Growth Levers and How to Find Them

By: Matt Lerner

Narrated by: Matt Lerner

Great startups don't waste time on small stuff. If you study the early days of any great startup, you’ll see that 90% of their growth came from 10% of the stuff they tried. But most needed years of experimentation to find their growth levers. This book aims to shortcut that process.

Generic tactics like paid ads, SEO and referral programs will only get you so far. Growth levers are things like the professional photographs that made tens of thousands of customers trust AirBnb when they otherwise wouldn’t—a crucial move that unlocked explosive growth. They are unique to each startup; they’re seldom obvious. They come from specific unexpected customer insights, and cut across organizational functions.

In this book you’ll get a process to find your big growth levers:

• Map your growth model to find points of leverage where you can focus for the greatest impact
• Uncover your customers' unconscious biases and triggers
• Find your prospects at their moment of highest need
• Discover the exact words to explain your value clearly to customers
• Run experiments and use data to find the most impactful work
• Run growth sprints to push the pace and quality of learning and execution
• Shift the team from perfectionism to a scrappy bold mindset

Matt Lerner and his team have helped over 200 startups find their big growth levers as the founder of SYSTM. Previously, he was on the early growth team at PayPal, a partner at a Silicon Valley VC fund, and a past guest lecturer at Stanford Business School.

This book shares the framework that Matt and his team have used to help over 200 seed-stage startups grow as much as 100X. It’s packed with examples and clear, step-by-step instructions.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023, 2024 Matthew H Lerner (P)2024 Matthew H Lerner

Critic reviews

"What every founder needs to know about marketing - read this before you hire a Head of Growth." - Sean Ellis, Author, Hacking Growth

Roadmap to growth

Matt does an excellent job of breaking down the Herculean task of finding what drives growth for startups.

A must-read for anyone in the startup world

I just finished "Growth Levers"! 🌟 It's not just a book; it's a masterclass in identifying and executing strategic growth opportunities for startups.

Having had the pleasure of meeting Matt in London for a quick chat, I can attest to the depth of his expertise and his genuine commitment to fostering startup growth. The book brilliantly distills years of experience and insights, offering actionable steps that are both innovative and grounded in real-world examples.

The concepts around focusing on those critical growth levers and the idea that a small fraction of efforts can drive the majority of growth are particularly resonant. It's a perspective that I, and surely many others in the startup ecosystem, will find invaluable.

Kudos to Matt for sharing his wisdom and experiences. This book is a must-read for anyone in the startup world looking to push the boundaries of growth and success.📈💡

I love new information, and I’ll never forget the lock analogy

The more deeper I dive into marketing and the more I’ve failed (along with 1.5 successes) I’ve learned the secret sauce is never the company that spent the most on ads. It’s almost always these little yet eventually obvious “hacks” “levers” or whatever you want to call simply “clever.”

Really good book

I’m an early stage startup founder (pre-PMF) and I found it helpful. I recommend it to others who are in a similar position to me

Very practical dense in insights

Thank you very much! This framework and practical tips are directly applicable. My favorite kind of book!