Based on 222 dated milestones
What's Working Now
Marketing channel trends from 2020+ compared to earlier years. See which strategies are rising and which are declining in effectiveness.
4
Rising Channels
3
Declining Channels
0
Stable Channels
93%
Data Coverage
Key Insight
Twitter / X usage is up +28.8% since 2020, while SEO / Content is down -20.4%. The founder playbook is shifting.
Rising Channels
These channels are becoming more popular and effective
Declining Channels
These channels are less popular than before (but may still work)
All Channels Comparison
Complete breakdown of channel trends
| Channel | Trend | Pre-2020 | 2020+ | Change | Avg Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twitter / X | 🔥 Rising | 9.3% | 38% | +28.8% | 1 year | View → |
| Product Hunt | 🔥 Rising | 7.3% | 14.1% | +6.8% | 2 years | View → |
| Paid Ads | ↗ Growing | 3.3% | 5.6% | +2.3% | 2 years | View → |
| Cold Outreach | ↗ Growing | 2% | 4.2% | +2.2% | 2 years | View → |
| Communities | ↘ Slowing | 24.5% | 21.1% | -3.4% | 2 years | View → |
| Word of Mouth | 📉 Declining | 18.5% | 2.8% | -15.7% | 4 years | View → |
| SEO / Content | 📉 Declining | 34.4% | 14.1% | -20.4% | 4 years | View → |
How We Calculate Trends
We compare the share of stories using each marketing channel in recent years (2020+) versus older years. A channel is "rising" if its share increased by 5%+ points, and "declining" if it decreased by 5%+ points.
Data quality: 222 of 238 stories (93%) have dated milestones. Trends are directional indicators, not guarantees of future success.