Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

Top positive review

83 people found this helpful

Weinberg and Mares beat me to it!

ByThomas D. Kehoeon September 29, 2014

I was outlining a book proposal when I found "Traction." My proposal first explained that product development gets easier, faster, and cheaper every year, so startups no longer fail because they can't build their product. Instead, startups fail when they hit the marketing wall.

According to The Economist (2014 Sep 13), "marketers say they have seen more change in the past two years than in the previous 50."

According to the Harvard Business Review (2014 July-August, p. 56) "In the past decade, what marketers do to engage customers has changed almost beyond recognition....we can't think of another discipline that has evolved so quickly."

It can seem like marketing is getting harder each year, but actually in some ways it's getting easier and cheaper, e.g., Facebook's targeted ads. What's needed is a guide to how marketing is changing.

Unlike the zillions of e-books about Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, etc., my book would cover and compare all marketing channels. Unlike the e-books, my book would include case studies of real companies. Unlike the marketing textbooks, my book would focus on tech startups, not on dog treat bakeries and corner grocery stores. Unlike the books that say you'll get rich if you follow their formula, my book would say that marketing is changing rapidly now, and the marketing plan that worked even a few years ago won't work now. I proposed teaching entrepreneurs instead to make small-scale experiments, see what works and what doesn't, and continuously evolve their marketing.

I scrapped my book proposal because "Traction" is that book.

There are some things I would add (and perhaps Weinberg and Mares will in a second edition). My proposal included case studies of both success and failure. "Traction" only has successful case studies, leading to a sense that every marketing strategy leads to success. Including both successes and failures would lead to a framework for what channels work for what types of companies. E.g., viral social media likes may work for a microbrewery, but not for colonoscopies!

Points I like about "Traction":

- Entrepreneurs should spend 50% of their time on product development and 50% on marketing, but product development sucks up all your time. It's more satisfying to add a new feature to your product than to spend your limited capital on a marketing test that completely fails. We feel comfortable developing our products but feel clueless marketing them.

- Integration with Lean Startup. That was the book I proposed a few years ago, and Eric Reis beat me to it!

- How much traction (downloads, press coverage, sales) investors want to see before they invest increases every year, as marketing gets faster and cheaper to some startups.

- Every entrepreneur has to hand sell the first few customers.

- Building a viral marketing campaign will take one or two engineers three to six months! I.e., viral marketing doesn't magically happen just because your product is so cool.

Stuff that's missing:

- Celebrity endorsements is a 20th channel.

- A chapter about market research, e.g., why you should ask open-ended questions instead of closed-ended questions.

- The PR chapter needs a section on finding journalist contacts, se.g., whether to use the Meltwater or Cision databases.

- Tradeshows are about having outgoing, enthusiastic salespeople, not about having a flashy booth.

Top critical review

See all 27 critical reviews›

14 people found this helpful

Huge potential, but everything before Channels needed more thought & expansion!

ByMark E. Berryon December 20, 2015

The book puts all the emphasis on the different 20 traction channels and how to take advantage of them, but the reader is left sorely wanting for more discussion (beyond terse mentions) of how to actually brainstorm the right channel, then choose a traction channel and how to grow a business's traction over time.

The actual growth of my marketing through traction is what I expected & the stages of growth I should expect. Unfortunately, what I got was a laundry list of things I could probably google.

The book chapter layout was opposite of what it should have been: it should have had 20 chapters of material on how to develop my business from 1 client to 1 million clients, outlining the different challenges during each stage of growth & then 1-2 chapters on all the different traction channels & how to implement them.

Perhaps this should have been 2 books, one simple discussing growth in stages & one about traction channels? I was frustrated by the lack of a single path.

I know there is no one path, but I expect at least one laid out initially for me all the way from failure to success to relate to, before discussing the options I have. It would make it easier to understand the rest of the book.

That said, the book's commitment to traction is tremendous & I massively appreciate the new inquiries that this book has created in the world. This is a rich discussion & more people should be paying attention to this topic. Thank you for speaking up!

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A must read for any founder

ByStefan Wintermeyeron May 15, 2017

Format: Hardcover

The 50:50 rule itself is a good enough reason to buy and read this book. It is a must read for any founder.

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Should reread those every few years

ByTimothy M. Broder Jr.on May 13, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition

Great framework for figuring out what your initial marketing channels should be. Will revisit this every few years to make sure we are still thinking about them properly

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Very helpful and educational

ByLuison May 1, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I liked the info and it was shown to you, 100% recommended for everyone growing their startup to new levels

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Excellent read and easy to understand.

ByBrucea73on April 28, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

If you have a young business this is a MUST!

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19 tactics, how to analyze, deploy, and change them for growth

ByAmzn Shopperon March 29, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Simple, but worthwhile book. I've re-read it a few times. It's basic point is that there are (at least) 19 channels to gain traction (customers) for a product or service, and we tend to only look at a few we might be familiar with. The second point is that after traction in one channel is achived, for additional traction, a different channel or tactic is likely needed for the next phase. Detailed discussion of the different channels and examples of their use in various organizations. Definitely worthwhile for those who are doing product marketing, at any stage of an organization's growth.

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A must read for any entrepreneur getting ready to launch a product!

ByScotton March 22, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A great book. I had the first edition and then bought the updated second edition. The book provides very timely and implementable advice. I also bought the audiobook version. Buy it, read it, implement it!

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Five Stars

ByMaxon March 9, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As advertised!

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Valuable Content

ByDaniel Williamson February 28, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Information is easily digestible. Great book!

Gives solid examples and leaves room for imagination by the entrepreneur.

Definitely would recommend to a friend

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Five Stars

ByLuis Bon February 23, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Great!!!

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The best marketing book I have ever read

ByPeter Geishekeron January 25, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is by far the best marketing book I have ever read, and I have read nearly 100 marketing books. If you want to learn step by step the most effective growth hacking techniques for attracting a large volume of new customers to your startup company, this is the book to read... and then read again. Saying it is brilliant is an understatement.