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Traction cover

Traction

Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares

Startup Growth

13 skills extracted

Install

1. Add marketplace
/plugin marketplace add bookforge-ai/bookforge-skills
2. Install plugin
/plugin install traction@bookforge-skills
3. Use the skill
/bullseye-channel-selection
CC-BY-SA · Open sourceGitHub

Extracted Skills

Startup Growthhybrid

Bullseye Channel Selection

Guide systematic customer acquisition channel selection using the Bullseye Framework. Use whenever a startup founder, growth marketer, or product leader is deciding which marketing channel to focus on, evaluating customer acquisition options, choosing between viral, SEO, SEM, content, sales, PR, or any other growth channel, struggling with where to invest marketing budget, trying to escape channel bias, asking 'how do we get customers', planning a go-to-market, or needs to narrow 19 possible channels down to one focused bet. Activates on phrases like 'channel selection', 'customer acquisition', 'marketing strategy', 'growth channel', 'traction channel', 'Bullseye Framework', 'which channel should we use', 'how do we grow', 'marketing plan', or any discussion of prioritizing acquisition investments.

Startup Growthhybrid

Business Development Pipeline

Build a business development pipeline with 5 partnership types, attribute-based partner selection, and a 9-step BD process. Use whenever a founder or BD lead is planning partnerships, pursuing integration deals, negotiating licensing, structuring joint ventures, setting up distribution deals, sourcing supply partnerships, or transitioning from traditional BD to low-touch self-serve BD. Activates on phrases like 'business development', 'BD', 'partnerships', 'strategic partner', 'integration partner', 'licensing deal', 'distribution partner', 'joint venture', 'channel partner', 'co-marketing', 'white label', 'BD deal'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Content And Email Marketing

Design content marketing and email lifecycle programs that work together as an acquisition engine. Use whenever a founder or marketer is planning a blog, newsletter, content calendar, email sequences, lead magnets, drip campaigns, onboarding emails, activation emails, retention emails, or any combination of content creation and email marketing. Also covers the acquisition → activation → retention → revenue lifecycle. Activates on phrases like 'content marketing', 'blog strategy', 'newsletter', 'email marketing', 'drip campaign', 'onboarding emails', 'lifecycle emails', 'activation email', 'email list', 'lead magnet', 'nurture sequence', 'email automation'.

Startup Growthfull

Engineering As Marketing

Design free tools and micro-sites that acquire customers through engineering effort rather than ad spend. Use whenever a founder or marketer wants to build a free calculator, tool, widget, grader, or educational resource as a customer acquisition channel. Activates on phrases like 'engineering as marketing', 'free tool', 'marketing tool', 'calculator', 'grader', 'micro-site', 'widget', 'free app', 'HubSpot Marketing Grader', 'Moz tools', 'lead generator tool', 'utility for marketing', 'free resource for customers'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Existing Platform Leverage

Leverage existing platforms with large user bases (App Stores, browser extensions, social networks, super-platforms) for startup customer acquisition via parasitic growth patterns. Use whenever a founder is planning to distribute via app stores, building browser extensions, targeting Facebook or Twitter as a channel, launching on a new platform Day-1, exploiting an unsatisfied need on a larger platform, or mapping platform gap opportunities. Activates on phrases like 'App Store strategy', 'Chrome extension', 'browser extension', 'Facebook platform', 'Apple ecosystem', 'existing platforms', 'distribution platform', 'Product Hunt launch', 'Airbnb Craigslist', 'YouTube MySpace', 'Zynga Facebook', 'parasitic growth'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Sem Performance Optimization

Optimize Search Engine Marketing performance using CTR, CPC, CPA formulas, Quality Score benchmarks, and keyword profitability filtering. Use whenever a founder or marketer is running Google Ads, Bing Ads, or any SEM campaign, measuring CAC on paid search, optimizing ad groups, pruning unprofitable keywords, improving Quality Score, testing SEM as a channel, or comparing SEM vs other acquisition channels. Activates on phrases like 'SEM', 'Google Ads', 'AdWords', 'PPC', 'pay-per-click', 'CPC', 'CPA', 'CTR', 'Quality Score', 'keyword optimization', 'paid search', 'ad groups', 'bid strategy', 'search advertising'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Seo Channel Strategy

Select and execute an SEO strategy using the fat-head vs long-tail binary decision framework. Use whenever a founder or marketer is planning SEO, comparing organic search strategies, choosing between targeting high-volume category keywords or many low-volume long-tail terms, evaluating keyword difficulty, planning content production for SEO, or avoiding black-hat tactics. Activates on phrases like 'SEO strategy', 'SEO', 'search engine optimization', 'organic search', 'ranking on Google', 'keyword research', 'fat-head', 'long-tail', 'content for SEO', 'Moz', 'keyword difficulty', 'link building', 'SERP', 'backlinks'.

