Is this the correct use of the term "Growth Hacking"? I thought it was a person who works on side projects to increase their personal development outside of work.
As far as the meat of the article, I feel like this is spot on. The challenge I think is that a lot of people, including PG, have said they want to see 10%+ growth [1]. Customer acquisition is a very easy thing to hack if you know how to play the social game, but in the end, it comes down to product.
Did you laugh at the bill hicks routine about marketers killing themselves when you were a teenager, but now want to take that highly paid SV position without an existential crisis? Have we got the job title for you!
I don't think I've ever heard Growth Hacking used in the sense you described. I'm sure someone has, but I nearly always see it in the sense of "tricks to increase user acquisition or conversion."
My understanding has always been it's one who "hacks" the "growth" of the company. Which coincidentally is why I've always had a somewhat negative impression of the term.
As far as the meat of the article, I feel like this is spot on. The challenge I think is that a lot of people, including PG, have said they want to see 10%+ growth [1]. Customer acquisition is a very easy thing to hack if you know how to play the social game, but in the end, it comes down to product.
[1] - http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html