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Co-author here. I actually started exploring this book topic in late 2009 through an initial series of open-ended interviews that involved a lot of people from

by yegg 12y ago

Co-author here. I actually started exploring this book topic in late 2009 through an initial series of open-ended interviews that involved a lot of people from HN and were discussed on HN quite extensively (when it was much more startup focused). Here is that set: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6r4nAnkQO3VpddRSVwUVDg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6r4nAnkQO3VpddRSVwUVDg (e.g. patio11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuzNs-LhC_8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuzNs-LhC_8, Alexis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enEqAq1x9UQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enEqAq1x9UQ, Garry Tan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Win0moC4cA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Win0moC4cA). I started angel investing around the same time and I quickly came to the conclusion that the pursuit of getting traction needed much more structure akin to product development frameworks. I also got increasingly busy with DuckDuckGo, and so it took finding a great co-author and many years to actually get this book across the finish line. Here's the announcement post from my blog: http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2014/08/get-traction-today.html http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2014/08/get-traction-tod... Happy to take any questions.

programminggeek 12y ago
I realize that a lot of growth channels tend to become saturated over time and they no longer make financial sense to invest in. What channels have managed to sustain themselves as profitable growth channels over longer periods of time?
- yegg 12y ago
  I know this isn't a very satisfying answer, but the truth is it is highly dependent on the specifics of the product and market situation. All nineteen channels we examine in the book have been sustainable growth channels for companies, and one of our core theses is that the underutilized channels for a particular market space can often have the best returns. Unfortunately that means you need to test and that's what our Bullseye framework is all about -- how to approach finding the right traction channel for your particular situation.
- justinmares 12y ago
  That said, paid acquisition channels (Facebook, AdWords, etc.) can be highly profitable - AdWords for almost 10 years now. They just get more expensive and less profitable as time goes on.
vvimal 12y ago
How much luck plays into traction? Since the majority of IT landscape is controlled by few platforms (companies), a BD deal with the dominant player (tier 1 player) is all you need for the big pay day. This is where your connections, network and Influential VC investors can play a big role. Remember, every decent startup has a good product. But not every one of them has the influential connections to make it as a success. Getting traction is not a fair game. In most scenarios it is a hustle.
guybrushT 12y ago
Hi, Got it on Kindle. Going through it. I will definitely be reading it with great interest. I have a question: What would you say are your top 3 learning/'key insight' from writing this book? [These need not be just top 3 things to do to get traction. But anything that you realized/gained from the whole experience/time that you spent researching/writing/thinking this book.] Edit: corrected typo
- justinmares 12y ago
  Awesome! Top 3 learnings are hard to pull out, but roughly: 1. Most startups fail because they can't get traction, not because they can't build a product. 2. Many startups focus too exclusively on product and ignore traction until they launch. This leads to this situation where a startup will spend 3-6 months building something, launch, and then realize they need to start marketing in order to hit profitability or raise their next round of funding. However, they're starting from square one again and with half the money they started with gone. We talk about companies that focus on traction and product in parallel. This leads to a dynamic where companies are testing acquisition channels early on and launch to a group of beta customers. Additionally, they have a better understanding of which acquisition channels are effective, which means they can scale those channels up as after they have a more fleshed out product. 3. We found that founders and marketers have a bias towards using channels they know. Many founders never consider channels outside those they have experience with - usually Facebook/Adwords/content marketing - which means they don't acquire customers in unique ways their competition isn't. Thinking holistically about each of the 19 channels is a much better approach, and allows you to potentially acquire customers in a more cost-effective way than your competitors. Dropbox is a great example of this. There were many file storage companies around before Dropbox, but none that used referral marketing as their main acquisition channel.
sillymoos 12y ago
Any plans for an EPUB version? I have a Kobo ...
- justinmares 12y ago
  EPUB should be out in 2-3 weeks. Feel free to email me - justin@justinmares.com - and I can send you a PDF.
  - sandstrom 12y ago
    Awesome! I wish more books were published as epub!
- dredwerker 12y ago
  Calibre converts mobi to epub for nothing. http://calibre-ebook.com/ http://calibre-ebook.com/ Disclaimer: I love calibre :)
  - grayclhn 12y ago
    Not everyone does :)
girvo 12y ago
Just bought a copy, and am looking forward to reading it! Where I work is looking at spinning off a piece of software as a "startup" of types, and this will be a great help. Thanks!

