Tag: sustainable growth

Growth Hacker vs Growth Samurai

A growth hacker is a person that is great at identifying and executing tactics that will optimize a sales funnel. They can:

  • Find opportunities that drive traffic to their product
  • Generate leads by incentivising their customer to share personal information or show buying intent. 
  • Convert leads to sales

A growth hacker is very tactical and will do wonders in a startup. 

A Growth Samurai is a person that can grow an operation beyond the startup phase. A Growth Samurai can perform the tactical functions of a growth hacker but has the adeptness to go beyond the startup phase and manage a growing enterprise. 

Many startup founders are very good at startups but lack the skills to transition into a strategic management role once the company outgrows them. A Growth Samurai has the strategic proficiency to manage a growing enterprise. 

A Growth Samurai can: 

  • Position an organization within a competitive landscape
  • Create processes for growth (as opposed to executing on growth hacking tactics)
  • Create a culture within an organization that incentivizes sustainable growth 
  • Make difficult organizational decisions  

All Growth Samurais are growth hackers but not all growth hackers are Growth Samurais.

Not All Growth is Created Equal

To a Growth Samurai, growth is a meaningless term unless is it preceded by an adjective. A Growth Samurai is looking for:

  • Organic Growth
  • Sustainable Growth
  • Profitable Growth

Organic Growth

Organic growth is the strongest indicator that you are doing something right. If traffic numbers or sales are growing disproportionally faster than your sales efforts it means that your sales efforts are getting more efficient. This can mean that you are getting positive word-of-mouth, that your marketing content is getting social engagement or being ranked on search engines or that you are retaining your customers.

Sustainable Growth

Growing sustainable means that you are growing your business without having to finance it externally. Almost all startups require funding in the early stages of the lifecycle but eventually, they will need to become sustainable and able to grow using internal resources.

Profitable Growth

The ultimate goal of any business is to create wealth. A company won’t create wealth unless it captures value. Many companies manage to create a lot of value for their customers but fail to capture the value and turn profits. 

A Growth Samurai understands that growth is meaningless unless it creates value for customers and owners alike.