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How Startups Can Trend-Jack The Timeline With Memes

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May 19, 2025
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Here鈥檚 a modern startup truth: For better or worse, if you want people to care about your startup, you have to be terminally online.

Jason Levin of Memelord Technologies

You can鈥檛 rely on boring ChatGPT blog posts about the hottest trends in 2024 when it鈥檚 May 2025. There鈥檚 just too much competition out there for consumers鈥� attention 鈥� it鈥檚 your ChatGPT-written blog or laughing at a funny . That鈥檚 why you have to find a way to stand out and insert your brand into the hottest trends and narratives.

I call this 鈥渢rend-jacking鈥� and I built an entire seven-figure software empire around it.

Maybe you鈥檝e seen it with popular meme narratives 鈥� like the recent 鈥�100 men vs 1 gorilla鈥� trend. Once the trend started, brands started hopping on it like crazy.

You might think, 鈥淥h, they got traction because they already have established brands.鈥�

But brands like became popular online because their team is fluent in internet culture (it sure wasn鈥檛 the chicken sandwiches 馃ぎ). They鈥檙e trend-jacking constantly.

And it鈥檚 not just the fast-food brands and weird crypto companies trend-jacking with memes anymore. Serious software companies ranging from startups like , and to public companies like , and are posting memes ()

Even the

If you鈥檙e an early-stage startup and don鈥檛 have a big audience yet, trend-jacking with memes is the fastest way to gain traction and attention. In this post, I鈥檒l break down how to trend-jack and go viral using the most powerful weapon the internet ever invented: memes.

How do you trend-jack? With memes!

Trend-jacking is simple: insert your brand into a trending topic while people still care.

Here鈥檚 how I did it.

When the vibe-coding idea was just taking off, I jumped on with some quick, dank memes. They took me seconds but got me thousands of views and new followers.

The challenge?

You have to be fast. If you鈥檙e too late, no one cares. There鈥檚 not enough time to write a treatise on AI agents and vibe coding. You gotta bang out a meme! The internet moves faster than ever these days (and it鈥檚 only increasing).

That鈥檚 why memes are the best way to trend-jack: fast, familiar formats that are easy to consume and share. It鈥檚 what the algorithm loves.

That鈥檚 why I built specifically for trend-jacking that sends you daily alerts for new viral meme trends and narratives so you can jump on trends and go viral faster and more easily.

Here are three things I鈥檝e learned you have to hit to go viral with trend-jacking:

  1. Fast: You have 24 hours to jump on a trend. If you’re late, the internet has moved on. Some memes last longer, but the earlier you jump in, the better.
  2. Fluent: Don鈥檛 use outdated meme templates. If you鈥檙e still using 鈥淥verly Attached Girlfriend,鈥� you鈥檒l look like a boomer to your audience.
  3. Fun: Don鈥檛 limit yourself to static image memes. Use videos, , play around. I promise it鈥檒l be the most fun marketing of your life.

If you nail all three, you鈥檙e not just going viral 鈥� you鈥檙e building brand equity in people鈥檚 feeds.

Once people start seeing you regularly, it鈥檚 just about keeping the momentum going with more memes. People don鈥檛 scroll social media to read about why your startup is the best B2B payroll platform. They scroll to laugh and be entertained. (That鈥檚 how ).

If you jump on a trending moment with a clever meme or take, you ride the wave instead of fighting the algorithm.

Startups that do this well aren鈥檛 just posting memes. They鈥檙e participating in internet culture and having real conversations where their customers already hang out. If you鈥檙e in the same space as your users, you鈥檙e golden.

But wait: does this actually drive growth?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: Obviously, no one is buying your product because you made a good SpongeBob meme. But if you have a good product, the meme gets the eyeballs on your site and that鈥檚 all that matters.

See, here鈥檚 the thing.

I wrote the book 鈥�,鈥� and people got it twisted: the memes don鈥檛 make you millions. They make you relevant and stand out among all of the slop content other companies are producing. It brings eyeballs to your product.

Your product or service is what makes you money.

It鈥檚 not about chasing creator payouts on or . It鈥檚 not about chasing advertising dollars. And it sure as hell isn鈥檛 about memecoins. The real game is about using humor to sell high-margin products like software.

And if you have a mediocre product to sell, the funniest memes in the world won鈥檛 make you successful. Memes won鈥檛 save you. Seriously, I tell pre-PMF founders not to even touch memes. Focus on making a good product before the dank memes.

But if you鈥檝e got a good product, they鈥檒l get you more eyeballs fast and cheap. And that鈥檚 all that matters in today鈥檚 world where distribution is the only moat left that matters.

is the founder of meme marketing software startup . He writes about unhinged marketing every week in his free newsletter, and is the author of 鈥�.鈥�

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