You want to learn how to get users. (What we call “growth.”)

That means you need to learn two things: tactics and strategy.

#1: Tactics

Tactics are how you actually work on stuff.

For example, they’re how you properly interview users, set up digital ads, scrape emails, build landing pages, and so forth.

You’ll execute tactics every day. Here are some tasks from a real backlog (i.e., to-do list) we used with a client. Each task requires knowing tactics.

It’s a bad idea to learn tactics without first having a strategy.

#2: Strategy

Strategy is how you think about what to work on first.

Sure, you could run ads. Or reach out to influencers. Or write a blog post that goes viral. There are a lot of shiny objects.

But what if you say the wrong things in the ad? What if your users only buy stuff at conferences? What if your blog posts get people to sign up but not pay?

Good strategy means you work on the right things first. It’s how you come up with a good backlog.

We’ve worked with over 1,000 startups. Some companies had sexy strategies that didn’t work. Some had dumb strategies that did. Some are now worth over a billion dollars.

This means we can pattern-match. We have good intuition. We know what systems work. And you get to avoid a lot of beginner mistakes you’d otherwise make.

Common misconceptions

On that note, people get basic things wrong about how to get users. Click the arrows to see each one.

How to approach learning growth

Learn strategy first, then learn tactics as you go. There are too many tactics to learn all at once.

For example, it takes 1-2 weeks, minimum, to learn how to run Facebook ads properly. That’s a big time commitment, so don’t learn Facebook ads until you need to run them. Instead, learn the thing you need to work on right now.

Think of tactics as tools to add to your toolbelt over time. We’ll mentor you in the tactics when you’re ready for them.