PayPal Referral Program  – A Case Study of  Internet’s First Viral Growth Hack U

Posted by The Flyy on January 12th, 2021

There is no blog on the Internet that goes without mentioning the PayPal Referral program when talking about viral growth using referrals.

I have read most of them. They are informative. However, I couldn’t find an in-depth analysis that could help me plan and execute a referral program.

So, in this post, I dive deep into their campaign to help you understand the inner mechanics of how it became such a successful and viral one.

“A 10% daily growth rate” to “A .5 billion buyout”
PayPal was one of the first Internet companies to drive viral growth at such a large scale using a referral campaign.

In fact, Dropbox’s Referral program (probably one of the most famous cases of referral marketing on the Internet) was inspired by the PayPal Referral program according to the founder Drew Houston.

The unique thing about PayPal Referral Program is that it went viral in an Internet era with no Facebook, Twitter, or Whatsapp!

Can you imagine doing that today? I know you can and but you shouldn’t! 🙂


Social risk and two-way rewards in a Referral Program Growthhacking