At this point, the entire phrase "growth hacking" makes me uncomfortable. I gather that initially it just meant "engineering focused on growth", and I can see

At this point, the entire phrase "growth hacking" makes me uncomfortable. I gather that initially it just meant "engineering focused on growth", and I can see how you might want it as a counterbalance; if you have teams devoted to beautiful UI and stable infrastructure, but not growing, it might get neglected. But in practice, it mostly seems like a "dirty tricks" role. Dark signup patterns produce growth, fake competition produces growth, dishonest countdown timers and 'rooms remaining' counters produce growth. Having a role devoted to hustling either your users or your customers isn't a good look.