Rise above the noise with a hacker mindset
Vincent Dignan wants to help you build an amazing company
As a self-proclaimed growth hacker for early-stage companies, Vincent Dignan specializes in helping entrepreneurs find users who love their ideas. His clients range from startups to international brands to the Duke of York (seriously).
In addition to running his own marketing agency, Dignan teaches General Assembly’s Digital Marketing course in London and is touring the U.S. and Europe delivering his award-winning talk, “Growth hacking: Boost your startup in real-time.”
Dignan, who’ll be offering a free radical marketing workshop at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center on March 16th, sat down with the Center to share his thoughts on the hacker mindset, the biggest startup marketing mistakes, and what he loves about entrepreneurship in America:
You’re an expert on growth hacking, or helping startups rapidly grow. What is a hacker mindset exactly, and why’s it important?
A hacker mindset is a lazy mindset — doing the minimum to get the most return. As my friend Austen Allred says, “Everything runs to a system, and every system can be beaten.” When it comes to marketing, there are competitive advantages you can take just about everywhere to get ahead. It’s as important as it is hard to get noticed online, so hacks are often needed to get your product out there. Hack is also a fairly loaded term — it’s just being smart and innovating processes in an easy way.
What’s the biggest mistake small companies often make when trying to gain followers on social media?
They don’t try. They’re so obsessed with their imaginary brand that they don’t want to take any risks, don’t want to reach out to people (in case people tell them their idea sucks, which most founders are afraid of). They’re like the living embodiment of that phrase: “We’ve had no results and we’ve tried nothing!”
Along the same lines, what are some of the biggest marketing time-wasters that small companies should avoid?
Reading blogs, generally speaking. Putting time or money into channels they don’t understand (find answers before you start). Expecting PR or influencers to come riding over the hill and send them a ton of traffic. Being scared to spend money or try new things.
As an entrepreneur, you’re also a public speaker and instructor. Are these roles you think every entrepreneur should be comfortable playing?
No, it depends on what you do. If you’re running an agency or are a contractor in a very competitive space where you make large amounts of money (thousands of dollars) from just a few customers, public speaking is an essential way of standing out, giving value, and beginning face-to-face discussions which are vital in sales. Likewise, some companies don’t need to do any social media (for the most part, my agency doesn’t do any — all leads come from public speaking). All entrepreneurs need to be good at pitching though, and expressing an idea clearly.
You’ve said your feelings for American border on an ‘unhealthy obsession.’ As a Brit, what is it about America that you like so much?
There’s no better place to be if you want to make it in most major industries. There are massive opportunities here; limitless potential for disruption; optimistic people willing to take risks and try new things. The American dream is still alive.
When I arrived in Austin, I asked my cab driver how he got his visa (he was from Somalia). He told me, “In Somalia, I couldn’t afford to live in a mud hut. I entered the green card lottery and won. Now I have three houses here.”
In the startup scene in the United States, everyone combines creative technologies or ideas that could change the world with the drive of the American Dream. It’s really inspiring and I love to be around it. Just having been here these last few weeks has really changed me for the better, and I have some really big projects I want to launch now. It’s awesome.
Interested in learning more about growth hacking and radical marketing techniques for your startup? Join Vincent Dignan for a free workshop at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, where you’ll learn how to:
Adopt a hacker mindset to quadruple your company’s growth
Get free traffic and followers on social media
Build your marketing stack for $9 a month
Understand everything you need to know about user experience in 90 seconds
Register to reserve a spot at this workshop, space is limited:
Radical Marketing: How to rise about the noise
Wednesday, March 16th from 9:30–11:30am
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
505 Howard St. San Francisco, CA
Learn More/Register
Vincent Dignan is the founder of Magnific, an agency specializing in content marketing, social media, and user acquisition. He also launched the content sites planetivy.com & screenrobot.com, which have received over 17 million page views to date. Magnific has driven thousands of followers, conversations, and signups for other startups, and has created content for brands including Mercedes, Burberry, Levi’s, and Smirnoff. Dignan is a frequent speaker at conferences and events across the UK and Europe.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is a San Francisco-based non-profit that educates, innovates, and connects current and aspiring entrepreneurs. We provide access to quality resources, including mentors, training, and networking.
