This week marked three years from the launch of ChatGPT. It’s crazy to think about just how much changed since then: the pace of AI advancement, the mega rounds that followed (and continue to follow) our insatiable demand for AI in foundational models, compute, energy, etc. We’ve grown accustomed to be ‘wow’ed by AI products. And as we progress, the user might feel overwhelmed with choices: the market is saturated with new AI tools and competing solutions. For a startup to break through, simply being “good” is no longer enough. Founders must strive for the extraordinary: the WOW moment – and the sooner it happens in the process of engaging the user, the better.
I’ve previously written about the need to stand out in my posts on “Delighting users: the art of being memorable” and also in “Are you telling a story or pitching features“. This post is a bit different. It focuses on that instant spark of delight, or moment of surprise, delight, or effortless utility, is when a customer feels the full value of a product or service. It’s the point where the experience exceeds expectations and the user instantly realises they’ve found something special.
Let’s dive in.
Why TtW is Critical for Business Outcomes
Time to Wow (TtW) measures how long it takes a customer to experience their first emotional “Wow” moment after starting their journey with your product. It captures the emotional impact and validation customers feel when they realize they made the right choice.
This is an area where AI founders can learn from gaming founders (which happen to be some of the most data-driven verticals in tech!). In gaming (and in some cases other consumer apps), founders really care about the FTUE, or First Time User Experience, the overall impression and journey a user has the very first time they interact with your product.
You should think about Time to Wow as a subset of your FTUE. It is basically trying to reduce how long it takes inside that journey for the user to hit a specific, memorable moment of value that exceeds expectations. There are many reasons why this is important:
- Retention and Loyalty: First impressions matter greatly. Customers who experience immediate value are 81% more likely to continue using a product. When users encounter a WOW moment early, they become emotionally invested and stick around.
- Organic Growth: Products with a strong WOW moment get talked about, shared on social media, and recommended. 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over traditional advertising, meaning the stronger your WOW moment, the more organic marketing you generate.
- Competitive Edge: Delivering a standout experience provides companies with an unfair advantage, especially in industries where features and pricing are similar. A well-crafted WOW moment is what turns a product from something useful into something unforgettable and indispensable.
TtW Toolkit: Actionable Tips for Startup Founders
The key to creating a memorable experience is deeply understanding users, eliminating their pain points, and delivering unexpected value. Founders should treat their free trial or onboarding flow like a micro-funnel, where the goal is to reduce the time and effort required for the buyer to get to the “Wow!”.
Here is a checklist for strategically engineering that breakthrough moment:
| Actionable Strategy | Description & Insight | Takeaway |
| Identify the Core Problem & Wow! | Pinpoint the most frustrating part of the customer journey. Define the specific milestone that qualifies as the “wow” moment. If nobody gets excited during a demo, redesign a feature that will clearly delight the buyer. | Sometimes Wow! may be less about generating excitement, and more about providing them with the proof points needed to feel comfortable making a purchase. |
| Maximize the Wow! to Work Ratio | The best products make complex things feel effortless, removing hurdles between users and the value they seek. Ask: is the emotional payoff (the Wow!) powerful enough to pull users through the necessary effort? Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, asks: “Is your Wow! to work ratio high enough?”. | What is the minimum input from the user to see value in the product? For example: instead of requiring trial users to import their own data into the system, provide a set of sample data that the trial user could play with, to see how things worked before going through the effort of importing their own data. |
| Showcase the Magic Early | The first interaction should hook users immediately. Introduce the most impressive feature within the first 60 seconds and reduce cognitive load to get users to their aha moment quickly. For instance, Canva’s drag-and-drop interface allows users to create stunning visuals in minutes without prior experience, hooking them immediately. | A key aspect of this is to gamify onboarding: Reward users for completing key actions early in their journey. If you can, offer instant gratification: Let users see immediate results (e.g., a live preview, quick setup wizard, or auto-generated suggestions). |
| Remove Friction & Shorten the Funnel | Work on reducing the number of steps required to get to the “Wow!”. Uber’s WOW moment was the Frictionless Simplicity of making ride-hailing as simple as tapping a button. The less work a user has to do, the better. | Nothing kills a WOW moment faster than friction. The best products make complex things feel effortless, removing any hurdles between users and the value they seek. 1. Reduce the number of steps to success: If users have to jump through hoops, they’ll bail. 2. Automate repetitive tasks: If something can be done in one click instead of five, make it happen. 3. Ensure an intuitive interface: If users need a manual to figure it out, it’s too complicated. |
