We’re wired for shortcuts that make our lives easier. We invented the wheel so we can transport things easier and faster, we shaped knives out of stone and then out of metal so we can cut through things easier and faster, we invented washing machines so we can wash our clothes easier and faster.
We came up with ways to grow businesses easier and faster. We called these “growth hacks” because, somehow, we figured out that a mere name for each of them wasn’t enough — we needed a blanket term to describe the category. And why not make it as obnoxious as possible while we’re at it?
Sean Ellis is credited with coining “growth hacking”. Back when he was working for Dropbox, he figured out a new, never-explored-before way to grow their user base. Thanks to him, Dropbox grew by 3900% in 15 months by implementing a 2-side referral program: users would get additional space when they invited people to join BUT also when they accepted an invitation.
A win-win that drew users like moths to a flame.
AirBnB used Craigslist to get their first users and grow faster than anyone expected them to. In AirBnB’s case, we are actually talking about a hack: they farmed Craigslist, ignored the user agreement, and even emailed users that had specifically asked NOT to be targeted with commercial messages.
But why bring murky ethics and laws into a sexy success story, right? The out-of-the-box thinking got them enshrined in growth hacking’s pantheon forever.
Farmville hacked its way into 32 million daily active users and nearly 85 million players overall by bringing Facebook users together into a fun family-friendly game. They understood the power of social media connections and they leveraged it to the fullest.
Since the Dropbox success, Sean Ellis wrote a best-selling book on you guessed it, growth hacking. He’s still the authority in this space: a keynote speaker, a consultant, and a writer. More importantly, he created a movement that is still quite popular.
However, growth hacking is not without its deterrents.
Why is that? What’s wrong with experimenting to find shorter routes to growth? Isn’t this what marketing and business are all about?
Well, yes, but there’s a problem when growth hacking becomes a goal instead of a means to an end.
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Keep the mindset, drop the name
I like experimenting with different marketing tactics. At any given moment, there’s at least one new thing I’m trying and roughly 20 ideas waiting for their turn.
But calling these “hacks” takes away from their intellectual appeal and depth.
Hack has a dual meaning: the sexy one derived from computer hacking and this one:
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Yikes!
Poor growth hacking — being overused made it slip into its second meaning: unoriginal and dull.
Drudgery ensues when you care about growth beyond anything else. There’s a reason my strategy isn’t based on constant experiments: every “growth hack” I consider has to align with my overall strategy. Otherwise, my growth would be unsustainable.
The trouble with today’s growth hacking landscape is that it’s more about copying what worked for others and less about finding a truly novel approach. Templates are all the rage. Entrepreneurs will spend hours on deep dives into others’ success hoping that they could replicate at least part of it.
I’ve written about this before: the stories you read online are often over-simplified to the point of becoming toxic. Once again, I urge you to stay critically minded when you find inspirational growth hacking stories: will they work for you? Are you in the same context AirBnB or Dropbox were in?
Keep the experimentation mindset of growth hacking. But think of it as add-ons to a solid strategical foundation, not as the only growth engine.
Are you chasing dopamine hits or strategic growth?
This newsletter issue should have been finished a couple of days ago. But instead of focusing on it, I spent an inordinate amount of time on social media: not scrolling mindlessly but working on my channels’ growth.
Why?
Because social media interactions come with quick rewards. Every time someone likes a post or a comment of mine, I get a tiny dopamine hit. Then another one and another one.
Eventually, some of you will respond to this newsletter issue and I’ll get more dopamine hits. But it’s hard to resist the ones that social media provides; they’re nearly instantaneous and our brains are wired to crave more of them.
This is growth hacking in a nutshell: dopamine hits that keep you going.
Nothing wrong with it essentially. But when overused, they create an unsustainable need for constant growth. In turn, this chips away at the fundamentals that made users love your product in the first place.
Since we’re wired to get as many dopamine hits as possible in as short a time frame as possible, it’s very easy to slip into ignoring strategy and chasing the next hit.
Growth hacking is an addiction: just like drug addictions, it will get you chasing bigger, more powerful hits as soon as the previous one wears off.
