The Art of Hustle - ArabNet Kuwait 2016

The Art of HustleLloyed Lobo

Startup Canada award for

top firm of the year

Rated top growth conf by

Inc & Huffington Post

2 Bootstrapped

1 VC Backed

$6m Series A from Salesforce & Bessemer ventures

12m users in 18 months by adding

“get your free email at Hotmail” at

the bottom of each email

Jumpstarted growth by

cross posting to craigslist

w/o open API

Everyone’s looking for a silver bullet

“It’s important to reason from first principles rather than by

analogy. [With analogy] we are doing this because it’s like

something else that was done, or it is like what other people are

doing. [With first principles] you boil things down to the most

fundamental truths… and then reason up from there.”

- Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla & SpaceX

=

Engagement + Revenue + Growth

You’re not ready to grow yet, if

1. No Ideal Customer. People don’t come to your

product to get a specific job done

2. Poor Retention. People don’t keep coming back to

your product anytime they want to get that job done

Tip #1 Set aggressive goals

$250,000 revenue in 3 months

Tip #2 Start by serving one audience

exceptionally well, with one product or service

Focus will give your messaging clarity that will lift the

conversion and performance of your marketing activities

1. Who are your customers?

2. What are the key jobs they’re trying to do?

3. What are the smaller/ sub-jobs?

4. How do they do those jobs today?

5. What are the unnecessary steps? How can you

reduce them?

6. What does the delighted state look like?

Tip #3 Validate your idea by charging for it

Tip #4 Nail 1 or 2 channels

“If you can get even a single distribution channel to

work, you have a great business. If you try for several,

but don’t nail one, you’re finished. So it’s worth

thinking real hard about nailing one channel.”

- Peter Thiel, Cofounder, PayPal & top VC

Takeaways

1. Brainstorm a few channels

2. Prioritize based on impact

and ease of execution

3. Split test

4. Double down on what works

Tip #5 Get users to an “Aha” moment right away

Users should complete the core action they came to your

product for, without any friction

Tip #6 Make your product sticky

The more I use your product, the better it gets or the more I

use your product, the more I lose if I were to leave

The more notes you add, the more value you get and

the harder it is to leave

New followers/ follows + your investment in your

identity makes it sticky

Takeaways

1. Pick an aggressive goal

2. Understand your customers’ jobs to be done

3. Validate your idea by charging for it

4. Focus on 1-2 distribution channels at a time

5. Once you acquire users, get them to an “Aha

moment” right away

6. Make your product sticky

Don't focus on funding. Focus on building a great product

that people want to use & pay for. The funding will follow

The Art of HustleLloyed Lobo