"Your ""above the fold"" (ATF) section is the part of your site that's immediately visible before scrolling."

"describes the specific benefit of the product."

"clarifies the specific outcome of using the product."

"find what's magical and exciting about your startup, and write it in your ATF copy."

"1. Identify how users get value"

"What bad alternative do people resort to when they lack your product? How is your product better than that bad alternative? Now turn the last step into an action statement—that's your value prop."

"List the ways life is worse when your product doesn't exist. Identify a specific articulation of your better solution. Do not use vague phrasing."

"2. Add a hook"

"Your job is to identify which of these is a major buying objection—and to proactively address it."

"Don't let visitors retain their unaddressed concerns that cause them to bounce before scrolling."

"3. Speak directly to your customer persona"

"Have the images demonstrate the value of your product. This is often done by showing the product in action."

"The fewer links you have in your navigation bar, the better. Try to minimize analysis paralysis."

"think of your CTA as the actionable next step to fulfilling the claim in your header."

"Create a header by identifying how users ""get value"" from your product. Add a hook that has bold claims or handles objections. Talk directly to your key personas. Support your header's claim with a subheader explaining how your product works."

"While the growth funnel is depicted as linear, it's actually a series of loops."

"most companies never actually get paid channels to work profitably. Instead, they rely on a mixture of sales, word of mouth, product-led growth, and content marketing"

"Brand marketing increases the potential energy for revenue. It primes users to convert at a higher rate in the future."

"growth marketing is data-driven revenue maximization."

"the growth funnel: Lead Acquisition → Conversion → Engagement → Revenue → Referral"

"Word of mouth, sometimes accelerated by referral programs, is the most cost-effective and sustainable way to scale a business."

"Unpaid channels benefit from not being at the mercy of ad channel volatility, ad audience risks, and CPM pressures. Unpaid growth is often more reliable and more in your control."

"B2C SaaS app — You'll most likely succeed with Facebook Ads, Content, and product-led growth. You might succeed with Google Ads and partnerships"

"B2C mobile app — You'll most likely succeed with Instagram/FB Ads and Apple Search. You might succeed with Snapchat Ads, TapJoy, and referrals"

"Product-led growth — If your product grows virally from users inviting other users who use the app together, then you have the potential for product-led growth."

"Content is the most effective way to educate customers on why they should buy your product."

"Content is also your opportunity to build a relationship with audiences. It helps them respect your competency, invest in your journey, and join your tribe."

"great content that educates and entertains increases engagement and loyalty."

"The first rule of content marketing is to write for extremely high quality. Until you've established quality in the reader's mind, they don't read closely."

"people don't actually have short attention spans for content: They finish three hour Joe Rogan episodes and they binge fourteen hour Netflix shows. What they have is short consideration spans: they must be hooked quickly."

"Novelty — Are you sharing counter-intuitive thoughts that readers wouldn't have pieced together on their own? That's how you trigger dopamine hits."

"Writing for quality is not only important for retention, it's also critical for ranking on Google."

"The novelty resonates emotionally or intellectually, which prompts sharing."

"My framework for identifying novelty is to collect ideas that cause you to react in one of these four ways:"

"Counter-intuitive — ""Wow. That’s not how I expected the world to work."" Counter-narrative — ""Wow. That’s not how people told me the world works."" Elegant articulation — ""Wow. I couldn't have said it better."" Shock and awe — ""This is insane. I can’t believe this is the world we live in."""

"you can start by catering to a small niche of very passionate people: write thoughtful, quality content that no one else is giving them."

"Content marketing = content creation + distribution."

"Not all content channels are equally good at acquiring users. Only some are optimized for attracting new eyeballs. Namely Twitter, YouTube, and SEO."

"Discovery — People will often first learn about you via Twitter, LinkedIn (guide), YouTube, and website SEO."

"you stay in touch with folks by pushing high quality content that builds trust. The content you push can be from any channel. (YouTube is good for affinity.)"

"If your product's core purpose is to help people create and distribute content—if that's why users are signing up—then UGC is viable."

"Growth marketing, on the other hand, converts that potential energy into kinetic: it gets purchases."

"growth marketing is data-driven revenue maximization"

"Here's what the growth trajectory looks like for many startups:"

"Build an amazing product that naturally encourages word-of-mouth."

"Kickstart your user growth with a scalable acquisition channel, such as ads. Even if it's temporarily unprofitable, ignite the fire."

"In parallel, spend the majority of your growth resources optimizing your funnel: at every step, A/B Test conversion to maximize per-user revenue."

"Once you have a profitable and efficient funnel, scale it. Experiment with every acquisition channel that might work."

"Over time, switch your focus to sustainable, cost-efficient acquisition channels—such as product-led growth, organic social, content, and sales. This removes your dependency on ads, which have volatile costs."

"The growth funnel"

"Lead Acquisition → Conversion → Engagement → Revenue → Referral"

"Lead acquisition"

"Paid channels"

"Unpaid channels"

"Conversion"

"Engagement"

"Your goal is to get them to try new features, buy more products, and build a recurring habit of relying on the product."

"Revenue"

"Referral"

"Word of mouth, sometimes accelerated by referral programs, is the most cost-effective and sustainable way to scale a business"

"There are three thresholds that make paid channels difficult:"

"Profit margin"

"Significant audience size"

"Degree of product demand"

"there are two types of companies with a good chance of making paid work:"

"High margins"

"Products with a high word-of-mouth or referral rate"

"Here are the major unpaid channels:"

"Product-led growth"

"Content and SEO"

"Word-of-mouth and referrals"

"Sales"

"Everything else"

"Based on my observations, here's what I broadly recommend each business focuses on first."

"B2C companies"

"B2C ecommerce companies"

"B2C mobile app"

"B2C SaaS app"

"Brick and mortar"

"If you sell a product to consumers, these are the channels I suggest prioritizing:"

"B2B companies"

"Niche B2B with high average revenue per user (ARPU)"

"Broad B2B with medium ARPU"

"Niche B2B with low ARPU"

"Broad B2B with low ARPU"