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Confessions of a growth hacker: If people don't hate you, you are not growing.
- seansouthern 14y agoWhat is a growth hacker?
- loceng 14y agoI've heard this term only in the last week too, and still unsure of what it is..
- kintamanimatt 14y agoA BS name for a marketer.
- pytrin 14y agoA growth hacker is a trendy (and some say useless) name for a marketer who focuses on user growth, who can also write code. Growth hacking usually involves "hacking" existing systems or data for high-impact user growth actions (example: what AirBnb did with craiglist can be considered growth hacking) (Edit: grammar)
- jaxonrice 14y agoIts another (idiotic) term for marketer
- fiatmoney 14y agoA coder on the customer acquisition team.
- pmorici 14y agoIt's a marketing term for a marketer.
- MengYuanLong 14y ago"Growth hacker" is the in vogue jargon for "marketer". I have read arguments promoting the title on the basis that there is an increased reliance on quantitative analysis but the bottom line is they are just marketers naturally applying their craft to their own job titles. For those that would disagree, please tell me what would differ on a growth hacker's resume vs. a marketing professional's resume. A big clue that they are the same role is that both jobs would list user acquisition numbers as a key metric of their work efficacy.
- MengYuanLong 14y agoAs an aside, I find some irony in the fact that a growth hacker uses blogspot. All Blogspot blogs are blocked in China without the use of a vpn. Thus, a sizeable chunk of potential readers is excluded.
- orangethirty 14y agoThe difference is quite makred. A conventional marketer focuses on using, well, conventional methods. They use already made marketing tools to get their messages across. Seldom do they dare innovate in any regard. They basically apply the same thing to every idea. A growth hacker: builds his/her own tools (including software) is always developing new marketing tools works to combine conventional with new Its not a new term, but has been getting some attention in the past years.
- mmcnickle 14y agoI flagged this because the post doesn't go beyond stating platitudes. Some specific examples or case studies could add interest and would reinforce your point.
- pytrin 14y agoSo opinion pieces are not allowed now on HN? it seems like every second post on the front page is like this.
- mmcnickle 14y agoOn the contrary, it's just that this piece doesn't even seem to express an opinion beyond the clichéd "Growth is painful".
- pytrin 14y agoThe article describes how for real growth you need polarize your audience. The painful part comes from those who hate your product, but is complemented by those who love it. I know from experience that this is a fact.
- kintamanimatt 14y agoI agree with you. The TL;DR is do scary stuff and don't be afraid to offend people. I'm not quite sure what dirty secret they're supposed to be confessing though. It's a fairly vacuous and vapid blog post that appears to just exist to promote the fact they want a new client.
- orangethirty 14y agoGood point. I had not considered it. May you include some guidance as to which type of exmaples you would be interested?
- mmcnickle 14y agoExpanding on the examples you give at the end. I'm not familiar with the AirBnB ads and I'm not entirely sure what Facebook has purposely done to polarise people for growth.
- tribeofone 14y agoFinally a piece of spiritual advice that makes sense in contrast to the "always be shipping", "cult of done" and other such garbage that sometimes gets pitched on this forum.