Inside Zoom’s 1-click strategy

Hello hello!

Welcome to the 21st edition of The Growth Loop.

Read time: 3 minutes 45 seconds

Last month, Microsoft announced it will “retire” Skype, the video conferencing tool, in May 2025.

I have good memories with Skype. I used to Skype with my school friends every now and then in college. The software was glitchy, and the UI wasn’t intuitive, but I loved the experience. Probably because it was the only video-calling tool I knew.

So, I started digging deeper into what went wrong with Skype and ended up finding what others did strategically better - one in particular, Zoom. Maybe that’s where Skype failed.

Zoom is just great!

I was introduced to Zoom at my first job. Someone dropped a Zoom link on the calendar. I clicked, and forty minutes later, I was a convert. For the next three years, every meeting I hosted was on Zoom.

You might’ve had a similar Zoom moment—someone sent a link, you clicked, and boom: “This just works.”

At the beginning of 2020, Skype controlled 32.4% of the market compared to Zoom’s 26.4%

But the following year, Skype dropped to 6.6% and Zoom went up to 48.7%

That’s crazy. Let’s go a little more into the details. 

In December 2019, Zoom had 7.9 million users.
By April 2020? 330 million.

That’s 30X growth in 4 months.

The common explanation is that covid forced everyone to work remotely.
True, but is that it?  

Think of it from a different angle:

1. If your product grew 30X in 4 months, would it hold up?

2. Would users feel an “aha” moment—or just rage-quit?

3. Would they keep coming back?

Zoom didn’t just survive the spike. It thrived.
It was a mix of dumb luck and a bunch of smart bets that paid off at the right time.

While competitors were chasing enterprise contracts and layering on security protocols, Zoom was focused on one thing: ruthlessly eliminating friction from meetings.

So when COVID hit, Zoom’s activation funnel skyrocketed.

Here are the smart bets that paid off for them👇

Click, You’re In

Before Zoom, video calls were a hassle. You needed to create an account, download an app, check device compatibility, get admin approvals, and then deal with the classic “Can you hear me?” chaos. More time was spent on “tech support” than on actual meetings.

Zoom changed that with one simple insight: People just want to join the meeting. That’s it. No extra steps. No friction. Just click, and you’re in.

So they built exactly that—an experience focused on joining, not configuring:

• One-click links that open instantly

• Browser-friendly, no downloads needed

• No login required for guests

• Worked on any device, OS, or network

• A generous free tier that lets you host 40-minute meetings with up to 100 people

All of this wasn’t a hot fix. Zoom spent years on R&D to make the experience feel effortless. Behind the scenes, they optimized bandwidth, video quality, latency, and reliability. But up front, it just worked.

As founder Eric Yuan put it:

“One of the key reasons why users don’t want to try video conferencing service is that it's so hard to use. It takes 10 clicks, and you need to install a huge software file. And finally, when you start using it, guess what? The video doesn't work. The audio is very choppy. Then you’ve lost them forever.”

Zoom innovated by removing friction—and that made all the difference.

Creating a Growth Flywheel

Zoom’s product wasn’t just easy to use—it was designed to grow itself.

At the center of this was a tightly coupled product + pricing strategy. Zoom was free to try, delightful to use, and slightly annoying to outgrow. Their “40-minute time limit” for free users was a live product demo for new users. Just enough to fall in love, just short enough to consider paying.

Here’s how the flywheel worked:

1. Someone sends you a zoom link

2. You click → join instantly → feel the magic

3. You sign up to host your own

4. You hit the 40-min limit a few times

5. You upgrade to Pro

6. Repeat across thousands of networks

   

   Source: Backlinko

Zoom also got a massive brand boost from its own links. Every meeting URL started with zoom.us/j/..., meaning every time someone used Zoom, they were sharing Zoom.

Riding Rivals: Sneaking Into Competitor Workflows

Zoom didn’t try to replace your tools. It embedded itself inside them.

Calendar Integrations: Whether you were on Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple, Zoom links were auto-generated in your invites. No extra effort. Just “click to add Zoom.”

Workplace integrations: Integrations with Slack, Microsoft, Salesforce, Service Now, Zendesk, and Figma allow users to join meetings without leaving their existing interface.

Public API’s:  30+ public APIs allowed developers to build Zoom into their own products. That meant schools, startups, and entire orgs could plug Zoom directly into their tools with almost no friction.

Putting this all together, Zoom meetings were everywhere. It didn’t matter what platform you used or who you worked with—Zoom was just the easiest way to talk face-to-face.

And that’s how Zoom grew like wildfire 🔥

Hey you,

I could use your help with something. 🫡

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this edition. How would you rate the level of insights and action items in this newsletter?

• Too beginner

• Just right

• A little advanced or

• Too advanced for you

Just reply by copy-pasting one of the options above or share your complete thoughts. Anything works 🙂 

Thanks!

Until next time! 👋

Saurabh