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Zack Onisko 
Chief Growth Officer, Creative Market 
zack@creativemarket.com 
@zack415
MUST HAVE DRUMS
$7/hr
$75/hr
HUSTLED 
UP SOME 
DRUMS!
3 stageTsh eorfe sartea 3r tSutapg egsr oof wGrtohwth 
Source: http://www.startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/
3 stages of startup growth 
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
1) Product Market Fit
Photo by @willsh
3 stages of startup growth 
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
1) Product Market Fit 
3) Scalable growth stage
3 stages of startup growth 
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
1) Product Market Fit 
2) The Hustle Stage 
3) Scalable growth stage
“Startups take off because the founders make 
them take off. A good metaphor would be the 
cranks that car engines had before they got 
electric starters. Once the engine was going, it 
would keep going, but there was a separate and 
laborious process to get it going.” 
— Paul Graham
20 
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
non-scalable ways to 
HUSTLE 
your way to 
scalable growth
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
1) Manually invite your first 
customers. Start in a niche.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
2) Invite friends and family 
(and other connections)
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
3) Join the conversations at 
target niche communities and 
forums.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
4) Ask your competitor’s 
customers to try your new 
service & give feedback.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
5) Go directly to your users. 
Ask them to sign up in person.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
6) Speak directly with 
users to understand how 
your product can better 
meet their needs.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
7) Community engagement. 
Reply to every comment.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
8) Aim for 100% customer 
satisfaction. Everyone leaves 
happy!
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
9) Go above and beyond to 
delight customers.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
10) Give away free stuff for 
signing up.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
11) Allow users to give their 
friends free stuff.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
12) Give away new free 
stuff weekly (retention)
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
13) Content is king. 
Distribution is queen. 
Always be writing and 
sharing.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
14) Write guest posts on 
other people’s blogs.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
15) Forge Partnerships.
There are 3 Stages of Growth
There are 3 Stages of Growth
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
16) Trade co-promotions
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
17) Throw Parties
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
18) Run a roadblock 
campaign across a network 
of sites in your industry.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
19) Seed content on your 
site yourself to get it going.
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
20) Private Beta. 
Sorry, invite only.
There are 3 Stages of Growth
There are 3 Stages of Growth 
Study the tactics of 
your competitors. 
Become inspired, 
but don’t copy. 
Be more clever!
HAPPY 
GROWING!
THANKS! 
Zack Onisko 
Chief Growth Officer, Creative Market 
zack@creativemarket.com 
@zack415

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Gaining Early Traction by Doing Things that Don't Scale (Hustling)

  • 1. Zack Onisko Chief Growth Officer, Creative Market zack@creativemarket.com @zack415
  • 2.
  • 3.
  • 5.
  • 6.
  • 10. 3 stageTsh eorfe sartea 3r tSutapg egsr oof wGrtohwth Source: http://www.startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/
  • 11. 3 stages of startup growth There are 3 Stages of Growth 1) Product Market Fit
  • 13. 3 stages of startup growth There are 3 Stages of Growth 1) Product Market Fit 3) Scalable growth stage
  • 14. 3 stages of startup growth There are 3 Stages of Growth 1) Product Market Fit 2) The Hustle Stage 3) Scalable growth stage
  • 15. “Startups take off because the founders make them take off. A good metaphor would be the cranks that car engines had before they got electric starters. Once the engine was going, it would keep going, but there was a separate and laborious process to get it going.” — Paul Graham
  • 16. 20 There are 3 Stages of Growth non-scalable ways to HUSTLE your way to scalable growth
  • 17. There are 3 Stages of Growth 1) Manually invite your first customers. Start in a niche.
  • 18.
  • 19. There are 3 Stages of Growth 2) Invite friends and family (and other connections)
  • 20.
  • 21.
  • 22. There are 3 Stages of Growth 3) Join the conversations at target niche communities and forums.
  • 23.
  • 24. There are 3 Stages of Growth 4) Ask your competitor’s customers to try your new service & give feedback.
  • 25.
  • 26. There are 3 Stages of Growth 5) Go directly to your users. Ask them to sign up in person.
  • 27.
  • 28.
  • 29. There are 3 Stages of Growth 6) Speak directly with users to understand how your product can better meet their needs.
  • 30.
  • 31. There are 3 Stages of Growth 7) Community engagement. Reply to every comment.
  • 32.
  • 33. There are 3 Stages of Growth 8) Aim for 100% customer satisfaction. Everyone leaves happy!
  • 34.
  • 35. There are 3 Stages of Growth 9) Go above and beyond to delight customers.
  • 36.
  • 37.
  • 38. There are 3 Stages of Growth 10) Give away free stuff for signing up.
  • 39.
  • 40.
  • 41.
  • 42. There are 3 Stages of Growth 11) Allow users to give their friends free stuff.
  • 43.
  • 44. There are 3 Stages of Growth 12) Give away new free stuff weekly (retention)
  • 45.
  • 46.
  • 47. There are 3 Stages of Growth 13) Content is king. Distribution is queen. Always be writing and sharing.
  • 48.
  • 49. There are 3 Stages of Growth 14) Write guest posts on other people’s blogs.
  • 50.
  • 51.
  • 52. There are 3 Stages of Growth 15) Forge Partnerships.
  • 53. There are 3 Stages of Growth
  • 54. There are 3 Stages of Growth
  • 55. There are 3 Stages of Growth 16) Trade co-promotions
  • 56.
  • 57. There are 3 Stages of Growth 17) Throw Parties
  • 58.
  • 59. There are 3 Stages of Growth 18) Run a roadblock campaign across a network of sites in your industry.
  • 60.
  • 61. There are 3 Stages of Growth 19) Seed content on your site yourself to get it going.
  • 62.
  • 63.
  • 64. There are 3 Stages of Growth 20) Private Beta. Sorry, invite only.
  • 65. There are 3 Stages of Growth
  • 66. There are 3 Stages of Growth Study the tactics of your competitors. Become inspired, but don’t copy. Be more clever!
  • 68. THANKS! Zack Onisko Chief Growth Officer, Creative Market zack@creativemarket.com @zack415