How To Grab Attention (inc. some cool YC-founder templates)

I wrote last week about how we’re building Ting on two axes: one to get attention, the other to build the product.

On attention, we’re doing pretty well in 3-weeks:

• 1k on the waitlist.

• 200 people have joined meetings booked by Ting already.

• 375 invites sent out so far...

On the product: still a work in progress. User feedback is lovely (like, makes me emotional, lovely) but reliability swings between 25-95%. We’ve diagnosed most of the issues now, though there’s always a new edge case waiting. Fun fact: since launch, a bunch of founders from previous calendar and scheduling apps have reached out to share their stories and learnings. Listening to how they tackled the problem pre-AI has honestly been one of my favourite experiences as a founder so far.

But this post isn’t about bugs. It’s about grabbing attention.

What we did at Ting

We invested heavily in a story:

• Problem: scheduling still sucks.

• Future vision: Meet-Ting as your email assistant powered by LLMs - handling the messy, fluid, human reality of scheduling, while learning to understand your time through the context of your inbox.

Then we made a video around one simple question: How much momentum has the world lost because of scheduling (and the legacy tools that get in the way)?

• Would Google still have started in a garage?

• Would Oasis have ever got back together? (Had to).

• Here’s the

  (it’s still slowly picking up cross-platform).

My background is head of social at ByteDance (TikTok, etc.), so I’m an obsessive for a viral loop. You don’t always need glossy videos to win attention, although it definitely helps in a video-driven-feed-world. High production doesn't always need to be the bar, just highly engineered to to platform algo is the key.

Two YC teams that nailed it recently

Wonda (AI agent for content creation)

Posted a slick video (would be weird if they didn't, based on product).

On LinkedIn, asked people to comment “Wonda” to get $100 credits + skip the waitlist.

Why it works: drives comments, boosts algo reach, and the reward ties straight back to the product.

See the post.

Stormy AI (AI-based influencer marketing platform)

Posted a more humble video (product demo).

Founder offered to do free mini influencer sweeps for your company's niche.

Why it works: gives real value, sparks conversation online with the founder, and gets customer into the product.

See the post.

Takeaway

Social feeds are overcrowded + too many posts sound the same + brands are bottom of the pile of what we care to see.

When you launch - whether it’s stealth exit, PH day, or just your first LinkedIn drop - you’ve GOT to stand out.

Don’t be beige. Don’t be safe.

Come out in technicolour and Dolby surround.