a cost center. When it closes the loop, it becomes a compounding asset.” — Sean Lobdell

Positioning unlocks momentum

A flywheel without sharp positioning spins in place. April Dunford reminds us that positioning is the act of deliberately defining how you are the best at something a market cares about. When teams treat positioning as a one time slogan, they stall. When they treat it as an operating system that shapes product, sales, onboarding, and support, they gain torque.

“Positioning is the governor on your flywheel. Get it right and the system accelerates. Get it wrong and you burn fuel without speed.” — Sean Lobdell

A simple framework: FLYWHEEL

Focus a segment. You cannot spin a wheel without grip. Choose the narrowest market where you can win consistently.
Land value fast. Build an onboarding path that gets users to the first win within the first session or the first week.
Yield proof. Capture outcomes, quotes, benchmarks, and screenshots as a default part of delivery.
Wire the loops. Connect advocacy, content, and product so that one turn feeds the next.
Harden the system. Reduce friction in every pass. Instrument handoffs and SLAs across marketing, sales, and success.
Experiment with intent. Design tests that can return assets, not just answers.
Elevate promoters. Recruit creators, SME voices, and customer champions to co create.
Listen and learn. Use research and discovery practices to keep each component true to real customer jobs.

Product discovery keeps the wheel aligned. Teresa Torres draws a bright line between discovery and delivery so teams build the right thing, not only ship on time.

“Discovery is not a phase. It is how we protect ROI. Every pass should reduce uncertainty.” — Sean Lobdell

Build your first loop in 30 days

You do not need a total reorg. Start with a single loop you can prove in one quarter. Here is a 30 day starter plan that Stainless uses with resource strapped teams.

Week 1: Map the wheel

• Pick one segment, one product promise, one conversion event.
• Interview 5 customers for friction and delight moments.
• Audit proof assets on hand. Tag by stage and use case.
• Define a first win. What is the shortest path to it?

Week 2: Ship the fast path

• Create a one screen onboarding or a two step checklist that lands the first win.
• Draft a proof capture moment immediately after that win.
• Publish a single pillar page with two supporting posts tied to the first win.

Week 3: Connect the loop

• Add a simple referral ask to your post win message.
• Turn one interview into a 60 second video and a short LinkedIn post from your SME.
• Run a 48 hour micro test on two headlines. Keep the winner.

Week 4: Instrument and review

• Track time to first win, proof capture rate, review volume, and signups generated by proof assets.
• Hold a one hour loop review. Keep, cut, or double down.

“The first loop will look small. That is not a bug. Small loops are easier to spin, easier to measure, and easier to improve.” — Sean Lobdell

Andrew Chen calls this first loop an atomic network. It is the smallest stable network that can grow on its own. Target the smallest workable circle, light it up, and then replicate.

What to measure instead of generic funnel metrics

Time to first value (TTFV).
How fast do new customers reach the first win you promise?

Proof capture rate.
What percent of wins yield a review, UGC, case note, or shareable data point?

Loop assisted revenue.
How much pipeline or booked revenue credits a proof asset, creator post, or customer share as a first touch or assist?

Engaged reach.
How many targeted people see and engage with SME or creator content tied to your positioning?

Compounding cost of acquisition (cCAC).
Your CAC should fall as loops contribute more assisted conversions.

“Our best indicators are boring and predictive. Time to value, proof captured per win, and the share rate of what we publish.” — Sean Lobdell

Making brand and performance work together

Treat brand as the engine, performance as the throttle. Without the engine, the throttle just burns fuel. With the engine, a small push creates outsized motion.

Dharmesh Shah popularized the flywheel at HubSpot by aligning the entire company around the customer experience. The idea is simple to say and hard to do. How you sell should match how you serve. When it does, your customers add force to the wheel.

“Performance branding means every impression can sell today and raise intent tomorrow. The loop pays for itself while building desire.” — Sean Lobdell

What expert operators want you to remember

“Good to great comes from a cumulative process, turn by turn of the flywheel.” — Jim Collins

“Loops provide sustainable, compounding growth. They force you to answer how one cohort leads to the next.” — Brian Balfour

“Positioning is deliberately defining how you are the best at something your market cares about.” — April Dunford

“The atomic network is the smallest network that can stand on its own. Find that first.” — Andrew Chen

“Many teams over invest in delivery and under invest in discovery. The distinction matters.” — Teresa Torres

Three Stainless sized examples

B2B services, 12 person team
We narrowed positioning to one urgent job for a specific buyer, rebuilt the first win path as a 10 minute diagnostic, and captured a one sentence outcome quote at the end of every engagement. Reviews plus diagnostics created a steady stream of referrals and LinkedIn conversations. Time to first value dropped by 40 percent. Referral volume tripled. Loop assisted revenue passed paid search within 90 days.

Consumer brand, under 50 SKUs
We designed a content intelligence loop. Every product page included a micro survey. Every survey informed the next content sprint. Buyers saw language that mirrored their words. The brand turned UGC into galleries that raised conversion rates by double digits with no discounting.

SaaS, PLG to SLG hybrid
We added a product value loop by measuring outcomes, not clicks. Users saw their first success metric in app and got a one click “share with your team” card. That card became a case study seed for sales. Win rates rose against two bigger competitors without raising CAC.

“We are not chasing hacks. We are building a system that rewards good work with more good work.” — Sean Lobdell

Pitfalls that stall momentum

1. Trying to spin five wheels at once
Focus on one loop, one segment, one promise. Earn the right to add the next.

2. Weak positioning
If your promise could sit on a competitor’s site, stop and fix it. Use the test. Can you state who you serve, the problem you own, the value you deliver, and the market category you lead with evidence.

3. No proof discipline
If you do not capture outcomes at the moment of delight, you will not capture them later. Bake proof capture into the product, the handoff, and the success playbook.

4. Measuring motion, not momentum
Traffic looks busy. Loops demand that you measure compounding. If metrics do not improve the next cycle, they are vanity.

5. Skipping discovery
If you are not interviewing customers every week or two, your wheel will drift. Build a lightweight rhythm so discovery is continuous without slowing delivery.

“Most teams do not have a growth problem. They have a focus problem. Focus fixes cost, speed, and quality in one move.” — Sean Lobdell

A 90 day plan any team can run

Phase 1: Design

• Choose one segment, one promise, one first win.
• Draft your proof system. Decide which outcomes to capture and how you will capture them.
• Write your pillar page and two support posts that set up the first win.

Phase 2: Ship

• Launch a first win path. This could be a guided template, a mini audit, or a three step in product checklist.
• Add the referral ask and UGC prompts inside the win moment.
• Publish SME and creator posts that answer the top three objections revealed in discovery.

Phase 3: Learn

• Review TTFV, proof capture rate, engaged reach, cCAC, and loop assisted revenue every two weeks.
• Kill anything that does not feed the loop.
• Add one improvement per pass. Simple wins beat ambitious freezes.

“When the wheel spins, people feel it. Sales calls get warmer. Creators reply faster. Customers volunteer to help.” — Sean Lobdell

The takeaway

Funnels still have a place in reporting. Use them to describe stages. Build growth around loops and flywheels. Start with one segment and one promise. Land value fast. Capture proof as a habit. Wire it all together so each turn funds the next.

“The point is not to be clever. The point is to build something that compounds.” — Sean Lobdell