To be honest, it will probably take me longer to write a review for this book than it would for you to just go out and read it. I’m serious. According to my Kindle, I’m was 7% into the book by the time I reached the Intro section. Almost every “page turn” on my Kindle earned me an additional 1% towards completion. This book is either very short or I am a magically fast reader. I’m afraid it’s probably the latter.
Ryan Holiday’s Growth Hacker Marketing (published in 2013) is all about getting rid of all your old ideas about marketing. It’s full of stories about successful companies that used new, innovative techniques to become successful in remarkably short amounts of time. The bottom line of the book is that you should study your customers and build the product that they truly want, not the product that you think they want.
What this book lacks in concrete step-by-step help in putting together your marketing plan, it makes up for in enthusiasm and motivation. There’s something about reading other companies’ success stories that gets my mind racing with possibilities and makes me excited to get to work. I didn’t find it as helpful or concrete as books like The Lean Startup or Traction, but I might re-read it later when I’m feeling low on motivation.
The added bonus? Read this book and you’ll finally learn how Airbnb picked their name!