The 50% Rule: Why Focusing Only on Product Is Not Enough for Growth

You wake up early again—for the third week in a row, that same nagging feeling is there. You love tinkering with the product, smoothing out edges, adding features users suggested after last week’s beta. But deep down, you know. The email list isn’t growing, and your homepage traffic seems stuck in neutral. You start jotting down every task you do each day and something jumps out: only two of twenty are about talking to potential customers or inviting people in.

One Tuesday, coffee going cold beside your laptop, you force yourself to send a handful of emails to bloggers in your space. It’s only fifteen minutes, but it takes more courage than a day of bug hunting. The first reply lands that afternoon—someone wants to feature your project. Your jaw aches from grinning.

Emboldened, you crank out a tiny site update and, instead of chasing the next feature, shoot off DMs to three Instagram micro-influencers. Thursday, one shares your work to their audience—and you watch a trickle of new signups on your analytics page. It feels odd, exhilarating, almost like cheating to see the needle move from an email or a post—not a line of code.

Every week after, you check for balance: is this a week where you only shipped features, or also brought in new eyes? Eventually, the numbers change: more active users, more feedback, and less anxiety about launching to crickets. It’s still hard, but you’ve rewired your brain. The 50% Rule is more than a tactic. Behavioral science research confirms that action-feedback cycles drive learning—splitting time between making and marketing ensures you’re not blinded by your own tunnel vision.

Start by looking at your calendar right now and setting aside half your working hours for traction activities, not just product updates. Promise yourself to run a real growth experiment alongside every new feature or content drop—reach out to someone, launch an ad, pitch an article, or track user feedback with purpose. At the end of the month, audit where your time actually went, and don’t be afraid to cut back on pet features if it means you stay accountable to growing your audience. Make this split non-negotiable for your next creative sprint. Give it a go this week and see how quickly traction feels less mysterious, more repeatable.