---
title: "No startup is an island - The three ecosystems startups should develop"
description: "Learn why successful startups must cultivate 3 key ecosystems: user communities, platforms \u0026 press relationships. Essential strategies for startup growth \u0026 distribution."
categories: ["startups","best practices"]
keywords: ["startup ecosystems","user communities","platform relationships","press relations","startup growth strategies","Tomasz Tunguz","venture capital","SaaS distribution","product launch ecosystems","Theory Ventures"]
ai_summary: "Discover the three essential ecosystems startups must cultivate for successful product launches and growth."
date: 2012-10-22
lastmod: 2026-07-23
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/no-startup-is-an-island-develop-your-ecosystem/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

<p>It’s tempting to burrow within a garage or basement or apartment to develop a product for several months and emerge from the darkness with a new shiny product. But the launch will likely fall flat. </p>

<p>Products must be launched into ecosystems, in particular, into receptive ecosystems. In my view, there are three types of ecosystems that startups should cultivate. These ecosystems provide distribution leverage - that’s what makes them so powerful and so essential at the start of a company. </p>

<h2>1. Customer/User Community</h2>

<p>Users provide product feedback, build word of mouth distribution, write reviews, become reference customers and form the basis of online support communities. Often, <a href="http://tomtunguz.com/the-secret-to-smb-saas-distribution">these communities are worth their weight in gold</a>. </p>

<h2>2. Platforms</h2>

<p>The most platforms are app stores (iOS, Android and Facebook) which provide access to hundreds of millions of users. But relationship with these platforms don’t start and stop at the developer terms of service. The most effective startups build relationships with the managers of these platforms to understand how to align goals of the startup and the platform. </p>

<h2>3. The Press</h2>

<p>The press is a great way of focusing attention on a startup for a short period of time. Building an ongoing relationship with the press provides a startup with a megaphone at key times during the company’s life to trumpet success, drive awareness and build the brand. </p>

<p>Launching a product with the support of these ecosystems can provide orders of magnitude better leverage. Building these relationships isn’t easy, but the investment can pay off in spades. </p>

<h2>Examples from the Redpoint portfolio:  </h2>

<p><strong>User Ecosystem</strong>  </p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/thredup">ThredUp’s Facebook page where thousands of moms congregate</a><br><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/expensify/id471713959?mt=8">Expensify’s iTunes page with hundreds of customers reviews</a><br><a href="http://www.zendesk.com/why-zendesk/customers">ZenDesk’s reference customer page</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Platforms</strong>  </p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p><a href="https://addons.heroku.com/">Heroku’s add on Store</a><br><a href="http://www.storsimple.com/partner-with-us/">StorSimple’s distribution through Microsoft</a></p>
</blockquote>