| Implement a Reverse Funnel Strategy | Allow users to experience the product’s core features and discover its core value before signing up. If importing data is high friction, provide sample data for the user to play with first. Consider giving users access to the core report/value that provides the Wow! moment before they sign up. Stripe lets developers explore APIs and embed code before registering an account. | If you know the end result of the trial is something of great value to the user, you may want to provide them with a message like “You’re almost there. This is the last step before you get to see the finished dashboard”, and include a small picture of what a typical finished dashboard looks like. This can improve the motivation of the user to get through that last step. |
| Personalize the Onboarding | If the product’s value depends on user preferences, personalize the onboarding to ensure the user finds exactly what they value most quickly. Netflix asks new users to identify movies they like to build a custom interface, and Foursquare curates experiences based on past check-ins and preferences. Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” provides a viral WOW moment through personalized recommendations. | Your product is probably targeting multiple types of users. For each, what it takes to get them to say Wow! will be different. Make sure you know the Wow moment for each of your key personas, and diagram the flow of steps needed to get there. It can be useful to provide the user with an easy way to identify themselves at the beginning of the trial, and then lead them through a different guided experience. |
| Add an Element of Surprise & Delight | Create a moment that is unexpectedly delightful or awe-inspiring, fostering emotional attachment. Tesla’s acceleration in “Ludicrous Mode” provides Instant Impact that surprises the user and redefines expectations. Apple AirPods created a seamless WOW moment by instantly pairing with iPhones upon opening the case, making the experience feel like magic. | WOW moments often come from something unexpectedly delightful, like a feature users didn’t know they needed, a small surprise that makes them smile, or an Easter egg that creates emotional attachment. 1. Give users a pleasant surprise: What extra can you offer that they weren’t expecting? 2. Create a signature experience: Something unique that becomes synonymous with your brand. 3. Make it fun or rewarding: Whether it’s through gamification, a hidden feature, or a beautifully designed micro-interaction, little moments of joy add up. |
| Guide the User Experience | Provide a clear, guided experience to lead users through the necessary steps. A “% completed” graphic can act as a gamification motivator to encourage completion. Offer instant gratification, such as live previews or auto-generated suggestions. Testive uses a small vignette in onboarding to give students a teaser into the data being collected after answering a simple question. | Do you really need every field in your onboarding form? Think about how many bad sign up forms you have abandoned trying to get access to some system. If you really have to get some information before a trial, keep the fields to a minimum, and get the rest of the information later, after the user has gone through the Wow! moment and seen some value. |
| Continuously Evolve | A WOW moment is not static; what wows users today may feel ordinary tomorrow. Use data-driven iteration and customer insights to refine the experience. Instagram kept users engaged by continuously introducing new features like Stories and Reels. | Ask users what they want and deliver on it. You’ll find that transparency builds loyalty. Remember, this is not ‘one and done’ you have to keep monitoring and iterating based on performance. |
Key takeaways for AI founders
If your product isn’t delivering a WOW moment, it risks being overlooked in a saturated marketplace. Consumers today have higher expectations, shorter attention spans, and lower tolerance for anything that feels ordinary. In this competitive environment, only the most remarkable experiences leave a lasting impression.
For founders, a WOW moment is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is what turns a product that simply functions into one that becomes indispensable. Achieving this level of distinction requires breaking down silos between marketers, product managers, and developers to maximise the flow of leads and conversion rate, also known as Growth Hacking.
Focusing on TtW means understanding human psychology and tapping into the emotions that drive decision-making. People don’t just buy products; they buy feelings, such as joy, excitement, relief, or awe. Brands that focus on crafting these moments always have a competitive advantage because they don’t just attract users; they build relationships.
Moving forward, you should continuously ask:
1. Is our product designed for effortless utility?
2. Are we minimising friction and maximising the emotional payoff?
Your goal is to identify the core problem your product solves, simplify the entire experience, and add an element of delight that makes it feel unique and indispensable. In the age of AI, the brands that surprise, exceed expectations, and evoke real emotion are the ones that win. By strategically accelerating your Time to Wow, you set the stage for exponential loyalty and growth.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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