Startup Growthplan-only

Startup Critical Path Planning

Guide a startup to set a single quantified traction goal and define the critical path of milestones to reach it. Use whenever a founder needs to prioritize activities, set growth goals, define milestones, decide what NOT to work on, plan quarterly/yearly execution, cascade goals to teams, escape the 'too many things to do' trap, or apply a binary on-path/off-path filter to proposed work. Activates on phrases like 'traction goal', 'critical path', 'what should we focus on', 'too many priorities', 'prioritization', 'milestones', 'quarterly planning', 'yearly goals', 'OKRs', 'where should I spend my time', 'what NOT to do', 'company planning', 'goal setting', 'DuckDuckGo', 'roadmap'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Startup Pr Outreach

Guide startup PR and unconventional PR outreach using the media chain, pitch templates, and amplification tactics. Use whenever a founder or marketer needs to pitch reporters, plan a PR campaign, land media coverage, run a publicity stunt, amplify a press story, use HARO, build reporter relationships, or avoid common PR mistakes. Also covers unconventional PR (stunts, customer appreciation) for startup launches. Activates on phrases like 'press release', 'PR campaign', 'media coverage', 'reporter outreach', 'pitch email', 'TechCrunch', 'HARO', 'product launch', 'PR strategy', 'publicity stunt', 'get coverage', 'press pitch', 'media pitch', 'journalist outreach'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Startup Sales Process

Design startup sales processes using SPIN Selling, A/B/C lead tiering, PNAME qualification, and sales funnel design. Use whenever a founder or sales lead is building a sales process, prioritizing leads, qualifying prospects, structuring sales calls, designing a sales funnel, dealing with enterprise deals, avoiding the Technology Tourist or False Change Agent traps, or transitioning from founder-led sales to a scaled sales team. Activates on phrases like 'sales process', 'sales funnel', 'SPIN selling', 'lead qualification', 'BANT', 'PNAME', 'enterprise sales', 'B2B sales', 'sales call structure', 'closing deals', 'pipeline management', 'sales methodology'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Startup Traction Strategy By Phase

Guide startup growth strategy by diagnosing which phase the startup is in (Phase I: making something people want, Phase II: marketing something people want, Phase III: scaling) and selecting phase-appropriate traction channels. Use whenever a startup founder, growth marketer, or product leader is deciding how to split time between product and traction, asking whether they have product-market fit, choosing which channels fit their current stage, dealing with rising CAC or saturating channels, wondering if they should pivot, applying the 50% Rule, or escaping the Product Trap ('if we build it they will come'). Activates on phrases like 'product-market fit', 'phase I', 'phase II', 'scaling', 'growth strategy', 'should we pivot', '50% rule', 'product trap', 'traction vs product', 'which channels for our stage', 'moving the needle'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Traction Channel Testing

Design and run cheap validation tests for customer acquisition channels before committing budget. Use whenever a startup founder, growth marketer, or product leader needs to test a marketing channel, validate CAC and LTV assumptions, set up A/B testing, calculate whether a channel can hit growth targets, measure channel performance, detect a saturating channel (Law of Shitty Click-Throughs), decide whether to optimize or abandon a channel, or compare channels quantitatively. Activates on phrases like 'test a channel', 'cheap test', 'CAC', 'customer acquisition cost', 'LTV', 'lifetime value', 'A/B test', 'does this channel work', 'how do I know if this is working', 'conversion rate', 'channel metrics', 'measure marketing', 'channel saturation', 'Law of Shitty Click-Throughs'.

Startup Growthhybrid

Viral Growth Loop Design

Design and measure viral growth loops using the viral coefficient (K-factor), viral loop type taxonomy, and cycle time optimization. Use whenever a startup founder, growth marketer, or product lead is designing referral programs, measuring word-of-mouth, building viral features, calculating K-factor, trying to achieve exponential growth, optimizing invite flows, debugging a viral feature that isn't working, or evaluating whether viral is the right channel. Activates on phrases like 'viral marketing', 'viral coefficient', 'K-factor', 'referral program', 'invite flow', 'network effects', 'word of mouth', 'exponential growth', 'viral loop', 'Dropbox referral', 'Hotmail signature', 'inherent virality', 'cycle time', 'should we go viral'.