
Growth Hacker is the New VP Marketing - Andrew Chen - mattgratt
http://andrewchenblog.com/2012/04/27/how-to-be-a-growth-hacker-an-airbnbcraigslist-case-study/
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jpzeni
Everything seemed to be flowing logically until I got to this statement "No
traditional marketer would have figured this out" (referring to integrating a
Craigslist post into Airbnb). To that statement my question is why couldn't a
traditional marketer imagine that functionality? They probably wouldn't have
been able to create the actual implementation themselves but that would be a
job for an engineer regardless of who came up with the idea. If the marketer
happened to be an engineer great, if not, it seems like something that would
just be delegated to a technical member of the team.

From what I understand Airbnb did a fair bit of spamming to craigslist prior
to the very slick layout you see there so the idea of marketing via craigslist
was already baked into their strategy regardless of it's implementation.

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dean
I agree. In fact, I would go even further and say that a non-technical person
could come up with even better ideas because they are not constrained by what
is technically possible. They think you can do absolutely anything with
software. Whereas an engineer might (even subconsciously) be discouraged
because they know it would take a lot of hard work to do the thing.

~~~
chrissanz
that could be true in some instances, in my experience (and the majority of
the time), traditional marketers are not always thinking about the more
technical opportunities (and more often than not, they are coming up with
awful+old school initiatives). hackers on the other hand are always trying to
figure out how to hack something for their own benefit... looking at packets
to see if something can be reversed engineered or scanning services that are
relevant + popular and could help grow your company. I've been in situation
(multiple times) when the marketing person is not even aware of such places.
This is why someone who has the technical chops and is dedicated to growth
could be very interesting. I would not hire a marketing guy without tech
experience

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Timothee
Doesn't this fall under the already-existing title of Product Manager?

The way I look at what a PM does, this is exactly it: knowing the technical
aspects enough to figure out what is possible and detail it for engineering to
build. It doesn't have to be the same person that specs it and build it.

That being said, I'd be very happy to get a job as "growth hacker" for I
believe I'm better at thinking that kind of integrations through, than at what
is on the "marketing side" of product management.

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sigil
Marketing is becoming hacking, but then again it seems like _everything_ is
becoming hacking.

~~~
laconian
Oh, I am _so_ burned out from that word. Everybody wants a piece of the
community and tries to be authentic by adopting its lingo. But it feels so
goddamned forced.

~~~
sigil
I only use it for lack of a better one; "programming" seems too specific. What
would you suggest?

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laconian
I was talking more about hacking in the "doing something clever" sense that
has popped up like crazy: hack your taxes! hack your wife! hack the stock
market! etc.

~~~
orph
Well actually, "doing something clever" is damn close to the origin of the
word.

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carlsednaoui
"The fastest way to spread your product is by distributing it on a platform
using APIs, not MBAs." As a marketer, this is why I am learning to code. Great
article!

~~~
aorshan
Same here!!

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elchief
"It is expressly prohibited to post content to craigslist using any automated
means."

<http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use>

Companies have lost their domains due to this.

~~~
oijaf888
How exactly do you lose your domain by violating a terms of service? Does
Craigslist file a complaint with ICANN or something? I can see a lawsuit and
prohibition against accessing their service.

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paulsutter
Heh, some of the most effective marketing can be done by introverts who are
good with numbers. Understanding both customers and code is more achievable
and fun than finding just the right "business" cofounder.

Great article.

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sandieman
For me this falls under same category as a "designer who can also code". It's
great when you can find them but they are harder to find.

