3. Identifying Your Growth Levers

Question 1

What is the prerequisite for fast and sustainable growth?

Answer 1

Making a product compelling enough to pass the must-have test

Question 2

Why do truly great products sometimes fail?

Answer 2

Lack of a well-focused effort to vigorously drive growth

Question 3

What was Everpix designed for?

Answer 3

Users tired of managing large collections of photos

Question 4

What was the conversion rate of Everpix’s freemium model?

Answer 4

12.4 percent

Question 5

What fatal mistake did the founders of Everpix make?

Answer 5

Failed to leverage early adopters to drive faster growth

Question 6

What was Everpix’s operating expense after a year and a half?

Answer 6

$480,674

Question 7

What did Everpix founders think about requiring photo recipients to sign up?

Answer 7

They feared it would annoy people

Question 8

What is growth hacking about?

Answer 8

Continuous experimentation to achieve desired results

Question 9

What is the main goal of growth hacking?

Answer 9

Applying rapid experimentation to find and optimize promising areas

Question 10

What should startups focus on in the early phase of growth?

Answer 10

High-impact experiments that achieve growth in the least time

Question 11

What is the fundamental growth equation?

Answer 11

A formula representing key factors driving growth

Question 12

What is a crucial factor for Uber’s growth?

Answer 12

Number of drivers

Question 13

What are key metrics for Facebook’s growth?

Answer 13

• Amount of items shared by users
• Time spent on News Feed

Question 14

What can confuse businesses when using analytics programs?

Answer 14

The sheer volume of data available

Question 15

What is a common mistake regarding important metrics?

Answer 15

Focusing on metrics that don’t impact sustained growth

Question 16

Why is daily active users a nonsensical metric for Airbnb?

Answer 16

Users book stays only a few times a year

Question 17

What represents strong regular use for a review site like Yelp?

Answer 17

Searching the site once or twice a week

Question 18

What does the sheer simplicity of the growth equation allow?

Answer 18

Focus on the right signals in a vast sea of data noise

Question 19

What does strong, regular use mean for a business?

Answer 19

It varies by product and context.

For example, twice a week might indicate strong usage for some services.

Question 20

Why are daily active users important for Facebook?

Answer 20

They indicate user engagement and support the advertising revenue model.

High user engagement leads to more advertising opportunities.

Question 21

What was a crucial metric for LinkedIn in its early days?

Answer 21

Total sign-ups.

Even inactive sign-ups contribute to the site’s value.

Question 22

What is the most important metric for eBay’s growth?

Answer 22

Number of items listed for sale.

More listings increase potential buyer experiences.

Question 23

What is the North Star metric?

Answer 23

A key metric of ultimate success that guides growth activities.

It helps keep teams focused and avoid wasting resources.

Question 24

What does the North Star represent?

Answer 24

The core value created for customers.

It reflects the delivery of the essential experience of the product.

Question 25

What was WhatsApp's North Star metric?

Answer 25

Number of messages sent. ## Footnote This reflects user engagement better than daily active users.

Question 26

What is Airbnb's North Star metric?

Answer 26

Nights booked. ## Footnote It directly correlates with user satisfaction for both guests and property listers.

Question 27

How can the North Star metric change over time?

Answer 27

It may evolve as the company grows and initial goals are achieved. ## Footnote Facebook transitioned from monthly to daily active users as engagement strategies shifted.

Question 28

What did Airbnb's founders discover about New York City bookings?

Answer 28

Poor photo quality was limiting bookings. ## Footnote They improved listings by taking professional photos, leading to significant increases in bookings.

Question 29

What is 'instrumentation' in the context of growth?

Answer 29

Setting up data tracking to monitor customer behavior and product performance. ## Footnote It's essential for informed decision-making in growth strategies.

Question 30

Why is combining data important for growth teams?

Answer 30

It allows for detailed tracking of customer experiences and better experiment design. ## Footnote Unified data helps identify key growth levers.

Question 31

What was a significant step taken by Facebook's growth team in 2009?

Answer 31

They paused all growth experiments to improve data tracking and collection. ## Footnote This led to a clearer understanding of user behavior and better-targeted experiments.

Question 32

What does a good plan executed now signify according to General George Patton?

Answer 32

It is better than a perfect plan executed later. ## Footnote This quote emphasizes the importance of timely action in growth experiments.

Question 33

What was the outcome of Airbnb's photography program?

Answer 33

It led to a two-and-a-half-times better booking rate globally. ## Footnote The program allowed hosts to schedule professional photographers for listings.

Question 34

What is the main challenge of combining user data in large companies?

Answer 34

The effort to combine all data is quite a chore ## Footnote This is contrasted with smaller companies where tools and services make data collection easier.

Question 35

What does user data primarily tell you?

Answer 35

User data tells you definitively what users are doing, not why they behave that way.

Question 36

What is a usability problem?

Answer 36

A glitch in how a feature works that causes users to leave a website.

Question 37

Why is it important to conduct user surveys or interviews?

Answer 37

To understand the underlying reasons behind user behavior.

Question 38

What should complement quantitative analysis?

Answer 38

Qualitative probing, such as user surveys or interviews.

Question 39

What is the critical importance of reporting data discovery results?

Answer 39

Reporting results in the simplest and most accessible way possible.

Question 40

What are dashboards used for in data reporting?

Answer 40

Dashboards help focus attention on key trends or metrics and encourage participation in growth efforts.

Question 41

What impact does constant visibility of numbers have on team performance?

Answer 41

It significantly increases their ability to positively impact the metrics they’re responsible for.

Question 42

What is 'data puking'?

Answer 42

Disseminating metrics helter-skelter, creating confusion.

Question 43

What should dashboards report on?

Answer 43

The most important metrics that map to your growth levers.

Question 44

What is cohort analysis?

Answer 44

Dividing customers or users into distinctive groups by a common trait.

Question 45

What retention rate was found for users who visited Twitter at least seven times in one month?

Answer 45

Retention rate was between 90 and 100 percent.

Question 46

What are the three cohorts identified by Twitter's growth team?

Answer 46

* Core users * Casual users * Cold users

Question 47

What is the significance of following at least 30 other users on Twitter?

Answer 47

It was identified as a 'tipping point' number that hooked users to come back.

Question 48

What did Twitter's team discover about the ratio of followers and followees?

Answer 48

Users who were followed by about a third of those they followed became loyal users.

Question 49

What unique product value did Twitter users realize?

Answer 49

Twitter is a tool for finding out what’s happening in their world.

Question 50

What behavior did the growth team study in users who had gone 'comatose'?

Answer 50

They learned about the value of Twitter as a tool for connecting and learning.

Question 51

What is the first step for successful growth hacking?

Answer 51

Identifying your growth equation and key metrics to improve.

Question 52

What should be done after establishing growth metrics?

Answer 52

Introduce a step-by-step process for testing ideas efficiently.