"What if we add more SEO?"

"Should we invest more in Facebook ads?"

"How can we make this product go viral?"

You've probably heard some version of each of these questions, perhaps in the very same meeting. As advisors to early- and growth-stage companies, Dan Hockenmaier and Lenny Rachitsky certainly have. (Hockenmaier's the founder of growth strategy firm Basis One and former director of growth marketing at Thumbtack, while Rachitsky is a former product lead and head of consumer supply growth at Airbnb, who has since taken up angel investing and writing, both in his incredible newsletter and occasionally here on the Review.)

After fielding these questions countless times, they've also witnessed the surprise when these same founders learn that there are just three growth lanes for consumer startups looking to scale customer acquisition.

1. Performance marketing (e.g. Facebook and Google ads)
2. Virality (e.g. word-of-mouth, referrals, invites)
3. Content (e.g. SEO, YouTube)

Drive Growth by Picking the Right Lane — A Customer Acquisition Playbook for Consumer Startups

From diminishing returns to increased competition, to not giving experiments enough time to pan out and picking the wrong lane altogether, they've seen a slew of mistakes—and have taken it upon themselves to create a playbook that will put founders and growth leaders on the right path.

In our latest on the Review, this dynamic duo dives into their 3-step framework for driving consumer startup growth, including three detailed case studies of how Thumbtack scaled with content, how Airbnb engineered virality, and how Booking.com tapped into performance marketing. (They also helpfully close with thoughtful answers to some of your most burning FAQs.)

Whether you're still trying to get your growth strategy off the ground, or looking to fine-tune your tactics at a later stage, we're certain today's article will give you plenty of ideas to hit the ground running.

Thanks, as always, for reading and sharing!

-The Review editors

Resources worth sharing: 

• First Round Partner Josh Kopelman shares some reflections on the early days of Clover Health after the healthcare startup announced today that it's merging with Social Capital's IPOC and going public—see Chamath Palihapitiya's one-pager overview here.
• New newsletter recommendation: Nikhyl Singhal dishes up career advice in The Skip. (Check out his Review article on scaling product teams if you missed it.)
• And a new podcast to boot—The "Invest Like the Best" crew has another must-listen show, Founder's Field Guide, and the first episode features Superhuman founder Rahul Vohra.
• The Human Utility founder Tiffani Ashley Bell on why companies need to stop pretending it’s business as usual.
• Review favorite Julie Zhuo reflected on one of the most memorable interviews she's ever had, and how it got her thinking about her roots.
• Twitter Chief Design Officer Dantley Davis on building the most diverse team in tech.

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