Growth lessons from the 500 Startups Distro Dojo

1. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
7 Growth Lessons
from the 500 Startups
Andy Young, EIR @ 500
@andyy

2. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Hi, I’m Andy!
@andyy
#fb
PhotobyDanTaylor-dan@heisenbergmedia.com

3. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co

4. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
train post-seed, pre-A
companies to do better
Growth Marketing
give them the Funding
to do it

5. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co

6. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
So WTF is this
Growth Hacking thing?
sounds like some kinda bullshit to me..

7. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co

8. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
7 Growth Lessons
from the Distro Dojo

9. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#1 - nail down your
value proposition
& messaging

10. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
- 10,000 ft view exercise -
- bit.ly/10kftview -

11. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
What product/service, for which target market?
Why do our customers love us?
Why do they choose us over the competition?
How do we make money?
What is our primary way to get new customers?
Our business will become a huge, runaway success if…
During the next 3 months we need to focus on…
What ONE target do we want to hit?
10,000 ft view
bit.ly/10kftview

12. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#2 - get Product/Market fit
before you try and grow

13. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co

14. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Early stage Growth stage
Goal Product/Market fit
Scalable, repeatable,
predictable growth
Metric Engagement Growth rate
Primary Data Qualitative Quantitative
Growth
Strategy
Hustle
Build a growth
machine

15. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#3 - build a Model
to understand your business

16. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co

17. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
bit.ly/kpi-sheet

18. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Not an operational dashboard:
metrics related to growth
1. Identify top-level KPI
2. Add nuance
3. Add drivers
4. Add funnel for these drivers
Template Google Sheet: bit.ly/kpi-sheet

19. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#4 - identify Levers
and prioritise your backlog

20. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Levers:
things you can push
to get growth

21. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Identify your
One Metric That Matters (OMTM)
to get everyone pushing
in the same direction

22. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Prioritise using ICE
framework:
-Impact
-Chance of Success
-Effort (time/resources)

23. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#5 - drive growth via
experimentation
and learnings

24. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
“Learning is the essential unit
of progress for startups”

25. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Make predictions in advance!

26. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#6 - it’s a Mindset

27. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
The world is constantly changing
(channel efficiency/effectiveness, etc)
Experimentation & learnings
Build a machine
Naturally curious
Motivated by helping the customer achieve their goals
Growth Mindset

28. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#7 - maintain discipline with a
Weekly Growth Meeting

29. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Agenda
1. Review KPIs
2. What did we learn last week?
3. What experiments are we running this week?
No work is to be done during the meeting!
Weekly Growth Meeting

30. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
BONUS #8
Talk to your users

31. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
User testing script - cheers Steve Krug!
www.sensible.com/downloads/test-script.pdf

32. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Takeaways

33. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Takeaways

34. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
#1 - nail down your value proposition & messaging
#2 - get Product/Market fit before you try and grow
#3 - build a model to understand your business
#4 - identify Levers and prioritise your backlog
#5 - drive growth via experimentation & learnings
#6 - it’s a mindset
#7 - maintain discipline with a weekly growth meeting
Talk to your users!

35. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
Thanks, & good luck!

36. Andy Young // @andyy // andy@500.co
● 10,000ft view worksheet
● Bryan Balfour: The Scientific Method: How to Design &
Track Viral Growth Experiments
● Dave McClure's Startup Metrics for Pirates
● Eric Ries’s Three Engines of Growth
● My deck on Analytics for Startups
● 500 Startups Accelerator Marketing Hell Week:
videos, templates & goodness
● DISTROSNACK: daily growth hacks
Further references..