7 Growth Lessons Every Smart Founder Should Steal from Seth Godin
After two decades in startups, I’ve watched teams burn through cash trying to fix what’s actually a strategy problem.
Beyond the Noise 🤓
Three insights shaping startup growth
- nails why most products fail: If you can't explain it as "adjective + noun" (like "electric car"), you're losing people. Moving from "app for X" to complex explanations? That's where growth dies.
Product Beats Marketing
My former professor, Mark Ritson, says great marketing can't save a lackluster product. While everyone else chases virality, savvy founders are laser-focused on making something worth talking about.Systems Over Hacks
A16z’s latest research backs this up: real growth is built on scalable systems, not flavor-of-the-week gimmicks. Winning companies? They’re perfecting their processes, not chasing the next trend.
TL;DR
For anyone short on time
Strategy isn't what most founders think. Seth Godin breaks it down to four elements that actually matter: understanding market systems, knowing your strategic moves, deep customer empathy, and playing the long game. No hacks, just principles that compound into real growth.
7 Growth Lessons Every Smart Founder Should Steal from Seth Godin
Most founders think they’ve got a marketing problem.
But Seth Godin knows better—and so do I.
After two decades in startups, I've watched countless teams burn cash on marketing, hoping to fix what's actually a strategy problem.
You’d have better luck duct-taping a sinking boat and calling it waterproof.
But here's what I do know: marketing can't fix a broken strategy, while the right strategy can make marketing exponentially more effective.
After studying Godin's work, I've distilled it down to seven key principles that transform marketing strategy.
What You'll Actually Get From This Post:
A framework for strategy that drives results
How to find and dominate your market position
The four forces that determine startup success
Why complexity kills growth (and how to avoid it)
A practical system for building lasting customer relationships
1. Strategy Is Your Compass, Not Your Checklist
Most founders get this wrong.
They mistake busy work for strategy.
Strategy isn’t your laundry list or your latest brainstorm.
Seth wants you to get clear:
Strategy is your compass, not your calendar.
It’s your north star.
It's about knowing exactly who you're building for and why they should care.
Uncharted Moves:
Define one clear mission statement:
"We help [specific audience] achieve [specific outcome] by [your unique approach]."
Every decision you make should flow from this.
If it doesn't serve your mission, cut it.
2. Your Culture Is Your Strategy
Your ping-pong table isn't culture.
Neither is your unlimited vacation policy.
Forget about your fancy office perks.
Culture is how your team makes decisions when you're not in the room.
It's the invisible force that either drives growth or kills it slowly.
Forget empty frameworks and MBA jargon.
Culture keeps you relevant in the long game.
Uncharted Moves:
Write down three non-negotiable values that drive your decisions.
Share them with your team.
Use them to make your next three major decisions.
Watch how quickly clarity follows.
3. Four Essentials: Systems, Games, Empathy, and Time
After working with hundreds of startups, I've seen Seth's four strategic elements make or break companies:
Systems: Understand the game board you're playing on
Games: Know your moves and your limits
Empathy: Get inside your customers' heads
Time: Play the long game while others chase quick wins
Uncharted Moves:
Map these four elements for your market.
What systems are you working within?
Who are the players?
What keeps your customers up at night?
Where do you need to be in five years?
4. Simplicity Is Your Power Move
Want to know why most startups fail?
They try to be everything to everyone.
A team once pitched me an app that had a ‘feature for everything.’ It was like a Swiss Army knife with 30 tools you don’t need and one knife so dull you’re better off biting your way through whatever you’re trying to cut.
Look at Superhuman.
They didn't build another bloated email client. They built the fastest email experience ever. Period.
Now they charge $30/month and have a waiting list.
Uncharted Moves:
Take your core offering.
Remove one feature.
Make what remains twice as good.
Repeat until you have something remarkable.
5. Pick Your Audience Like Your Future Depends on It
Because it does.
The biggest mistake I see founders make?
Being afraid to narrow their focus.
They end up serving nobody well instead of serving somebody perfectly.
Uncharted Move:
Name three things your ideal customer believes that most people don't.
Build everything around those beliefs.
6. Distribution Isn't an Afterthought
Great products die because founders assume distribution “will handle itself.”
It won't.
I once met a founder who believed that 'if you build it, they will come.' I asked, 'Do you mean customers, or like, spirits from the beyond?'
Sadly, neither showed up.
Get serious about distribution or watch your product fade into oblivion.
Uncharted Moves:
Find out where your audience already gathers.
Go deep on that one channel before adding others.
Better to be unmissable in one place than invisible everywhere.
7. Make the Bold Move Nobody’s Expecting
A founder once told me,
‘Our goal is to stand out, but also blend in just in case.’
Bold moves aren’t for the faint-hearted, but the rewards?
Totally worth it.
Look at Oatly.
They could have played it safe with typical health food marketing.
Instead, they went bold and irreverent. Now they own the category.
Uncharted Moves:
List three "normal" things in your industry.
Do the opposite of one of them.
Test it.
Double down if it works.
My Final Thoughts
Look, most founders get trapped chasing tactics.
I’ve seen it.
They hunt for the latest growth hack or marketing trick, hoping it'll fix their deeper problems.
I've learned strategy isn't complicated.
It's hard, but it's not complex.
It comes down to making these intentional choices:
Who you serve (and who you don't)
Where you compete (and where you don't)
How you win (and how you don't)
When you move (and when you don't)
The founders who win?
They're not smarter or luckier.
They just make clearer choices.
They say “no” more than they say “yes.”
They build a legacy, one intentional decision at a time.
This is why strategy sits at the heart of our Growth pillar in G.R.I.T. - because sustainable growth comes from clear thinking, not clever tricks.
See you next week,
Martin
The Rabbit Hole - For Those Who Want to Go Deeper
Check out these hand-picked resources:
Seth's Blog - Start with his posts on "The Minimum Viable Audience" and "Luck is not a strategy"
Book Recommendation:
This Is Strategy :Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life)
This piece is part of our Growth pillar in the G.R.I.T. framework - focused on helping you scale intelligently without burning out or burning cash.
Thanks for this cogent and powerful summary. You nailed it!
Seth
"Take your core offering.
Remove one feature.
Make what remains twice as good.
Repeat until you have something remarkable."
Love this. made me think about my business.