7 tactics to gain momentum and achieve growth for your startup
Welcome to Startup Growth Diaries and 7 tactics that famous startups used to break through the noise and fuel their growth.
Hey there 👋,
Welcome to the very first edition of Startup Growth Diaries! 🎉
For years, I’ve been scribbling down notes, ideas, and best practices on how to grow the companies I’ve been a part of—like my own little startup playbook. And I thought, why keep it all to myself? That’s where this newsletter comes in! Every week, I’ll share a “page” from this diary, packed with growth tactics, strategies, and real-world examples to help fuel your startup’s journey 🚀.
7 tactics to gain momentum and generate growth
As this is the first newsletter, I want to zoom out a bit and explore something broader—growth as a whole, rather than focusing on just one specific tactic (we will get to specific tactics in the next mails). The truth is, most startups use a mix of strategies to scale, but what makes each journey unique is the one approach that truly moves the needle for them.
Every successful startup tends to lean heavily on one standout strategy that tips the scales and drives their exponential growth. So today, I’m sharing seven powerful strategies from some of the most successful companies out there, each with their own unique spin on scaling up!
1 - Creating a new category and resources (HubSpot)
HubSpot: Pioneering Inbound Marketing
HubSpot is widely regarded as a pioneer in content marketing, and their success is largely attributed to the inbound marketing approach they developed and promoted. This tactic doesn’t fit all companies, as it requires high investment and takes a long time to see results, but as HubSpot wanted to create a new category, and saw a great potential with owning it, they created a whole team that was internally called “content factory” that simply created a lot of content that helped them in becoming the authority in the space, but also own most of SEO related keywords from it. Here’s how they did it:
Educating Their Audience: Their blog posts, ebooks, webinars, and certifications taught readers how to attract customers by creating valuable content, which was an alternative to traditional “outbound” tactics like cold-calling and paid ads.
Massive Content Volume: HubSpot consistently created high-quality, SEO-optimized content. Their blog, which covers everything from marketing and sales to customer service, has thousands of posts.
Lead Magnets and Free Tools: HubSpot used lead magnets, like free guides, templates, and tools (e.g., the free CRM), to convert blog visitors into leads. Their content didn’t just inform; it also nurtured potential customers throughout the sales funnel.
HubSpot Academy: They launched HubSpot Academy, a free educational platform with certifications in inbound marketing, sales, and more. This not only positioned them as thought leaders but also built a community of marketers trained on HubSpot’s tools, fostering product adoption.
2 - Viral content and social media strategy
Gong: Data-Driven Content with Personality
Gong took a different but equally powerful approach to content marketing by leveraging data-driven insights and a bold, distinct brand voice. What Gong did was genius, and instead of investing years in SEO, they leveraged their own data and made it so interesting that people were actually willing to pay for their content.
So how did Gong do it?
Unique Data-Driven Insights: Gong built its content strategy around unique insights from its proprietary data. Since their platform records and analyzes sales conversations, Gong was able to publish research-based content that revealed surprising truths about what makes sales teams successful. This made their content highly valuable and unique in the crowded sales technology space.
Creating Thought Leadership with Data: By using anonymized data from customer interactions, Gong could back up their content with real, actionable insights. This data-driven approach made their content extremely credible and shareable within the sales community.
Bold and Fun Brand Personality: Gong’s content stood out because of its bold and engaging brand voice. They combined serious data-backed insights with a fun, irreverent tone that made even technical content enjoyable to read. For instance, they would release reports showing which words or phrases in sales calls resulted in higher close rates - and to make that interesting they used “Does cursing improve your sales rate?” and many other interesting topics. They have combined Education + Entertainment (Edutaitment) and managed to build interesting B2B reports.
Viral Social Media Strategy: Gong’s content frequently went viral on LinkedIn, thanks to its engaging format, clear value, and strong visual elements. They actively used social media to distribute their research and insights, gaining traction with sales professionals who shared their posts widely.
3 - PR Stunt (Wise)
One of the most memorable PR stunts was created by TransferWise (now known as Wise) and took place in 2014 in London and perfectly embodied their brand message of challenging the hidden fees charged by banks.
The "Nothing to Hide" Protest
The stunt was called the "Nothing to Hide" march, and it involved over 100 participants stripping down to their underwear (did they even have an HR team?!) and marching through the streets of London. The participants, many of whom were TransferWise employees and supporters, carried signs with messages like "Banks Rip You Off" and "Transparency Saves You Money." The purpose was to highlight how banks were charging hidden fees on international money transfers, something that TransferWise sought to eliminate with their transparent pricing model.
The march culminated outside of the Bank of England, making a bold and visually striking statement. The concept of "nothing to hide" aligned perfectly with TransferWise’s commitment to transparency in fees.
PR stunts are hard to execute as you have the least control over the outcome and coverage you will get. But if you manage to pull out a good stunt, you can increase your company’s visibility for a relative low cost.
4 - Community led growth and freemium model (Notion)
Notion is an interesting example of a company that Instead of relying heavily on traditional marketing, focused on building and engaging with its users through community-driven efforts. This tactic really managed to save them a lot of money in traditional growth, but it is inherent in their product, and therefor not a perfect fit for every company. Here’s how they did it:
Ambassadors & Evangelists: Notion empowered early adopters to become evangelists. They created a network of ambassadors who hosted local events, meetups, and workshops.
