From 4,000 to 4.3m followers: New Zealand player’s Insta fame

'Messi, Maradona, Tim': NZ footballer's viral fan club hits 4 million

Tim Payne reached 4M Instagram followers in a week after influencer Scarsini highlighted him as the World Cup's "least known" player. For tech leaders, this demonstrates exponential growth via influencer amplification—applicable to personal brand and GTM strategy.