Why I’m Returning to Writing: A New Chapter of Growth Insights

It’s been a while since I last wrote regularly, but I’ve decided it’s time to start again. A few years ago, I paused because I struggled to find inspiration. Many growth concepts felt so intuitive to me that writing about them seemed redundant—like stating that water is wet or the sky is blue.

During the peak of my writing, I was driven by the surprising realization that others viewed growth differently than I did. CEOs would approach me for help in building product awareness, while others were focused on best practices for sign-up flows or creating marketing plans before a product even launched. These approaches clashed with my experiment-driven method for growing startups, which compelled me to share what had worked for me.

Over time, we distilled these key insights into a book, co-authoring Hacking Growth with Morgan Brown. The book exceeded my wildest expectations, selling over 750,000 copies. I’m often asked if we’ll write another one, but I’ve hesitated, questioning whether I have enough new insights to create something truly meaningful.

Why I Paused Writing

During my break from writing, I took on the role of founder/CEO, focusing on iterating through several ideas to achieve product-market fit. I quickly learned that reaching this milestone was far more complex than I had anticipated. While there is a process to improve your chances, the odds of finding product-market fit remain low. My strengths in growth helped build a couple of businesses that generated enough revenue to be acquired, but I soon realized that my unique growth skills were being underutilized in the high-risk early stages of value creation.

As a founder/CEO, my time for writing became scarce. Even when I had the time, I found myself having fewer conversations with others in the startup and growth community—conversations that often sparked the inspiration for my best writing.

Photo by Max Herr on Unsplash

New Inspiration for Writing

Starting in 2019, I began to find inspiration again, and I’m excited to resume writing. This renewed inspiration comes from several sources.

First, I started working with several companies on growth and discovered common challenges that many face. These experiences provided fertile ground for uncovering insights that aren’t widely recognized in the industry. Some of my best posts in the past were written in a therapeutic, almost cathartic way, where I set aside diplomacy and directly addressed the issues I was encountering.

Second, I partnered with Oleg Yakubenkov on the GoPractice.io program, a data-driven simulator for learning growth. Oleg’s strengths in growth complemented my weaknesses. While I’ve always been good at using data to inform decisions, much of my learning has been through intuition. For example, I knew the importance of reaching statistical significance before trusting test results, but Oleg, as a data scientist, taught me about the peaking problem and the need to determine sample size before starting a test. He also brought strong product management skills—an area where I lacked formal training but one that is crucial for leveraging the most important growth levers.

Finally, the interviews Ethan Garr and I conduct on the Breakout Growth Podcast are an endless source of inspiration.

Why I’m Excited to Write Again

Writing helps me clarify my thoughts. I’ve noticed that I can discuss a topic much more effectively after I’ve written about it. Ideas often seem fully formed in my mind, but committing them to (virtual) paper forces me to consider them from all angles. Writing also fuels my innovation. Many of my most groundbreaking ideas, like the product-market fit survey, ICE scoring, and even the polarizing term “growth hacking,” emerged when I was actively writing.

When I first started writing almost 20 years ago, I was surprised anyone was reading. But I enjoyed the process with no expectation of building an audience. This time, I plan to approach writing with that same beginner’s mindset. I’ll reassess in about six months to see if it’s worth continuing, but for now, I’m eager to share new insights and engage with the growth community once again.