Getting your first 1000 users without quick hacks: how the biggest consumer apps did it
The first 1000 users are, perhaps, the biggest milestone of any business. 1000 people can give you insights into your best/worst features so you can build your product for its next growth phase.
Lenny Rachitsky did a fabulous job at digging deep into the first stage of growth:
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You’ll see that he credits AirBnB’s success with getting press, not farming Craigslist. What’s interesting about these tactics is that very few of them are hacks. In Lenny’s words:
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Unlike what’s peddled today as growth hacking, most of these tactics involve getting to know your ideal buyer in great detail and going to them directly. You know, the cornerstones of sustainable, scalable strategies, not one-off dopamine hits.
How to use this in your business
A decade ago, Growth Hacker was the most sought-after job title. Everyone wanted a hacker to speed up their growth. Yes, it makes sense to tinker with new approaches. But only when you can do it strategically.
Before you hack your way into the first 1000 users, consider user quality as well: how fast will they churn out? Are they an ideal fit for your product/business model?
You can create a giveaway or run ads to fill up the slots in your CRM. But think beyond vanity metrics — will these users stick around? Are they profitable? Is your approach ethical? Think Dropbox and Farmville instead of AirBnB.
And above all:
Don’t use growth hacks that alienate your customers
This is why, out of the 20+ ideas for growth living in my Evernote account, only a tiny fraction of them see the light of day. If I suspect that a tactic may alienate my clients or subscribers, it gets nixed instantly.
Always look for alignment. Don’t sacrifice your brand’s reputation for growth on steroids. If you get hooked on this, you’ll soon don’t have a brand to grow.
Growth hacking means cutting corners. It’s OK do that every once in a while but when cutting corners becomes your brand, you’re in trouble.
Use growth hacks sparingly — a client story
Found a way to spark extra growth that aligns with what your brand stands for and your goals? Use it! There’s no reason to spend 1,000 hours on what could be achieved in 10 hours.
Case in point: Carol downloaded my pre-written email sequence and used it to re-connect with her dormant list. The results were impressive to say the least:
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In this case, the email sequence is a growth hack: Carol got excellent results by using a proven format instead of figuring things out on her own. But here’s the thing: I know her business well and I know it isn’t built on hacks. She has a coherent strategy, a TON of experience and expertise, and a knack for helping her clients.
Since she spent all that time building a sustainable foundation, Carol can now use the occasional shortcut to grow her business sustainably.
Be like Carol. Use growth hacks sparingly and always on top of a strong foundation.
Do things that aren’t scalable
Lenny mentions this too in his takeaways. A lot of the growth drivers in early-stage businesses can’t be scaled, which makes them anything but growth hacks.
Paul Graham has the best explanation for this. We usually frown upon un-scalable things because we want growth on autopilot. But the truth is that user acquisition is the first piece of the puzzle — you’ll also have to find ways to deligh them and keep them engaged. These things are rarely scalable.
Recruiting your first users manually is neither fast, nor sexy. But it gets you two things:
- Users, obviously!
- Insights into their needs. When you take the time to talk to each of them, you’ll learn a lot about their pain points and how you can build a better product.
The first subscribers of Ideas to Power Your Future are people that I’ve spoken to a lot before they trusted me with their email address. They are also the people who always open my emails and take the time to give me feedback. Thank you for that!
Talking to them was (and still is) time-consuming — but also incredibly enjoyable. I’ve made friends and I learned a lot about what they expect my newsletter to bring them. This is why I don’t plan to stop anytime soon or to find a way to “hack” or automate this part of my growth.
No sustainable business was built on growth hacks alone. Remember this the next time you’re looking for a fast way to grow. If your growth is stalled, it’s not because you haven’t find the right hacks for it.It’s because you still need to work on your foundation.
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Adriana’s Picks
- Substack launches Notes, another alternative to Twitter. In my opinion, it’s the strongest one so far. No wonder Elon tried to cut off Substack links from Twitter.
- LinkedIn is getting serious about supporting creators. This is a useful guide to the recently-released creator-centric features and how to use them.
- AI audiobook startup DeepZen has developed a system that can create deepfake audio recordings of living and dead voice actors with impressive emotional range. Creepy and yet SO cool!
That’s it from me today!
See you next Thursday!
Here to make you think,
Adriana
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