I took the pay-to-rank idea and added the 3 things I wanted as a marketer
The recent pay-to-rank / attention-market experiments got me thinking.
The idea itself is ridiculously simple — and that's probably why it's interesting.
But as a marketer, I kept wondering:
What happens AFTER someone wins #1?
So I built my own experiment: FirstRank.lol
I added 3 things I really wanted:
🌍 Country leaderboards
Don't just rank globally. Compete for #1 in India, Singapore, US, UK, etc.
🎁 Offers / coupon codes
If you're getting attention, why not try turning those clicks into customers too?
🔗 A shareable URL for every listing
With prewritten content, so founders can actually share and defend their rank.
Challenge starts at $5.
I launched it about 12 hours ago.
Current massive startup empire:
2 listings 😂
🇮🇳 India — 1
🇸🇬 Singapore — 1
That's it.
Now I'm curious whether country competition + offers + sharing can turn a simple leaderboard into something founders actually use for distribution.
Maybe it stays at 2.
Maybe countries start fighting over #1.
Let's see.
FirstRank.lol
Would these additions make you more likely to challenge for a rank — or is there something else you'd add?
I like the “what happens after #1?” angle. One thing I’d test is making the climb skill-based instead of only pay-based, because founders love defending a leaderboard spot when it feels earned. I’ve been playing with that format here: https://www.buildersbenchmark.com/ , eight mini events, one all-round score, top-five SaaS links.
This direction makes sense to me because the founder gets both a status game and a reason to share. The one thing I’d test is earning rank through a tiny challenge instead of paying for it. I’m trying that with BuilderBench: eight quick events, one all-round score, and top-five SaaS links: https://www.buildersbenchmark.com/