Hey, it’s Pieter…

I have fond memories of Mr. Mostert.

He was our math teacher, back when I was in high-school in rainy Holland. Even though he taught mathematics, he held master’s degrees in 3 different fields: math, law, and economics.

But I guess he liked math best in the end.

At some point —probably before some exam— a little revolt had formed in the classroom. The kind of revolt you would expect from a bunch of hormone-infused 15-year-olds.

We were like: “but what’s all this abstract stuff good for, in real life?!”

Fair question.

But what he said stuck with me, to the point where I still remember it vividly, today.
He said…

Math teaches you how to think.

Silence.

Check mate.

Math doesn’t give you the low-level “how to” guidance in life, but it strengthens your overall mental toolbox.

It gives you the mental tools to make better decisions.
It turns you into a strong, all-round generalist.

And only years later I learned from Charlie Munger, the long-time business partner of Warren Buffet, about a concept called ‘mental models’.

It’s a similar idea. Mental models are frameworks to help you think through complex problems. For instance:
+ The “80/20 rule” (Pareto’s Law) gives you an easy way to think about distribution in economics, but applies in all kind of situations…
+ “Survival of the fittest” captures the essence of evolutionary biology… but also helps you think about problems in economics, business and many other aspects of life

But anyhow…

The seed was planted by Mr. Mostert —my math teacher— when I was 16.
“Math teaches you how to think” hit home for me.

So when I quit my first startup because I didn’t know how to grow it, and I was trying to figure out growth marketing… I suspect that I subconsciously approached the problem slightly different than most people do.

I wasn’t looking for “how to” advice.

I was looking for the models.

And just like in math… once you know the mental models, you don’t need to remember the ‘facts’ anymore. In marketing, once you know the models, you can forget about all the hundreds of little ‘hacks’.

And now I’m in the humbling position to teach a bit of marketing, and I still apply the same focus… 😉

Of course the skills still matter.
+ You still need to learn how to track conversions
+ You still need to improve your copywriting game
+ You still need to learn about persuasion & mental triggers
+ You still need to build the funnels

But that’s not what’s missing for most people.

Most people struggle, because…

They have no higher level models when it comes to marketing & growth

Their mind just goes blank.
That’s essentially what’s happening.

So in the last couple days, I’ve tried to roll in already a few “reframes” of how to look at some problems. These are the mental models for marketing and growth.

Off the top of my head, here are a handful of mental models that drive much of the “growth marketing mindset” (just to give you an idea):
+ Risk front-loading — the stuff we talked about yesterday: the extreme version of “lean startup”, that allows you to move to P/M-fit faster and more aggressively
+ Agile / iterative — creating a small baseline, and then iteratively expanding it. (to increase velocity, and produce more user value, faster)
+ A/B testing — the “bread ‘n butter” of optimization and incrementally adding conversion lifts, so every percentage increase can compound on the rest
+ Radical customer empathy — constantly thinking through the perspective of the customers, and anticipating their needs. Then pacing and leading them, for high persuasion.
+ Power laws — As opposed to bell curves, to unlock massive traffic opportunities by focusing on a single distribution channel, through “finding the bullseye”
+ Conversational sequencing — a mental model on how to restructure the way you write copy and content in your sales funnels
​+ From funnels to loops — the “master model” of growth, if you will. Durable, scalable growth is driven by different forms of loops. (we’ll start covering this in tomorrow’s email!
+ High tempo testing — a process-driven growth framework that most mature growth teams employ to accelerate towards their next stage of growth (coming up soon, too)

See?

Charlie Munger said that you need a latticework of models in your head, that fit together and amplify each other. It’s like a “mental toolbox” that you’re building.

The better your mental tools, the faster you can find what you’re looking for…. whether that’s product/market-fit, higher conversions or a cheaper distribution channel

Each of those models gives you a “reframe”, or a different lens through which you can look at a problem.

That’s incredibly empowering.

But the list above is certainly not extensive.
As a matter of fact… the biggest, most significant growth marketing ‘model’ isn’t there yet.

So that’s what we’ll talk about tomorrow.

It’s what I consider the top-most framework in my mind when it comes to growth… this is like the “unified theory of growth” if there ever was one… because it pulls everything together.

It shows you how durable, scalable growth… is driven by loops.