"""Startups are defined by growth, but growth isn’t step one in building a great company.""" I'd argue it is. Building something people love is all about growt

"""Startups are defined by growth, but growth isn’t step one in building a great company.""" I'd argue it is. Building something people love is all about growth. If they love it, they'll talk about and champion it. In fact measuring generic word of mouth growth is a decent way of figuring out if people love the product (my working hypothesis is that engagement is great but if they go beyond that...we're golden). I'd say ignore all kinds of growth except word of mouth growth. I don't care about user acquisition schemes...as soon as the word of mouth growth flattens the alarm bells must go off and all other measures are probably just life extending measures. I'd also say ignore "growth hacking" especially of the "I'll trick people to like my product" variety. Genuine product improvement is the best growth hacking there is.