‍When companies come to me for growth advice, they typically ask:

“What’s the one thing I can do tomorrow to get 10 million users? Which channels should I use? Which tactics?”.

It doesn’t work that way. Growth is not a one-time gimmick. To get 1000% growth, there is no silver bullet.


Empathy for users
The typical “good” Founder spends their whole day thinking about their product. They want their product to be noticed and loved by the user, to be useful and delightful for the user.

But thinking about your product is not the same thing as thinking about your user — although it’s easy to conflate the two.

The great Founder spends more time thinking about how the user thinks and feels. About their psychology.

Here’s the reality. Your user has a big, complex life and you are fighting to be a tiny sliver of it. They have their job, their family, their apartment, their friends, their car, their sick mom, their dog, their insurance, their debt, the next holiday that’s coming up, their kids, the kids’ schools, their smartphone with 100 apps, etc.

You are somewhere buried in there. In your world, your product is everything. 12 hours per day, 6 days a week. In theirs, your product is just a tiny sliver (at best — if you’re great).

So the question you have to ask every day is “What is your product to them so that it deserves a place in their complex lives?”

Your answer should reflect the observation that behind every interesting tech company, there’s a powerful insight about human psychology. An insight that makes that sliver stand out to their users.

For example:

Facebook’s insight was the human need for acclaim and social reputation: “See me perform.”
Snapchat capitalized on the desire for privacy (even secrecy) and ephemerality: “I’m sick of performing”.
Instagram tapped into the hunger for glamor and appearance. Statuary and portraiture for the internet age: “See my good side.”
Etsy allows people to buy and sell small-scale craft goods in a time of mass commercialization. “I want to feel unique.”
WeWork tapped into the desire for community in a rising gig and remote work economy with increasing social atomization: “I want to belong.”


‍When companies come to me for growth advice, they typically ask: “What’s the one thing I