Subscribers only: an evening with the man who coined ‘growth hacking’

Sean Ellis, co-author of Hacking Growth / Photo credit: Sean Ellis

Dear readers,

I’m willing to bet US$100 that you’re preoccupied with something: growth.

We all want growth, whether in our careers, our character, our team goals, or our bitcoin holdings. Numbers going up beats numbers going down.

Personally, I’ve been focusing on one thing: growing Tech in Asia’s subscriber base by making a more compelling product.

Since our buyout by SPH Media, we’ve pumped out more impactful investigative stories, released Glasswall, and given our subscribers access to exclusive stories from The Business Times.

We’re not stopping there. I’d like to introduce a new product we’re testing: subscriber-only meetups.

For one evening, we’ll soak ourselves in a bit of Silicon Valley history: joining us in a fireside chat is none other than Sean Ellis, the man who coined the term “growth hacking.”

You can check out the details and RSVP here to the event, which will be held in Singapore.

Core subscribers can join the meetup at no extra charge, but there’s a one-off ticket price for non-subscribers.

Sean, of course, didn’t just coin the phrase. He’s one of its leading promoters and practitioners, having helped familiar brand names like Dropbox and Eventbrite propel into viral growth.

I’ll be moderating the fireside chat. If growth is something you’re preoccupied with, do join us for this. We’ll be sure to dive deeper into growth-hacking best practices, frameworks, and tactics.

To prepare for this, I’ve picked up his book, Hacking Growth. It recounts the unconventional tactics that well-known startups have adopted to hit exponential growth.

For example, Airbnb found a way to drive huge traffic to its site by automatically cross-posting its listings onto Craigslist. The latter soon shut this “integration” down, but it didn’t matter: Airbnb had already gathered momentum.

We’ll talk about these fascinating stories and more in the fireside chat. I’ll allocate plenty of time for audience questions too – so do come prepared as well.

I’ll see you there.