define: in·no·va·tion

rUv

-- a new method, idea, product.

a presentation by:

fail fast.“Develop a culture of experimentation, be willing to try stuff, do it quickly. But if it’s not working, be willing to fail fast and pivot.”

David Brown, Managing Partner of Techstars.

Is it better to be Second...but best?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aThCr0PsyuA

dis·rup·tiondisturbance or problems that interrupt an event, activity, or process.

Innovation Is Worthless

unless it solves real problems for real people.

Ten things from studying ten of the world’s fastest growing startups

What high-flying companies know about growth that no one else does.

Startup Growth Engines: How Today’s Fastest Growing Startups Unlock Extraordinary Growth is more than 160 pages filled with the research, quotes, and insights packed into each case study. I hope it becomes a valuable part of your library—especially as a growth leader or entrepreneur looking for breakthrough growth. https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 1: Growth is nothing without

the product.

“Companies fail for two main reasons—trying to grow when they shouldn’t, or being too timid when they should.” Product is the

foundation of growth. Without it, sustainable growth is impossible.-- Marc Andreessen

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 2: Growth is never ‘done’

All of these companies have a relentless focus on growth. It’s not just something they pay lip service to. They put headcount, resources, and

effort into growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 3: Growth is not marketing, marketing is not growth

It takes real growth teams across engineering, product, and yes, marketing, to design the growth programs that really move the

needle.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 4: Doing what everyone else is doing is the wrong strategy.

None of these breakout companies did it the same way that the incumbents grew in their vertical or type of business. They all picked

their own path, often leaving people wondering what they were thinking.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 5: Don’t try to boil

the ocean.In “Startups Always Have a Chasm to Cross,” Andy Rachleff, co-

founder of Wealthfront, highlights the critical importance of being laser-focused on a niche early to achieve growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 6: Growth hacks have nothing to

do with short-term tactics.

The term “growth hacking” is in the hype cycle whitewash, as journos and others have misappropriated its meaning and assigned it to nearly

every known digital marketing tactic.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 7: Do things that don’t scale,

build things that do.

Paul Graham’s advice to startups is to “do things that don’t scale” to get initial traction. This means things like concierging new customers,

and taking the time out to visit and talk with users, etc. In each of these companies’ cases they followed that advice in one way or

another.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 8: There are analytics and then

there are insights.

Lots of people track analytics. Plenty of dashboards, plenty of vanity metrics. Avinash Kaushik calls it ‘data puking.’ Lots of numbers, little

insight. All of these successful companies uncovered real insights that drove growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 9: Combining multiple growth engines can lead to faster

growth.It has an asset—all the code—a network, and more. These things all

work together to drive massive adoption and growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Lesson 10: There are no silver bullets.

None of these companies have a single silver bullet. They didn’t just explode into millions of users and downloads. Even the products that

we think of as “magical” use meticulous growth strategies to drive adoption and growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Bonus Growth is a team sport.

The best companies are growth organizations at their core. It’s in their DNA. From the top to the bottom everyone makes growth the

imperative. There is no lone growth hacker—everyone at the best growth companies knows they have a role to play in driving growth.

https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-a53106e2599a

Always be branding.

And remember..dis·rup·t·hisinnovate or get out of the way.

rUva presentation by:

reuven.cohen@citrix.com