Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown Summary
Overview of Hacking Growth
Discover how Airbnb, Dropbox, and Facebook achieved explosive growth with "Hacking Growth." Endorsed by SparkToro's Rand Fishkin, this revolutionary playbook has transformed digital marketing and broken down traditional business silos. Want to build a cross-functional growth machine? Your blueprint awaits.
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When 75,000 Users Isn't Enough: The Birth of Growth Hacking
Drew Houston had a problem most founders would envy. His one-year-old startup, Dropbox, had attracted 75,000 eager people to its waiting list. Yet something wasn't clicking. The product struggled to break beyond tech enthusiasts, competitors were circling, and the bank account held just $1.2 million. Traditional marketing wisdom suggested spending on ads, PR campaigns, maybe hiring a big-name CMO. Instead, Houston made a call that would rewrite the rules of modern business growth. What happened next sounds almost too simple: offer users 250MB of free storage for each friend they invite. Referrals jumped 60% overnight. Through relentless testing and tweaking, Dropbox exploded from 100,000 to 4 million users in 14 months-without spending a dollar on traditional marketing. This wasn't luck or magic. It was the birth of growth hacking, a discipline now reshaping everyone from scrappy startups to giants like IBM and Walmart. The secret? Stop treating growth like a mystery and start treating it like a science. Most companies are organized like medieval kingdoms-marketing rules one territory, product development another, engineering a third. Each fiefdom guards its borders, rarely sharing intelligence or coordinating attacks. This siloed approach creates a painfully slow cycle where good ideas take quarters or years to implement, if they survive the bureaucratic gauntlet at all. McKinsey research shows that while 80% of executives acknowledge cross-boundary coordination is crucial, only 25% say their organizations actually do it well. Harvard professors found people in the same business unit interact 1,000 times more frequently than those across different units. Breaking this pattern isn't just helpful-it's existential.
Building Your Growth Strike Team and Breaking Down Walls
The Must-Have Test and Finding Your North Star Metric
The High-Tempo Testing Machine That Drives Exponential Growth
Cracking Customer Acquisition and Turning Browsers Into Believers
The Retention Revolution and Creating Unstoppable Habits
When Growth Becomes Your Culture, Not Just Your Goal
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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
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"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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