by yegg 12y ago

programminggeek 12y ago

I realize that a lot of growth channels tend to become saturated over time and they no longer make financial sense to invest in. What channels have managed to sustain themselves as profitable growth channels over longer periods of time?

yegg 12y ago
I know this isn't a very satisfying answer, but the truth is it is highly dependent on the specifics of the product and market situation. All nineteen channels we examine in the book have been sustainable growth channels for companies, and one of our core theses is that the underutilized channels for a particular market space can often have the best returns. Unfortunately that means you need to test and that's what our Bullseye framework is all about -- how to approach finding the right traction channel for your particular situation.
justinmares 12y ago
That said, paid acquisition channels (Facebook, AdWords, etc.) can be highly profitable - AdWords for almost 10 years now. They just get more expensive and less profitable as time goes on.

vvimal 12y ago

How much luck plays into traction? Since the majority of IT landscape is controlled by few platforms (companies), a BD deal with the dominant player (tier 1 player) is all you need for the big pay day. This is where your connections, network and Influential VC investors can play a big role. Remember, every decent startup has a good product. But not every one of them has the influential connections to make it as a success. Getting traction is not a fair game. In most scenarios it is a hustle.

guybrushT 12y ago

Hi, Got it on Kindle. Going through it. I will definitely be reading it with great interest. I have a question: What would you say are your top 3 learning/'key insight' from writing this book? [These need not be just top 3 things to do to get traction. But anything that you realized/gained from the whole experience/time that you spent researching/writing/thinking this book.] Edit: corrected typo

justinmares 12y ago
Awesome! Top 3 learnings are hard to pull out, but roughly: 1. Most startups fail because they can't get traction, not because they can't build a product. 2. Many startups focus too exclusively on product and ignore traction until they launch. This leads to this situation where a startup will spend 3-6 months building something, launch, and then realize they need to start marketing in order to hit profitability or raise their next round of funding. However, they're starting from square one again and with half the money they started with gone. We talk about companies that focus on traction and product in parallel. This leads to a dynamic where companies are testing acquisition channels early on and launch to a group of beta customers. Additionally, they have a better understanding of which acquisition channels are effective, which means they can scale those channels up as after they have a more fleshed out product. 3. We found that founders and marketers have a bias towards using channels they know. Many founders never consider channels outside those they have experience with - usually Facebook/Adwords/content marketing - which means they don't acquire customers in unique ways their competition isn't. Thinking holistically about each of the 19 channels is a much better approach, and allows you to potentially acquire customers in a more cost-effective way than your competitors. Dropbox is a great example of this. There were many file storage companies around before Dropbox, but none that used referral marketing as their main acquisition channel.

sillymoos 12y ago

Any plans for an EPUB version? I have a Kobo ...

justinmares 12y ago
EPUB should be out in 2-3 weeks. Feel free to email me - justin@justinmares.com - and I can send you a PDF.
- sandstrom 12y ago
  Awesome! I wish more books were published as epub!
dredwerker 12y ago
Calibre converts mobi to epub for nothing. http://calibre-ebook.com/ http://calibre-ebook.com/ Disclaimer: I love calibre :)
- grayclhn 12y ago
  Not everyone does :)

girvo 12y ago

Just bought a copy, and am looking forward to reading it! Where I work is looking at spinning off a piece of software as a "startup" of types, and this will be a great help. Thanks!