The 6 growth hacking videos that have changed the way we approach marketing and user acquisition at our startup.
WHO: Alex Schultz
WHERE: ‘How to Start a Startup’ at Stanford University (2014)
WHAT I LIKED: The entire ‘How to Start a Startup’ series was awesome and this talk was my favorite. Hearing how ‘Zuck’ was relentless about his focus on growth was inspiring. And his overall analysis of how they leveraged a user’s ‘magic moment’ to retain them for the long term.
WHO: Noah Kagan
WHERE: ‘Search Love Conference’ in NYC (2011)
WHAT I LIKED: Noah gives you his exact playbook for growing users. It’s a great talk that gets into the blocking & tackling of growing your business and sales. Lots of great intel to apply to your business. Plus, he tosses out his cell number and crowd-sources the audience for . . . sex. Link here.
WHO: Chamath Palihapitiya
WHERE: ‘Growth, Myths & Anecdotes’ Talk (2012)
WHAT I LIKED: Hearing how he managed the uber-talented growth team at Facebook. The fact that he never focused on virality until he nailed the 3 hardest things: 1) getting people in the door, 2) delivering the ‘magic moment’ as fast as possible, and (3) delivering core product value as often as possible. (Good insight at the 9 minute mark.)
WHO: Sean Ellis
WHERE: ‘Growing Your Startup’ at Pioneers Festival (2012)
WHAT I LIKED: The emphasis on Product Market Fit and how to validate it before focusing on growth and talking to users. Then he dives into the principles of growth at a startup — pretty helpful since he invented the term “growth hacker.” This serves as a growth manual for any startup.
WHO: Josh Elman
WHERE: ‘Grow Conference’ Talk (2013)
WHAT I LIKED: No fluff — which is nice. He dives right into case studies from Twitter and Linkedin about the double viral loop, the learn flow & user accounting. Good A/B testing examples that have helped drive our tests. (And lots of pretty graphs.)
WHO: Neil Patel
WHERE: ‘Growth Hacking’ at Pioneers Festival (2014)
WHAT I LIKED: Neil breaks down how & where to find your customers. Some strong examples on integrating with powerful distribution platforms to spread the word. But the best part is the Q/A section when he rattles off growth ideas for random businesses.