In order to understand Growth Hacking, one needs to briefly look into the concept of internet ventures. And what do we mean exactly by internet ventures? Could it be described as a product that operates on the internet, or via a software? If you have a newly founded company, or a company that has been recently invested in, would that make it an internet venture (namely, a startup)?

Paul Graham answers all these questions on his article titled “Startup = Growth”. According to him, if a company is working on/with software, or if it newly founded/recently been invested in, it does not necessarily qualify to be a startup. In his opinion, in order for a company to be defined as a startup, it has to target a large market and use technology as a tool to resolve the problems of that particular market.

Having made that differentiation, we can venture to say that internet ventures, or startups as we will refer to them from this point on, are companies that target a large market and reach that potential by using technology coupled with scalable methods. Such startups with the said structure have different types of problems and different needs in comparison to other businesses. That is where the foundations for the concept of growth hacking are laid. So when the question “What is growth hacking?” arises, the definition could very well be “the discovery of potential issues standing in the way of growth for startups, and the development of innovative solutions for the said issues”.

Growth Hacking for Beginners was prepared to act as a guide for ventures seeking to grow. This book is for companies going down the “startup” road, or those who wish to do so in the future, or simply for the curious. The book aims to answer the question “How should an venture approach the idea of “growth” from day one?” with fundamental theories and reviews of global success stories.