Several strategies share similarities with the barnacle strategy, focusing on leveraging existing platforms or resources for growth without substantial upfront marketing investment:

1. Barbell Strategy: This involves positioning a business to be appealing for either a small acquisition (like an "acquihire") or becoming big enough to attract substantial interest from larger companies. The key is to ensure that the business is either small and agile or large enough to be significant, avoiding the middle ground where acquisition interest might be lukewarm 1.

2. Tailwind Strategy: Marc Lore describes this as identifying markets with strong growth potential and significant headroom (e.g., e-commerce). By focusing on these fields and combining a solid team with sufficient capital, the business can thrive and be attractive for strategic acquisitions 1.

Both strategies, like the barnacle strategy, emphasize leveraging larger trends, ecosystems, or companies to streamline growth and minimize direct spending on customer acquisition.