How an AI sidecar product drove 30% of sign-ups

Eraser's founder on building and growing DiagramGPT

👋 Kyle from OpenView here with the 93rd (!) edition of Growth Unhinged where I explore the unexpected behind today’s fastest-growing startups.

Previously I tackled the rise of ungated products, i.e. products that you can immediately try out, no signup required. These loginless products — like Excalidraw, PhotoRoom, Durable, Colossyan, or Rows (which their Head of Growth wrote about here) — see 2-3x as many folks start using them compared to traditional freemium or free trials. More folks reach their aha moment, too, since users only create an account after they’ve experienced value.

Eraser founder Shin Kim is raising the bar with an ungated AI sidecar product, which has become Eraser’s biggest growth driver (it accounts for 30% of new sign-ups) and transformed how he thinks about product development for AI features. Shin reflects on what they did and what you can learn.

Current subscribers: 35,305. Join the crew ☝️