THE ENDOWED PROGRESS EFFECT

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

A car wash tested two punch cards: one needed 10 stamps for a free wash, the other needed 12 but started with 2 stamps already filled. Same math, but the pre-stamped card got 2X more completions. That's the Endowed Progress Effect - we chase goals harder when we feel we've already started. Notion uses this by giving new users pre-filled templates instead of blank workspaces. Give users artificial progress and they'll finish what they think they've started.