YC
Gustaf Alstromer - How to Get Users and Grow
@ Y Combinator
09/12/18
Takeaways
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Working on user growth is best learned by being part of a growth team, as I experienced at Airbnb.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
If you create a product, simply putting it on the market won't guarantee users will come; active growth strategies are necessary.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Growth is essential for startups because it defines their potential to become significant in the market.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Paul Graham's essay 'Startup Equals Growth' emphasizes that growth is crucial for startups, distinguishing them from other types of companies.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
It's important to be intentional about growth; without a focus on it, startups can struggle to achieve their potential.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Facebook's growth forecast was initially underestimated; they grew to over 2 billion users by being intentional about growth strategies.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
To measure product-market fit, identify a metric that reflects the value your customers derive from your product and track its repeat usage.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
For Airbnb, the value is realized when users book and stay, but since travel is infrequent, measuring repeat usage can be challenging.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Measuring retention is critical; if you don't have a product that retains users, you shouldn't focus on growth yet.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Companies should focus on growth only after achieving product-market fit; otherwise, they risk wasting resources.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
The relationship between growth and marketing has evolved; growth now involves product changes driven by data and technology, not just marketing efforts.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Growth teams consist of product managers, engineers, data scientists, and sometimes marketers, all working together to enhance product growth. Performance marketing, which includes Google and Facebook marketing, is highly technical and data-driven, and I believe that performance marketers and engineers should work closely together because their tasks are very similar.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Brand marketing is the hardest type of marketing to measure, and startups should focus on growth and performance marketing first before considering brand marketing later in their development.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Startups should prioritize product growth and conversion optimization, focusing on the steps in the user funnel, such as sign-up and payment conversion, to enhance user experience and drive growth.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
If your product is international, ensure it is translated to drive more users to engage with it, as language accessibility can significantly impact user acquisition.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Authentication processes, such as signing up and logging in, are critical moments in user experience that require continuous optimization to prevent user drop-off.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Onboarding is crucial; the first experience users have with your product should quickly demonstrate its value to encourage continued use.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
When considering growth channels, focus on how users discover your product. For small companies, it's often too early to think about scalable growth channels until you have a solid user base.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
If your product is valuable and users have a high lifetime value, then investing in paid acquisition channels like Google and Facebook can be beneficial.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
For paid growth, ensure you have revenue before investing in ads, and understand your customer acquisition cost (CAC) versus the lifetime value (LTV) of your users to ensure profitability.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Search engine optimization (SEO) remains important as long as users rely on Google for decision-making. Ensure your website is optimized for what Google can see, focusing on clear language and proper coding.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Off-page optimization, such as acquiring backlinks from authoritative sites, is essential for improving your site's visibility on search engines. Media coverage can significantly enhance your off-page SEO efforts.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
A growth team typically consists of engineers, data scientists, designers, product managers, and user researchers, and it's essential to have a well-organized team to drive growth effectively.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
When organizing a growth team, you can either have it as a separate entity or integrate it with the product team, but it's crucial to find a balance between shared responsibility and dedicated focus on growth.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Setting clear goals and defining responsibilities within your product can help distinguish between growth and product development, ensuring everyone knows their role in driving growth.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Before starting any work, forecast the potential outcomes of your efforts. If the best-case scenario is not significant, reconsider whether the effort is worth pursuing.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Experimentation is vital for making informed decisions. Without data-driven experimentation, decisions may be based on luck or guesswork, leading to poor outcomes.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Every major decision should be validated through A/B testing to understand the true impact of changes made within the company.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
When running experiments, it's important to consider external factors that could influence results, such as seasonal trends or events, to accurately interpret the data.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Using A/B testing allows you to isolate the effects of changes, ensuring that you can accurately assess what works and what doesn't in your product.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
To effectively grow in a high-barrier market like health insurance, focus on reaching a larger audience and applying automation and technology to your sales processes.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Incentives can be a scalable growth tactic if implemented correctly, such as through referral programs that leverage existing users to attract new ones.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Understanding the retention rates of both paying and free users is crucial for identifying growth opportunities and addressing potential issues in user engagement.
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Gustaf Alstromer
09/12/18
@ Y Combinator
Experimentation can be challenging, especially in complex products, but investing in the right infrastructure is necessary to make data-driven decisions and avoid costly mistakes.