The Growth Newsletter #174

[Demand Curve]( [Read on demandcurve.com]( The Growth Newsletter #174 How to actually write a strategy document We all obsess over the business “idea.” 9 times out 10 what we mean is the product: - An electric car - A language learning app - A greens powder The idea is the foundation. It's not particularly valuable in itself.  Lots of companies tried to make a language learning app. But they all sucked until Duolingo used this strategy: "Use gamification to make language learning feel like a game rather than a chore."  (It also helped that they made it free during the growth phase and monetized it by crowdsourcing document translation using students as labor.)  Clearly, the strategy is more important than the idea. In this issue, we'll talk about how to actually write a strategy document that works.  – Neal Brought to you by [Osum](. Supercharge your market research with AI.  Market research can easily cost 1000's of dollars and take weeks. It's worth it because even a single insight can make a huge difference.  Well, [Osum]( helps you perform deep market research in seconds using AI.  Copy-paste a URL to instantly access detailed industry insights, SWOT analysis, buyer personas, sales prospect profiles, growth opportunities, and more for any product or business.  Discover ways to 10x growth: [Try Osum now for 7 days →](  P.S. DC readers get 25% off on any plan for life. Use the code DC at checkout. Want to be featured in front of 99,890 founders and marketers? [Learn more here](. How to actually write a strategy document Insight from [Alex M H Smith](.  As Alex starts his post: “What should a strategy actually LOOK LIKE? What is the "thing"? What is the format?”  It's not a 50-page business plan or an Excel file with 10 years of projected cashflows.  Instead, here’s how to write a simple & effective strategy: as a Google or Word doc.  It’s divided into 4 sections: - The strategy argument: Outline your interpretation of the market, your plan, and why you think your plan will work. - The strategy statement: A short practical statement of the strategy. Boil it down so your friend can understand it when you tell them over drinks. - The implications: A list of the key things you must do to execute the strategy. - The execution flow: A suggested order and prioritization of these actions.  Strategy argument  Structure your argument in a narrative flow: - The status quo: This is what the market is like right now - Why this sucks: Why the status quo needs to change - Our belief: How we think differently to everyone else (our breakthrough insight) - Our solution: Based on our breakthrough insight, this is how we will fix the status quo and deliver massive value The narrative flow helps you refine the weak parts of your thinking.  The strategy statement  Our brains are lazy. Even exceptionally intelligent people like simplicity.  The best strategies can be summarized in a simple sentence.  Everyone on the team should be able to hear this statement, understand it, remember it, and help it shape their thinking.  As Alex recommends: - Don’t make it pretty (or cute) - Don’t make it too short (or you’ll confuse people) - Don’t make it sound like a tagline (this isn’t marketing copy) Just make it clear. Unambiguous. Practical. Usable.  For example, when Tesla started, EVs were small and boring. Tesla could have said:  "Use EV technology to create luxury, high-performance vehicles to attract people to the segment and grow the size of the market (before going down market).”  (The bolded text is my addition to Alex’s example.)  In other words: “Make electric cars cool and desirable, then make them accessible.”  The implications  Outline the changes that need to take place to bring the business to a position where it is obviously delivering the strategy.  Obviously means that an external observer could explain your strategy to you simply by looking at what you’re up to. For example, we never explicitly told the world that our strategy was to create a media/education business to provide free value to early-stage founders so that they trust us and want to work with our agency. But that became obvious to many people. Break this down into sections across different parts of the business. Product, Brand, Marketing, Sales.  What does it mean for each of them? How do they each need to change?  Execution flow  If you nailed the strategy, it should be easy. If it’s not, your strategy isn’t clear enough.  Sketch out the order of the high-level actions to implement this strategy: - First, we need to do this - Then this - Then this  This isn’t every single task. That’s what Asana, Basecamp, and ClickUp are for. Instead, these are the high-level things your company must do to fulfill its strategy.  For example, to create a media/education business to provide free value to early-stage startups so they trust us and want to work with our agency, that could have been: - Start a free growth community - Start a free newsletter to nurture the community - Create free resources and distribute them on our website and social media and include mentions of the agency - Grow the audience and traffic to these resources  What’s next  Run the strategy by the team and friends. Then, start implementing it.  And stick to it. Don’t get distracted or compromise until the strategy is proven wrong.  If you want to dive deeper into some of [Alex](’s strategic ideas, I’ve written about 3 of them in previous newsletters: - [Play the Opposite’s Game with your strategy]( - [“Normalize the Weird” or “Weird the Normal”]( - [Contrarian Value](  I also recommend his book [No Bullsh*t Strategy](.  Or you can read through the [48 strategy tactics]( we've had in the newsletter. What did you think of today's newsletter? 😍 Loved it: Forward to a friend, or reply—a simple 😍 will do! If really helps. 🤷‍♀️ Meh: You can unsubscribe [here](), or manage your subscription [here](. 🤔 I'm new here: You can join the party [here](. Something gutted  The danger of design by committee.   How we can help you grow - Read our free [playbooks](,[ articles](, [growth guide](, and [teardowns](—we break down the strategies & tactics used by fast-growing startups. - Enroll in the [Growth Program](, our marketing course that has helped 1,000+ founders get traction and scale revenue. - Become [UNIGNORABLE](. Join the waitlist for the next cohort of our popular audience building course. - Need help running ads? We’ve built [the]([ ads agency]( for startups. - Looking for a growth freelancer or agency? [We’ll match you]( with a vetted partner for free. - Get in front of 99,890 startup founders by [sponsoring]( this newsletter. Thanks, everyone! See you on Thursday. [Neal]( [Neal O'Grady]( [Grace]( [Justin Setzer](   © 2024 Demand Curve, Inc. All rights reserved. 4460 Redwood Hwy, Suite 16-535, San Rafael, California, United States [Unsubscribe]() from all emails, including the newsletter, or [manage]( subscription preferences.