www.techsylvania.com

1. The Art of Growth
Lloyed Lobo, Boast.AI

2. Bootstrapped to 8
figures before funding
Prior Learnings
(*failures)
• Product & Growth - Speakeasy (BVP & Salesforce backed)
• Cofounder - Automaticly (Accelerator)
• Sales & Marketing - TicketLeap (Acquired)
• Product - AL Systems (Acquired)

3. 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

4. “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

5. =
Engagement + Revenue + Growth

6. 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

7. Validation PM-Fit CM-Fit Scale
Goal
~10 unaffiliated
paying customers
Retention
Scalable unit
economics
Revenue growth
rate
TM Innovator Early Adopter Early Majority Own the market
GTM Win at all cost Win at all cost Codified, scalable 2/3 scale, 1/3 nail
Demand Network + referrals Network + referrals
1 scalable,
measurable
channel
Multiple channel
Sales Founder Founder + AE Process builder Process executor
Pricing
Solve for
commitment
Solve for
commitment
Solve for unit
economics
Assess disruption
risk
The Science of Scaling

8. Tip #1 Set aggressive goals
$250,000 revenue in 3 months

9. 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

10. 1. Who are your customers (title, industry, geo, etc.)?
2. What are the key outcomes they’re looking for?
3. What are the tasks to get to those outcomes?
4. How do they do those tasks today?
5. What are the unnecessary steps? How can you
reduce them?
6. What does the delighted state look like?

11. BUYER
FAMILY
FRIENDS
COMPETITION
PR
COMMUNITY
PAID
SOCIAL
CONFERENCE
COLLEAGUES
CIRCLE OF
INFLUENCE

12. ICP Market Pay Access Contact Conv Calls NRR Contact % People ACV ARR
CS
Enterprise
Tech 3 4 4 1,000 1% 10 100% 100,000 0.10 100
CS
Enterprise
CPG 5 4 3 1,000 0% 1 100% 100,000 1% 1000 $10k $10M

13. Tip #3 Validate your idea by charging for it

14. 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

15. Takeaways

16. 1. Brainstorm a few channels
2. Prioritize based on impact
and ease of execution
3. Split test
4. Double down on what works

17. Featured In
We run a community of +110k subscribers called Traction. We host nearly 100 events/ year including
webinars, dinners, meetups, and conferences generating huge brand value and word of mouth leads. All
funded by sponsorships and ticket sales making it cost neutral.
Community-led growth

18. HUB
PODCASTS
CHAMPS
EVENTS
Q&A
SPACE
JOB
BOARD
BLOG
GUIDES
COMMS
CONTENT
COMMUNITY

19. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Stage State Conversion % Estimated Value
Acquistion Site visits
Acquistion Signup
Activation Core action
Retention Repeat user
Revenue Paying
Referral Refers 1+ activated user

24. 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

25. Don't focus on funding. Focus on building a great product
that people want to use & pay for. The funding will follow

26. The Art of Growth
Lloyed Lobo, Boast.AI