Software You Use Together Is Harder to Quit
Investor Gokul Rajaram says tools that pull in coworkers gain distribution and staying power.
20VC with Harry Stebbings · Gokul Rajaram: How to Analyse for Durability and Defensibility in a World of AIWhen Gokul Rajaram, an operator turned investor who worked at Google, Facebook, Square, and DoorDash, was asked how Facebook shaped the kinds of companies he likes, he pointed to distribution.
Even with a remarkable product, he said, you still need distribution. He called Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook chief executive, probably the best at getting products to spread. He said Zuckerberg "would look at a product and say this is how this product is not going to work."
What Rajaram said he took from that time was the power of what he calls multiplayer products. He argues that "most software products are single player," meaning one person can get value from them alone. In his words, "as soon as you make the multiplayer there is a uniqueness in switching distribution etc that comes about."
His example was Facebook itself. By nature, he said, you cannot use it if only one person is on it.
He said he saw the same quality later in Figma. He said Figma's power was that "it was much easier to share with other people in your company," not just that one person could use it.
Put simply, the difference is between software meant for solo work and software meant to be passed around. Rajaram argues that the best product-led growth companies, a term for companies where the product itself drives adoption, are those that multiple people can use, and that shared use increases defensibility. That is why, in his view, software used by a group is harder to replace than software used alone.
Questions people ask
What does single-player versus multiplayer mean in software?
Single-player software is useful to one person working alone, like a solo to-do list or photo editor. Multiplayer software gets more useful when teammates join in, like a shared document, design file, or chat app, because people can see, comment on, and edit each other's work.
Why is Figma considered multiplayer?
Figma runs in a web browser and lets several designers, managers, and engineers open the same design file at once. They can watch changes happen live, leave comments, and share a link instead of emailing files back and forth. That shared use helped it spread inside companies from one team to others.
Does making software multiplayer guarantee it will survive?
No. Shared use makes a product harder to displace, but it still has to be good enough that people want to invite coworkers in the first place. If the product is slow, confusing, or no better than what teams already use, network effects never start and rivals can still win.