Under The Influence This post is inspired by the CBC Radio show turned podcast called Under The Influence. The episode titled Passport Revoked examines how brands can be dominant in one region but fail when expanding abroad. Large corporations have plenty of reasons to expand abroad. Often their executives are rewarded for growth and the…
Yogi Berra: The myth* I really didn’t say everything I said. Yogi Berra Yogi Berra was a Red Sox player who pitched a dozen no-hitters, was married to Marilyn Monroe and discovered penicillin. His bust appears on the other side of Mount Rushmore. He had a knack for memorable phrases that are just as relevant…
Heavy favourite Sumo matches are often over in seconds. The objective is to force your opponent out of the dohyo, an elevated ring. There are no weight classes and no second chances. Top division Sumo wrestlers can weigh anywhere from 300 to a staggering 600 pounds. How, then, can the smaller wrestlers hope to prevail?…
Are you Musk material? Or Muskoka material? Either way, growth can help you reach your definition of success. Elon Musk is worth $20 billion. He is building new companies in technology, transportation and energy that will change the fate of humanity. He works 80 hours a day. I’m only slightly exaggerating. Muskoka Mia (she’s never…
A surefire strategy Do everything better and your company, side hustle, creative project – whatever is your jam – will succeed. If you look into Growth Hacking you will find a dizzying variety of ways to improve the countless metrics you can focus on. There are the big ones (often the Pirate Metrics are used)…
I recently ran a Growth Sprint which builds on the AJ&Smart model described here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td0ap… The main difference was that the group I was facilitating was not from one single company. Everybody at the table had their own business or side hustle they were looking to grow. I adapted the model and the end result…
When “together alone” has two meanings The term “together alone” is used to refer to parts of group exercises where people will work quietly to prepare their own ideas or research to be shared with the rest of the group later. I recently held a growth sprint for small businesses owners. They were “together alone”…
The levers of growth In order to grow your company, you need to focus on the levers of growth: Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Retention and Referrals. But how do you know where to focus? Which lever matters the most? It’s time to get analytical and laser focused on where your efforts can contribute the most growth.…
At the intersection of Design Sprints and Growth Hacking Design Sprints are repeatable and quick ways for teams to generate novel and useful ideas. Growth Hacking is the process of running experiments intended to improve the components of growth from acquisition to referrals. Put these techniques together and you have a repeatable growth recipe for…
AARRR! In 2007, Dave McClure coined the term Pirate Metrics to describe the various growth levers available to companies: Attention, Acquisition, Retention, Revenue, Referrals. Together, these levers spell AARRR. Like a pirate, get it? Gotta get thatGotta get thatGotta get thatGotta get that that that The Black Eyed Peas Two years later, in 2009, The…