How We Grew BPIQ to 27K Followers | From Crickets to Community
This is the story of how we grew BiopharmIQ from 1K to 27K followers.
The Early Days (2021)
BiopharmIQ started as a simple idea: provide needle-moving data to biotech investors.
We used X as a platform to reach potential users, but for the first year, we were posting into the void.
BiopharmIQ had barely 1,000 followers, and it felt like shouting into an empty room.
If you’ve ever tried to build an audience online, you know the feeling: you put in the work, you post consistently, and... nothing.
Our tweets were factual, technical, and... lifeless. We were “informing,” not connecting. The follower count barely moved all year.
As you can see from the below posts, blocks of information, no images, etc.
The Expansion (2022)
In January 2022, we decided to try X ads.
It worked, sort of. Our follower count exploded. We gained thousands of new followers in a few months.
But something felt off.
Engagement didn’t move. We had a big audience, but it felt like a room full of ghosts.
No one was replying, no one was discussing, and no one seemed to care.
That’s when it hit me: follower count is a vanity metric unless it reflects real engagement.
We turned off the ads later that year, grateful for the experiment but realizing we hadn’t built what we truly wanted, a community.
The Turning Point (2023)
Then came the shift.
In January 2023, I bought Dagobert’s "How to Dominate Twitter" course. It completely reframed how I thought about the platform, and honestly, about the internet in general.
Social media is just like real life:
Give twice, ask once.
Make real connections, not superficial ones.
Provide value, and people will find you.
Those ideas clicked immediately.
We stopped treating Twitter like a broadcast channel and started treating it like a conversation.
Instead of chasing algorithms, we focused on people.
Here’s what changed:
- We focused on providing high-value insights, not marketing blurbs.
- We engaged with others who cared about the same space.
- We amplified other voices doing great work.
- We spoke like humans, not analysts.
And that’s when everything started to move again.
The Growth That Mattered (2023–2024)
If you look back at the chart, you can see the second inflection point in early 2023, the slope climbs again, but this time it means something.
From 2023 to today, our followers grew from 10,000 to 27,000.
But more importantly, the feel of the community changed.
We started seeing real conversations, thoughtful replies, and collaborations that grew organically.
The page felt alive.
BiopharmIQ was no longer just an account, it was piece of the biotech Twitter ecosystem.
We were learning, sharing, and growing alongside our audience.
The Principles That Made It Work
Looking back, the growth wasn’t magic. It was mindset.
Here are the four principles that changed everything:
Give more than you take.
The algorithm rewards value, because people do.Engage > broadcast.
Communities are built in the replies, not the timeline.Authenticity scales slower, but lasts longer.
People remember your tone more than your stats.Metrics are mirrors, not meaning.
They reflect what’s working, but they aren’t the goal.
We stopped chasing numbers and started nurturing relationships.
That’s when everything changed.
If you’re building a brand, a startup, or a personal platform online, remember this:
Every follower is a person.
And people don’t follow algorithms, they follow value.
That’s how BiopharmIQ grew from crickets to community.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in hearing more about my stories building and growing BPIQ, or using AI, follow along at @DomVacchiano.