The Cold Start Problem A framework for starting and scaling products that live or die by network effects — marketplaces, social apps, messaging, and collaboration tools — distilled from Andrew Chen's The Cold Start Problem . Use it to launch products that are worthless until other users show up, to sequence growth network by network, and to navigate the five stages: the cold start, the tipping point, escape velocity, hitting the ceiling, and the moat. Core Principle Network effects start as a liability, not an asset. Value lives in connections between users, and on day one there are none — th…