What if the fastest path to a massive exit isn’t built on paid ads or classic growth hacks, but on genuine human connection? In this raw, behind-the-scenes session, Neta Kimhi reveals how she drove a complex AI visual canvas product from zero to an acquisition by Figma in just four months—with a $0 marketing budget—by throwing out the traditional playbook and betting entirely on Community-Led Growth.
The Challenge: A Noisy Market and a Complex Product
When Neta Kimhi and her team launched their early access in January 2025, they faced a daunting reality. The AI market was flooded with “magic button” tools promising instant results. In contrast, their product was a complex, node-based visual canvas where users could connect different AI models (video, audio, text) and edit them in one place.
It wasn’t a simple one-click generator; it was a “design machine” that required a real learning curve. Pushing a complex product into a crowded, noisy market with zero budget is nearly impossible. So, Neta made a bold decision: instead of pushing the product out to the masses, they would build a community strong enough to pull the product into the market for them.
The bet was simple but risky: if they could get just 1% of top-tier professionals to adopt the tool and become true advocates, the rest of the market would follow.
The Community-Led Growth Loop
To make this happen, Neta abandoned traditional marketing tactics and built a self-sustaining growth loop centered around three core phases:
- Phase 1: Manual, Unscalable Community Building Rather than relying on automated CRMs or AI scrapers, Neta manually scouted and messaged ideal users on LinkedIn. She spent months sending personalized videos and building one-on-one relationships. The goal wasn’t just to get feedback; it was to find true partners. Their “VIP group” wasn’t a generic email list—it was a deeply connected collective that received free credits, private communication channels, and genuine attention.
- Phase 2: The “Aha!” Moment Because the early users were treated like partners, they invested the time to learn the complex node-based system. Soon, they were building workflows and solving use cases the founders hadn’t even imagined.
- Phase 3: The Social Explosion Because the product acted as a visual blueprint (showing exactly how an AI creation was made, rather than hiding it in a black box), users naturally wanted to show off their processes. Without being asked, the community flooded LinkedIn, YouTube, X, and Discord with tutorials and behind-the-scenes breakdowns of their work. The phrase “Look how I built this” became their most powerful marketing asset, driving massive organic growth and pulling in the very users who had previously ignored Neta’s cold outreach.
Neta’s Top 3 Lessons for Marketers
- Distribution Has Changed: Community-Led Growth is the new paradigm, but it doesn’t run on autopilot. It requires daily, tedious, and highly personal work to keep the momentum going.
- Trust Comes From People, Not Polished Brands: At the beginning, the company barely had a brand identity. The trust was built entirely on the human faces behind the product. Users didn’t just buy into the software; they bought into Neta and the founders.
- Momentum Beats Perfection: Waiting for the perfect feature or the perfect announcement is a mistake. Silence is far worse than an imperfect launch. Product-Market Fit is not a permanent state; it must be re-earned every single day as the market evolves.
🎥 Watch the Full Session
Curious to see exactly how Neta managed the transition when Figma finally acquired them—and how she involved her VIP community in the official announcement?
Watch the full video to see Neta’s raw, unfiltered story, including the emotional reaction of her community and the actual blueprints of their product.
This article is based on a session from Creatives and Conversions 2026 (Creatives & Conversions TLV III), brought to you by the Growth Marketing Pros community. Stay tuned for more cutting-edge strategies from top industry experts.
