The Racecar Growth Framework

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The Racecar Growth Framework

Growth strategies for startups by Lenny Rachitsky

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The Racecar Growth Framework—expanded and illustrated⁠

Lenny Rachitsky⁠

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1. Growth Engine

The growth engine is a self-sustaining growth loop that drives nearly all your growth long-term

Step

Type

Tactic

Choose

Priority

1.Growth engine

SEO

Content generation for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Paid Ads

Online

Out of home

In home

Virality

Word of mouth

Inviting friends

Sharing content

Referrals

Sales

Hire salespeople

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2. Kickstart

Kickstarts are unscalable tactics for acquiring your first 1,000 users.

Step

Type

Tactic

Choose

Priority

2. Kickstarts

Reach out to friends and colleagues

Reach out to targeted strangers

Cold DM

Cold Email

Phone Call

Door to door

Go where your target audience hangs out (online or offline)

Online communities (e.g. Dropbox and HackerNews, Discord and Reddit, Netflix and niche forums)

Offline communities (e.g. Etsy and craft fairs)

Retailers/malls (e.g. Hipcamp and REI, Pinterest and Apple stores, Snapchat and malls)

High schools (e.g. Snapchat)

College campuses (e.g. Tinder)

Business schools (e.g. Morning Brew)

Startup offices (e.g. Lyft, Wealthfront)

Transit hubs (e.g. Uber and CalTrans station)

Enlist influencers (paid or organically)

Paid

Organically fans

Get press

Create viral content

Blog post (e.g. Superhuman)

Video (e.g. Duolingo)

One-off website (e.g. Calm)

Get physical placement (e.g. flyers, stickers, signs)

Table or booth at a physical location (e.g. Hipcamp)

Signs (e.g. Tinder)

Stickers (e.g. Grubhub)

Get on store shelves

Host an event

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3.Turbo Boosts

Turbo boosts are one-off events that accelerate growth temporarily but don’t last

Step

Type

Tactic

Choose

Priority

3. Turbo boost

Turbo boost

Get PR

Create viral content

Host an event

Get an influencer to mention you

Run a marketing campaign

Sponsor a big event

Release a viral mini-product

Create controversy

Get featured by highly trafficked platform

Go on TV/podcast/etc.

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4. Lubricants

Lubricants are optimizations that help your growth engine(s) run more efficiently. Without enough lubrication, your engine will stop.

Step

Type

Tactic

Choose

Priority

4. Lubricants

Lubricants

Increasing conversion

Increasing retention

Increasing brand awareness [Future post]

Increasing activate rate and/or customer success [Future post]

Increasing prices [Future post]

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5. Mid-stage growth accelerants

Mid-stage growth accelerants aren’t really growth engines, and aren’t useful early on, but when used effectively, they can significantly (re)accelerate your growth.

Step

Type

Tactic

Choose

Priority

5. Mid-stage growth accelerants

Mid-stage growth accelerants

Channel partnerships

Geographic expansion

Category expansion

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6. Fuel

Fuel is the input that your engine runs on. The way to think about fuel tactically is to work backward from your engine—the more (right kind of) fuel you have (e.g. more users), the faster you’ll grow (e.g. more virality).