Growth Economics ยท 2026 Reference
Viral Coefficient (K-Factor)
The metric measuring the number of new users generated by each existing user through referral links and invites.
Why It Matters in 2026 for SaaS Startups
When K > 1.0, your product experiences exponential viral growth without spending money on paid advertising.
Core Formula & Standard Benchmark
Calculated by multiplying the number of invites sent per user by the conversion rate of those invitees.
K-Factor = Invites Sent per User * Conversion Rate of Invites
Industry Benchmarks
K = 0.2 is average; K = 0.5 is strong viral loop; K > 1.0 represents exponential organic growth.
How Waitly Solves This
Waitly gamifies pre-launch waitlists by boosting subscriber queue position for every friend referred.