Choosing your channel

Most founders fail at distribution not because they pick a bad channel, but because they guess. The book Traction (Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares) made the case that there are 19 distinct ways to get users, and that almost every startup gets the bulk of its growth from exactly one of them at a time. Your job isn't to grind all 19 — it's to find your one. This is the framework for doing that.

The Bullseye Framework

Picture a target with three rings. You work from the outside in.

1. Outer ring — what's possible. Brainstorm at least one realistic idea for all 19 channels below. No filtering yet; the point is to not be blind to a channel just because it's unfamiliar.
2. Middle ring — what's promising. Sort your ideas into three columns: A) promising (worth a cheap test now), B) maybe (later), C) longshot (probably not). Pick the ~3 in column A and run small, cheap, time-boxed tests in parallel — each answering "could this channel realistically move the needle, and at what cost per user?"
3. Inner ring — what's working. Usually one test out-performs. Drop the others and pour your energy into that single channel until it stops working or saturates. Then re-run the bullseye.

The discipline is the whole point: brainstorm widely so you're not ignorant, test cheaply so you're not guessing, then focus narrowly so you actually get good at one thing.

The 3 filters for ranking

When sorting channels into A/B/C, score each on three questions:

• Where's your audience already? You go to attention, you don't manufacture it. If you can't name the exact place your users gather, that's your first task.
• Does it fit your price & motion? Low-price/self-serve/viral → high-volume channels (short-form, referrals, ASO). Higher-price/considered → trust channels (SEO, content, BD, sales, community).
• Can you sustain it? The best channel you'll quit in 3 weeks loses to the 2nd-best you'll run for 6 months. Distribution that fights your personality doesn't compound.

The 19 channels

Audience & content

1. Viral marketing — users invite users (referrals, share loops). Fits: free/cheap consumer products with a natural reason to share.
2. Content marketing — a blog/newsletter that compounds trust and traffic. Fits: considered purchases, B2B, anyone who can write.
3. SEO — rank for what people already search. Fits: high-intent "I have this problem now" demand; slow but durable.
4. Email marketing — own the relationship; nurture and retain. Fits: almost everyone — best as a retention/conversion layer on another channel.
5. Engineering as marketing — free tools, calculators, widgets that pull people in. Fits: technical founders; brilliant compounding moat.

Paid

6. SEM (paid search) — bid on high-intent keywords. Fits: clear ROI, known LTV, existing search demand.
7. Social & display ads — paid reach + retargeting on Meta/TikTok/etc. Fits: visual or impulse products; great for scaling a proven organic creative.
8. Offline ads — TV, radio, print, billboards. Fits: later-stage, broad consumer; rarely for indies.

Earned & PR

9. Public relations — press coverage in mainstream/industry outlets. Fits: a genuinely newsworthy story or launch.
10. Unconventional PR — stunts, gifts, memorable gestures. Fits: small budgets with creativity; one viral moment.
11. Targeting blogs — get covered by the niche blogs/creators your users already read. Fits: early-stage; one of the most underrated indie channels.

Relationships & sales

12. Business development — partnerships, integrations, distribution deals. Fits: products that plug into a bigger platform or complement another company.
13. Sales — direct, human selling and outreach. Fits: higher price points, B2B, when you need to learn from buyers.
14. Affiliate programs — others sell for a cut. Fits: clear payouts and a product that converts predictably.

Platforms & community

15. Existing platforms — ride a big platform's distribution: App Store/Play (ASO), Chrome Web Store, Shopify, GitHub, Reddit, etc. Fits: anyone whose users already live on a platform with search/discovery.
16. Community building — cultivate a group that rallies around your mission. Fits: mission-driven products; slow but deeply defensible.

Events

17. Trade shows — industry expos to meet buyers face-to-face. Fits: niche B2B/industrial.
18. Offline events — meetups, conferences, dinners you run or attend. Fits: community + sales blends; high-touch.
19. Speaking engagements — talks and podcasts that build authority. Fits: founders with a point of view; great trust-builder.

Modern note: "short-form video" (TikTok/Reels/Shorts) and "build-in-public on X" aren't in the original 19 — they're best understood as today's flavors of viral marketing, content, and existing platforms. Run them through the same bullseye.

Pick one, set a real test

For each of your column-A channels, define the test before you start:

• The bar — e.g. "post 20 short videos in 3 weeks," "publish 8 SEO pages," "30 genuinely-helpful Reddit comments," "10 partner conversations."
• The signal — early signal is engagement, not revenue: saves, replies, DMs, click-throughs, reply rates.
• The decision — at the end of the box, double down if you saw signal, or rule it out and move to your next. Either way you learned — that's the win.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the outer ring — never even considering 14 of the 19 because they felt unfamiliar.
• Channel-hopping weekly before any channel had time to work.
• Copying a channel that fit someone else — their TikTok playbook may be wrong for your B2B tool.
• Confusing "I posted" with "I tested" — five half-hearted posts isn't a test; twenty deliberate ones is.

The takeaway

Brainstorm all 19. Cheaply test your most promising ~3. Focus everything on the one that works. That's the bullseye — and it beats dabbling in five channels every single time. Once you've chosen, open that channel's lesson in this section for the specific plays to run.