Growth Hacker Skill

Help founders and product teams accelerate growth through proven frameworks, tactical experiments, and ready-to-publish content.

Core Principles

Sean Ellis Principles

1. Retention is the ultimate PMF test; surveys are leading indicators
2. Ignore "somewhat disappointed" users—they dilute your must-have experience
3. Customer acquisition is LAST, not first: Activation → Engagement → Referral → Revenue → Acquisition
4. "If you're not efficient at converting, retaining, and monetizing, you can't find scalable acquisition"
5. Qualitative + quantitative together = better experiments
6. Ask users: "How did you find us? How do you normally find products like this?"

Nikita Bier Principles

1. Look for "latent demand"—people going through distortive processes to get value
2. Three reasons people download apps: make/save money, find love, unplug from reality
3. If there's ANY uncertainty about PMF, you don't have it. It's binary.
4. Every tap is a miracle—optimize ruthlessly
5. Test the BEST possible version to eliminate confounding variables
6. Marketing = Product. Ads, in-app experience, and invites must all align
7. Naming matters—even affects invite behavior at critical moments

Workflows

1. Product-Market Fit Assessment

Use when: User wants to assess if they have PMF or understand their core value proposition.

Steps: 1. Design PMF survey using the Sean Ellis question: - "How would you feel if you could no longer use [product]?" - Options: Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed 2. Target: Random sample of activated users (used 2+ times, within last 2 weeks) 3. Benchmark: 40% "very disappointed" = leading indicator of PMF 4. Critical follow-ups for "very disappointed" users: - "What is the primary benefit you get from [product]?" - "Why is that benefit important to you?" 5. Analyze responses to identify: - Core value proposition (in customer language) - Who considers it a must-have - What they used before - What problem they're solving

Output: PMF score, core value statement, positioning recommendations, and next steps.

For detailed frameworks, read references/frameworks.md

2. Growth Audit

Use when: User wants a comprehensive assessment of growth opportunities.

Steps: 1. Identify current growth stage (pre-PMF, early traction, scaling, mature) 2. Map existing channels and metrics across AARRR funnel 3. Identify biggest levers and gaps 4. Prioritize in this order (Sean Ellis sequence): - Activation (speed to value, onboarding) - Engagement (retention, habit formation) - Referral (viral loops, word of mouth) - Revenue (monetization, pricing) - Acquisition (channels, paid/organic) 5. ICE score top 5-10 experiments 6. Create prioritized growth plan

Output: Prioritized experiment roadmap with ICE scores.

3. Activation Optimization

Use when: User wants to improve onboarding, reduce churn, or increase activation rate.

Steps: 1. Map current time-to-value (how long until user experiences core benefit?) 2. Apply 3-second rule: Can user experience value in first 3 seconds? 3. Identify biggest drop-off points in funnel 4. Diagnose problems: - Ask bounced users directly: "What happened?" - Look for inspiration from adjacent products 5. Design experiments to either: - Reduce friction (fewer steps, clearer UI, eliminate signup walls) - Increase desire (better value prop, social proof, urgency) 6. Test best possible version (eliminate confounding variables)

Key insight from LogMeIn: They improved signup-to-usage from 5% → 50% by focusing on onboarding. This enabled scaling paid channels from $10k/month to $1M/month.

For detailed tactics, read references/activation-playbook.md

4. Latent Demand Discovery

Use when: User is exploring new product ideas or market opportunities.

Steps: 1. Look for people going through distortive processes to get value - Example: Sarahah was #1 app in US despite being entirely in Arabic 2. Identify signals of unmet demand: - Workarounds people are using - High engagement on "wrong" products - Forums/Reddit threads with repeated questions 3. Crystallize the true motivation (not surface behavior) 4. Design product that delivers that value directly

Three core motivations (Nikita Bier): - Make or save money - Find love/connection - Unplug from reality

Output: Product opportunity hypothesis with evidence of latent demand.

5. Experiment Design

Use when: User has a growth hypothesis to test.

Steps: 1. Define hypothesis clearly: "We believe [change] will [impact] because [reason]" 2. ICE score the idea: - Impact: Best case, how much could this move the metric? (1-10) - Confidence: How sure are we this will work? (1-10) - Ease: How easy is this to implement? (1-10) 3. Design minimum viable test 4. Define success metrics and sample size 5. Plan iteration path: "If this works, then we'll..."

Output: Experiment brief ready to execute.

6. Content Generation

Use when: User needs marketing content (emails, social posts, landing pages).

Steps: 1. Identify channel and goal 2. Use customer language from PMF research - Example: Xobni used "drowning in email?" as hook because users said exactly that 3. Select appropriate template from assets/templates/ 4. Adapt to product voice/positioning 5. Optimize for platform specifics 6. Include CTA and tracking suggestions

For platform-specific tactics, read references/platform-playbooks.md

7. North Star Metric Selection

Use when: User needs help defining their key metric.

Steps: 1. Identify the core value delivered (from PMF research) 2. Design metric that reflects units of value delivered 3. Apply checklist: - [ ] Not a ratio (can be "up and to the right" over time) - [ ] Correlates to revenue growth - [ ] Reflects value to customers (not just business value) - [ ] Time-capped for focus (daily/weekly beats monthly) 4. Run 30-minute team alignment exercise

Examples: - Airbnb: Nights booked - Amazon: Monthly purchases - Uber: Weekly rides - Facebook: Daily active users (not monthly—this shift changed behavior significantly)

For metrics guidance, read references/metrics-guide.md

Key Frameworks Summary

Reference Files

• references/frameworks.md - Deep dive on PMF test, AARRR, ICE, North Star metrics with case studies
• references/activation-playbook.md - Speed to value tactics, friction reduction, testing methodology
• references/platform-playbooks.md - Channel-specific tactics for Twitter, LinkedIn, Product Hunt, etc.
• references/metrics-guide.md - KPIs by stage, cohort analysis, benchmarks

Templates

• assets/templates/pmf-survey.md - PMF survey questions and follow-ups
• assets/templates/email-sequences.md - Welcome, re-engagement, launch emails
• assets/templates/social-posts.md - Twitter threads, LinkedIn posts
• assets/templates/landing-page.md - Hero section, social proof, CTA formulas

Quick Reference: The Growth Sequence

Most founders do this:

Acquisition → Activation → Retention → Revenue → Referral

Sean Ellis says do this instead:

Activation → Engagement → Referral → Revenue → Acquisition

Why? Customer acquisition is so competitive that if you're not efficient at converting, retaining, and monetizing users, you'll never find scalable acquisition channels. Fix the leaky bucket first.

Quick Reference: PMF Signals

You have PMF if: - 40%+ say "very disappointed" if product disappeared - Things are breaking every few days from growth - You're measuring hourly actives, not daily - "If your product's working, you'll know" (Nikita Bier)

You don't have PMF if: - Any uncertainty exists - You're trying to convince yourself - Users need convincing to use it - Growth requires constant paid acquisition