This document outlines 5 phases of startup growth: 1. Get Lean - Focus on problem/solution fit and building a minimum viable product through customer interviews and testing. 2. MVP - Learn what customers want through an MVP to prove demand while keeping costs low through iteration. 3. Head for PMF - Achieve product/market fit by reaching must-have scores and metrics like NPS above 40%. 4. Scale - Hire growth specialists to ramp up experimentation and find high impact growth opportunities. 5. Maturity - Pursue horizontal and vertical expansion through new channels, specialization, and acquisitions.

1. 5 PHASES OF
STARTUP GROWTH
THE STARTUP GROWTH GRIND

4. *YMMV
5 STAGES OF STARTUP GROWTH

5. GET LEAN
1. GET PRODUCT
• Get to problem/solution fit
• Build your MVP
• Don’t be too minimum, or it’s
probably not viable
http://www.meeteor.com/blog/lean-startup/

6. STAGE TO-DO LIST
• Study the Lean Startup framework and apply it to your discovery
process.
• Conduct problem/solution fit interviews like crazy.
• Run demand tests with landing pages/ads or crowdfunding
campaign.
• Use learnings to define/refine your MVP.
• Iterate as new information flows in.

7. NOT TOO ‘M’
2. MVP
• Learn what people want
• Prove demand/need
• Keep risk/burn low
http://www.meeteor.com/blog/lean-startup/

8. STAGE TO-DO LIST
• Build your MVP
• Instrument product for visibility into usage
• Conduct ongoing user feedback
• Iterate to improve retention
• Invest in growth to prove retention and initial flow of users, not
looking to scale

9. IT’S A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION
3. HEAD FOR PMF
• Must Have Score > 40%
• Pass the Sam Altman test
• Measure Net Promoter Score
(NPS) – benchmark it
• Stable, sustainable retention
rates
Sean Ellis Startup Pyramid

10. EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GROWTH
ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM
• PM Growth
• Analyst / Data Scientist
• Growth Engineer
• Digital Marketers
• Specialist(s)
Zuckerberg poses with some of his deputies at Antonio’s Nut House in Palo
Alto, a popular staff hangout:Chamath Palihapitya, vice president for growth,
mobile and international; Zuckerberg; Mike Schroepfer, vice president of
engineering; Jonathan Heiliger, vice president of technical operations; Chris
Cox,vice president of product.

11. RAPID EXPERIMENTATION DRIVES GROWTH
GROWTH PROCESS
• Ideate: Unbridled idea
generation
• Prioritize: Focus on Impact
• Test: Rapid experimentation
• Analysis: Applicable learning
Ideate
Prioritize
Test
Analyze

12. WORDS ARE EVERYTHING
FIND LANGUAGE/MARKET FIT
What do your users think you’ve built for them?
Store Your Photos Share Your Photos
Find a Date Help Friends Find a Date
Source: James Currier

13. LEAKY BUCKETS ARE GROWTH KRYPTONITE
OPTIMIZE FLOWS
• Build Desire, Reduce Friction
• Maximize % of users who get
to must-have experience
• Understand motivators and
hurdles to improve

14. BATTLESHIP - MARKETING EDITION
CHANNEL/PRODUCT FIT
• Identify where your
customers are (and where
your competition isn’t)
• Ask “How does what I offer
map to channel experience?”
• Do things that don’t scale
• Test for signal, double down
on what works
• Keep searching
http://leanentrepreneur.co

15. IT’S GO TIME
4. SCALE
• Hire channel specialists to
ramp growth
• Increase experimentation
velocity
• Seek out high impact
opportunities
• Keep close eye on core
metrics

16. GROWTH IS NEVER DONE
5. MATURITY
• Horizontal and vertical
expansion opportunities
• Identifying new channels that
require scale or specialization
• M&A
• Incremental and high-impact
wins
globevector.com

17. *YMMV
5 STAGES OF STARTUP GROWTH

18. TAKEAWAYS

19. FOCUS IS KEY

20. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE
FOR A GREAT PRODUCT

21. SPEED IS YOUR
SECRET WEAPON

22. GROWTH IS
NEVER DONE

23. KEEP LEARNING

24. GET IN TOUCH
@morganb @morganb180 morganbrown.co /in/morganb