Predating Uber, I had written and published nearly a thousand essays on topics like user growth, metrics, viral marketing—along the way, popularizing tech industry jargon like “growth hacking” and “viral loops.”

I redefine it so that it’s not one singular effect, but rather, three distinct, underlying forces: the Acquisition Effect, which lets products tap into the network to drive low-cost, highly efficient user acquisition via viral growth; the Engagement Effect, which increases interaction between users as networks fill in; and finally, the Economic Eff