10 Crucial Lessons from “Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth”

Our Engineering Team’s Take On Marketing

Edible Project
Jul 25, 2017 · 5 min read
Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

My college experience taught me the value of being able to learn new things quickly, to intelligently switch from one topic to the next without skipping a beat.

I also learned how to become comfortable with ambiguity. No matter how much planning you put into the study and application of engineering, i.e. my field, uncertainties and unexpected surprises always seem to arise.

The capacity for quick learning and the ability to live with ambiguity — these are also two key qualities that a startup team must possess and refine

For example, most engineers know nothing about marketing. But according to Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth, you should dedicate 50% of your time to working on traction.

At Edible, we’ve been working on product for a while, two years in fact. We’ve done some marketing in the past (Edible Christmas, LA Magazine article), but it’s always been somewhat of a necessary evil. As engineers we’re wired to build, not sell. But after reading Traction over the past two weeks, taking detailed notes, creating an 88 page slide deck and giving an hour-and-a-half presentation, we’ve gained so much respect for marketing as a data-driven art form. It’s an art form because you must try new things, you must stand out and be creative. But at the same time it must be data driven — creativity is an input, but the output must be systematically analyzed so you know where to focus your creative efforts.

We’ve created a detailed summary presentation of the book and below are ten of our key takeaways from reading the book.

“If You Build It, They Will Come” is a lie.

Scale By Doing Things That Don’t Scale.

Compelling Content Is Everything.

Test Everything.

1% Improvements Matter.

Figure out your conversion rates for various traction channels before you fully commit to one strategy

The Media Machine Has Been Turned Upside Down.

Use Saturated Channels to Measure Your Baseline.

“Going Viral” Is Always Engineered To Do So.

Every viral video begins with deliberative kindling

Stop Guessing.

Teaching Sells.


Want to know more about what we do? The Edible Project helps you find food tailored to your lifestyle. Know anyone in LA or with dietary restrictions? Tell them to sign up for the beta. We also have free diet guides 🙌 and a concierge service. Follow us on instagram at @edible_project for mouthwatering food grams.

Liked this article? Want more of the same? Recommend it below 👏!

The Edible Blog

Know Your Food

Edible Project

Written by

The Edible Project is all about helping people find the food that suits their lifestyle. Arriving in LA soon: https://www.edibleproject.io/

The Edible Blog

Know Your Food

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade