This document outlines 7 lessons for growth from Silicon Valley that are presented by Andy Young. The lessons are: 1) nail down your value proposition and messaging, 2) get product/market fit before growing, 3) build a model to understand your business metrics, 4) identify levers and prioritize experiments, 5) drive growth through experimentation and learning, 6) maintain a growth mindset, and 7) have weekly growth meetings. Additional tips include talking to users and maintaining resources on growth strategies. The overall message is that growth requires an experimental and data-driven approach focused on continuous learning.
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7 Growth Lessons from Silicon Valley - and why they don't call it "Growth Hacking"
1. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
7 Growth Lessons
from Silicon Valley
and why they don’t call it “Growth Hacking”..
Andy Young
@andyy
2. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Hi, I’m Andy!
@andyy
#fb
PhotobyDanTaylor-dan@heisenbergmedia.com
3. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
So what is this about
“Growth” anyways?
4. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
● Typically growing our active customer/user base
● Growing whatever drives value in our business
● Not necessarily growing revenue $$$
● Growing whatever’s most strategically important to
us right now
What do we mean by Growth?
5. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
So WTF is this
Growth Hacking thing?
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Let’s talk about something REAL
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Growth Hacking..? Technical Marketing..?
Call it what you want, teams at high-growth companies
are scaling to millions of users without major use of
traditional mass advertising/marketing techniques.
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Some examples..
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Engineering-driven Growth
AirBnB built on top of Craigslist
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Product-driven
Growth
Dropbox succeeded with
a Referral Scheme
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Viral Growth
Hotmail put
“P.s. I love you. Get your free email at Hotmail.”
in the footer of every email.
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Companies are achieving scale in new ways:
● Modern, data-driven online marketing channels
● Growth channels embedded within the product
Common Theme
15. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Companies are achieving scale in new ways:
● Modern, data-driven online marketing channels
● Growth channels embedded within the product
“The best startups grow super fast not because
of traditional marketing or online marketing, but
because they tune the product to drive growth”
- Casey Winters, Pinterest/Greylock
Common Theme
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Growth
via the intersection of
Product, Marketing & Engineering
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● SEO
● Content Marketing
● Performance Marketing (Paid search & display, retargeting)
● Conversion Optimisation (CRO) & A/B Testing
● User testing & UX
● Viral Loops
● Strategic Pricing
● …
The Growth Toolbox
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What Growth is NOT
19. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
What Growth is NOT
There are loads of great tips and hacks out there
Subscribe to 500’s “DISTROSNACK” newsletter!
But following all these cool tips will not itself bring
success.
20. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Things with big impact:
● Top of funnel
○ How to reach HUGE new audiences in a cost-effective way
● Middle of funnel
○ Attracting and drawing people deeper into engaging with you
● Bottom of funnel
○ Close to the $$$ - convert higher % and simply make more money!
Things that WILL make a difference
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Growth Marketing is finding growth that is:
● Measurable
● Predictable
● Repeatable & Scalable
Growth is a mindset, and a process.
Growth Truths
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7 Growth Lessons
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#1 - nail down your
value proposition
& messaging
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- 10,000 ft view exercise -
- bit.ly/10kftview -
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What product/service, for which target market?
Why do our customers love us?
Why do they choose us over the competition?
How do we make money?
What is our primary way to get new customers?
Our business will become a huge, runaway success if…
During the next 3 months we need to focus on…
What ONE target do we want to hit?
10,000 ft view
bit.ly/10kftview
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#2 - get Product/Market fit
before you try and grow
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bit.ly/kpi-sheet
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Not an operational dashboard:
metrics related to growth
1. Identify top-level KPI
2. Add nuance
3. Add drivers
4. Add funnel for these drivers
Template Google Sheet: bit.ly/kpi-sheet
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#4 - identify Levers
and prioritise your backlog
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Levers:
things you can push
to get growth
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Identify your
One Metric That Matters (OMTM)
to get everyone pushing
in the same direction
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Prioritise using ICE
framework:
-Impact
-Chance of Success
-Effort (time/resources)
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#5 - drive growth via
experimentation
and learnings
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“Learning is the essential unit
of progress for startups”
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Make predictions in advance!
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#6 - it’s a Mindset
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The world is constantly changing
(channel efficiency/effectiveness, etc)
Experimentation & learnings
Build a machine
Naturally curious
Motivated by helping the customer achieve their goals
Growth Mindset
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#7 - maintain discipline with a
Weekly Growth Meeting
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Agenda
1. Review KPIs
2. What did we learn last week?
3. What experiments are we running this week?
No work is to be done during the meeting!
Weekly Growth Meeting
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BONUS #8
Talk to your users
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User testing script - cheers Steve Krug!
www.sensible.com/downloads/test-script.pdf
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Further Reading
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Brian Balfour Andrew Chen Sarah Tavel Casey Winters
Reforge Uber Greylock Greylock
coelevate.com andrewchen.co @sarahtavel
on Medium
caseyaccidental.com
Who to follow
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● 10,000ft view worksheet
● Bryan Balfour: The Scientific Method: How to Design &
Track Viral Growth Experiments
● Dave McClure's Startup Metrics for Pirates
● Eric Ries’s Three Engines of Growth
● My deck on Analytics for Startups
● 500 Startups Accelerator Marketing Hell Week:
videos, templates & goodness
● DISTROSNACK: daily growth hacks
Further references..
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#1 - nail down your value proposition & messaging
#2 - get Product/Market fit before you try and grow
#3 - build a model to understand your business
#4 - identify Levers and prioritise your backlog
#5 - drive growth via experimentation & learnings
#6 - it’s a mindset
#7 - maintain discipline with a weekly growth meeting
Talk to your users!
51. Andy Young // @andyy // andyyoung.co
Thanks, & good luck!