User-Generated Templates: Notion encouraged users to create and share custom templates that others could use for productivity, project management, and knowledge management.
Active Online Communities: Notion cultivated vibrant communities on platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Slack. These spaces allowed users to ask questions, share their workflows, and offer suggestions for product improvement. By being highly responsive to community feedback, Notion built a strong bond with its users.
Crowdsourcing Ideas for Product Development: Notion actively listened to its community and incorporated their feedback into its product roadmap. This made users feel valued and part of the product development process, which further deepened their loyalty.
5 - The network effect (Calendly)
Calendly, the scheduling automation platform, made booking meetings effortless and scaled rapidly by leveraging a combination of network effects, a freemium model, and seamless integrations. What makes Calendly’s approach so clever is the way they turned their users into natural brand ambassadors. Every time a user shares their scheduling link, it includes a subtle “Powered by Calendly” tag, which is visible to anyone receiving it—even if they’re not a user yet. This small but impactful feature boosts brand awareness and fuels organic growth by attracting new users who see how easy it is to schedule with Calendly and want to try it for themselves.
So how exactly they did it -
Network Effects: As users shared their Calendly links to schedule meetings, they introduced new potential users to the platform, leading to organic growth through network effects.
Freemium Model: Like many successful SaaS companies, Calendly offered a freemium tier that allowed users to access the core functionality for free. As individuals and teams found value in the product, they upgraded to paid plans for additional features such as team scheduling, advanced integrations, and branding options.
Integration with Existing Tools: Calendly grew by integrating seamlessly with popular tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, Zoom, and Salesforce. This allowed it to become a central piece of users’ workflows, further increasing adoption across different departments within organizations.
6 - Out of Home (OOH) campaign (Brex)
Brex’s out-of-home (OOH) campaign zeroed in on key startup hubs like San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles—targeting the exact places where their ideal customers (startup founders, entrepreneurs, and tech workers) lived, worked, and commuted. By positioning themselves as the go-to financial solution for startups, Brex addressed the pain points of fast-growing companies often underserved by traditional banks.
While OOH can be expensive, Brex’s hyper-targeted approach gave them massive brand visibility. It helped them punch above their weight, creating the impression of a much larger, established brand and driving awareness among their core audience.
Key Elements of the Brex OOH Campaign:
1. Strategic Placement
Brex strategically placed its ads in high-traffic, high-visibility locations frequented by startup founders and tech workers. These included - Billboards in tech-heavy areas, Subway stations and buses, Near co-working spaces and event targeting.
2. Simple, Direct Messaging
Brex used bold and straightforward messaging that resonated with its target audience. The ads emphasized how Brex was “The best credit card for startups”.
3. Visual Identity and Design
The design of Brex’s OOH ads was minimalistic but impactful. They used bold fonts, strong contrasts, and a color palette that stood out against the urban landscape. This simplicity helped convey the message quickly to passersby, ensuring they understood the core benefit of using Brex almost immediately.
4. Hyper-Targeted Audience
Brex knew exactly who they were speaking to: founders, entrepreneurs, and startups. They honed their ads to speak directly to these individuals with messages that reflected their challenges and aspirations.
7 - Events and activations (MESH)
Events are a powerful growth driver for startups, especially those looking to move upmarket and attract larger customers. At MESH, we strategically target events where we know our ideal customers will be, allowing us to boost both brand awareness and growth within the exact audience we want to reach. We go all-in with our event presence, from impactful activation campaigns to speaking opportunities and other high-visibility activities. Here’s a sneak peek from one of the activation campaigns we ran at a recent event we sponsored (stay tuned for more details in an upcoming newsletter).
So, why events can be powerful growth tactics for startup?
1. Building Brand Awareness
Events offer a direct way to introduce your startup to a wider audience. Whether online or in-person, they allow you to showcase your brand, product, or service in a more engaging and memorable way than traditional marketing. When people experience your brand firsthand, they’re more likely to remember it and associate it with value.
2. Creating Networking Opportunities
Startups often thrive on connections, and events provide a platform to meet potential customers, partners, investors, and even mentors. These interactions can lead to new opportunities, partnerships, or sales, all crucial for growth.
3. Establishing Thought Leadership
Hosting or speaking at events positions your startup as a leader in your industry. By sharing insights, trends, and innovations, you demonstrate expertise, which helps build trust and credibility with your audience.
4. Generating Leads and Conversions
Events offer a unique opportunity to collect high-quality leads. Attendees are often highly engaged and interested in learning more about your offering. By capturing this intent, you can move prospects through your sales funnel faster.
In conclusion, every startup’s journey is unique, and so are the growth tactics that drive success. Crafting a powerful growth strategy requires a deep understanding of your business and careful consideration of several factors.
You’ll need to ask yourself key questions, like: What’s your business model? Does your product naturally support growth? Who’s your target persona? Are your founders risk-takers or more steady and methodical?
By exploring these questions, you’ll start to uncover the growth formula that works best for your startup. I hope today’s newsletter and the examples shared sparked some inspiration for you to create your own winning strategy.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, don’t forget to hit the Like button below ♥️. Thanks for reading!
And that’s it for this first entry of Startup Growth Diaries! 🎉 I hope you found these examples inspiring and that they spark some fresh ideas for your own startup growth journey.
Catch you next week with more pages from the diary!
Until then, keep growing 🚀
Idan
