Anirudh Dharmagadi
SILVER BULLETS OR LEAD BULLETS? THE GROWTH MINDSET YOUR START-UP NEEDS
Silver bullets are the ultimate #startup fantasy – that one panacea for all your growth woes.
From Dropbox pushing its signups to 60% almost overnight through a free referral system to Airbnb’s genius craigslist API reverse engineering hack, startup #founders are seduced by these silver bullets or brilliant growth hacks.
Though we conveniently forget that #growth legends are far and few. It’s the same companies that are being glorified in our conversations over and over again. And rightly so, for if it was so easy to find silver bullets, wouldn’t countless companies become #unicorns every day?
It isn’t so because the silver bullets are a mirage – enticing to catch but gets only more elusive as you chase them. But am I suggesting we settle for mediocrity? Hell, no. Instead, go for the real players – lead bullets which present opportunities for small but definite growth. Like mutual funds that gradually but steadily expand your wealth.
Sounds unambitious and a tad bit boring? I’m neither. Yet, this is why I’d look for the lead bullets.
1. Lead bullets LEAD you to the silver bullets
It took six failed attempts before man landed on the moon. Similarly, before you score that #moonshot (pun intended) you will need to shoot a bunch, if not several blanks.
The path of lead bullets – trial errors, failures, and relative success is what paves the way to finding silver bullets. That’s because success often a lead bullet itself proves to produce far more growth than you anticipated. Doubling down on this fresh growth attempt can turn it into a silver bullet for your business.
The only reason lead bullets get no mention when we talk about growth hacking legends is that they aren’t sexy. Unlike silver bullets, they don’t have the “rags to riches” angle which gets people hooked.
2. Growth hacking needs lead bullets
Hacking has become an abused word. It is safe to say that there is nothing you can ‘hack’ in today’s world. Growth hacking is NOT anymore about minimum effort and maximum results.
It‘s about cultivating a #growthmindset - where you continuously experiment with different growth strategies and review how the real world reacts to them. This process produces continuous incremental growth and is far more sustainable for a business in the long term than sporadic exponential growth.
So it’s time to change tradition – shift the spotlight from the silver bullets to lead bullets, so they can tell their story. Does yours have one?
This article was first published here.
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