# Growth embedded Human Guide

## What This Is For
Claude uses this skill when: Building features that could have viral mechanics Adding referral or sharing functionality Implementing analytics and tracking Designing for network effects. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for growth marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Growth embedded agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for growth embedded.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Growth embedded guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Building features that could have viral mechanics
- Adding referral or sharing functionality
- Implementing analytics and tracking
- Designing for network effects
- Optimizing for activation and retention
- Dropbox: More storage for referrals
- Superhuman: Invite-only creates FOMO
- Notion: Shared docs bring collaborators
- More users = more value for all
- Example: Social networks, marketplaces
- More usage = smarter product
- Example: Recommendations, AI features

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: When This Skill Activates, Core Frameworks, YC Growth Playbook (Source: Gustaf Alstromer, Partner at YC), Network Effects Patterns, Referral Mechanics, Activation Optimization, Decision Tree: Growth Feature, Action Templates, Template 1: Referral System, Incentive Structure.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- > "Retention first, activation second, acquisition last. Don't acquire users you can't retain."
- > "Retention first, activation second, acquisition last. Don't pour water into a leaky bucket."

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Growth embedded human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the menkesu/awesome-pm-skills skill entry for `growth-embedded`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Growth-First Development

## When This Skill Activates

Claude uses this skill when:
- Building features that could have viral mechanics
- Adding referral or sharing functionality
- Implementing analytics and tracking
- Designing for network effects
- Optimizing for activation and retention

## Core Frameworks

### 1. YC Growth Playbook (Source: Gustaf Alstromer, Partner at YC)

**The Three Growth Levers:**

**📈 Acquisition** - How users discover you
**🎯 Activation** - First value experience
**🔁 Retention** - Users coming back

**Priority Order:**
> "Retention first, activation second, acquisition last. Don't acquire users you can't retain."

**Growth Loops:**
```
User gets value → Shares with others → New users → Cycle repeats
```

**Examples:**
- Dropbox: More storage for referrals
- Superhuman: Invite-only creates FOMO
- Notion: Shared docs bring collaborators

---

### 2. Network Effects Patterns

**Types:**

**Direct Network Effects:**
- More users = more value for all
- Example: Social networks, marketplaces

**Data Network Effects:**
- More usage = smarter product
- Example: Recommendations, AI features

**Platform Network Effects:**
- More developers = more integrations
- Example: Shopify apps, Zapier

---

### 3. Referral Mechanics

**Double-Sided Incentive:**
```
Referrer gets: [benefit]
Referred gets: [benefit]
Both win: [shared value]
```

**Tracking:**
```javascript
// Referral flow
generateReferralLink(user) {
  const link = `app.com/ref/${user.id}`;
  track('referral_link_generated', { userId: user.id });
  return link;
}

// Attribution
onSignup(referralCode) {
  const referrer = getUserByRefCode(referralCode);
  track('referral_signup', { 
    referrer: referrer.id,
    referred: newUser.id 
  });
  giveReward(referrer);