Hard truth #10: Attribution is a lie

Every single growth team is obsessed with being data-driven.

We chase clean attribution models and swear by them like the scientific method.

It might work for A/B testing, but attribution is directional at best. What drives a user to sign up, convert, or churn can’t be reduced to a single number. Human behavior is... See more

Hard truth #7: Retention beats acquisition, every time

Do some simple maths with me.

Imagine you add $1M of new revenue in 2024. If those customers retain and *still* contribute $1M in 2025, you only need ~$200k of net-new to grow 20% year over year. But if you leak half of that $1M by 2025, you need $500k just to stay flat, then another $200k to... See more

Hard truth #5: Growth loops eventually collapse, and the product has to carry that load

Andrew Chen calls it “the law of shitty clickthroughs”.

Every channel and every loop will eventually saturate and decline. The only question is how long they last.

Some loops endure for over a decade. SurveyMonkey’s user-generated loop (users sending surveys to... See more

Hard truth #4: Most people (still) can’t explain why marketing is different from growth

I’ve said this 927 times already (like here, and here). The biggest source of confusion? Growth marketing . Sometimes it sits under growth, sometimes under marketing - but either way, marketing ≠ growth.

Growth is rooted in data. It’s about running activities... See more

Hard truth #3: The best growth strategy is still a great product

A thriving business is the result of two factors combined: a great product and great distribution.

You can have great distribution with a ‘meh’ product, but these cases are usually due to first-mover advantage and massive switching costs for customers. I will call out Salesforce on... See more

Hard truth #2: Your biggest growth blocker is your own org structure

Hate to break it to you, but the reason your company isn’t growing is probably your org structure.

Here is an example of how it usually looks (seen first hand at one of the companies I worked at): paid marketing would strut into Quarterly Business Reviews bragging about “crushing... See more