Having Thicker Skin — The unsung quality of a Growth Hacker

There’s a lot of talk about how Growth Hackers are a balanced mix of qual and quant and of product and marketing. They are often said to be jacks-of-all-trades with eyes always on the prize. They are said to be persistent, clever, cute and smashingly charismatic, too. Admittedly that last bit is just a rumor.

The one quality that doesn’t get much fanfare is having a thick skin.

Growth hackers bring a lot to the table — and one of the best things they bring is the ability to ruthlessly prioritize for true business growth. But a necessary pre-requisite for anyone doing work like this is the ability to endure disagreement, passive-aggressiveness, constant iteration (and failure), compromise, endless data-diving, HiPPOs, and more often than not, explaining what Growth Hacking is over and over (no really, it’s a real thing, and yes, it’s different than that other thing).

Surprisingly, growth hackers also have to survive success. AKA Et tu Brute?

Growth Hacking has a short but decorated history of success such as Dropbox’s referral system, YouTube’s embed code generator and LinkedIn’s address book import mechanism. Each of these were executed in novel ways and were very effective. But like youth, novelty wears off and with it, effectiveness.

So as growth rates level-off (and they will), the hunger for new hacks grows. Expectations to out-do past successes grow. Impatience grows too. So even if Growth Hackers can brush off the criticisms for prioritizing for growth, they have to brush off the fleeting nature of success.

Of course, this doesn’t mean to be numb. Growth hacking is a passionate activity filled with excitement, crushing disappointment, and rapture. What it does mean is that you should be prepared to endure the lows AND the highs.

Remember that nothing lasts forever. The good nor the bad. All that truly matters is that each and every day, you promise yourself to take another step forward. That’s how Growth Hacking is done, Adrian.

Happy Hacking!

Originally published at www.linkedin.com