Top 17 Growth Hacking Books to Read in 2024

There are a few different ways to do so, like reading growth hacking blogs.

No matter how tech-focused the industry is, let us not forget about growth hacking books, even if they are on the analog side of things.

In this list, we’ve included our top growth hacking reads – some of the absolute classics, as well as some of the newest publications on the subject.

Enjoy!

1. Hacking Growth

How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success

Authors: Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown | Published: 2017 | Pages: 345

If you know anything about growth hacking, you’ve probably heard of Sean Ellis. Sean is responsible for the term ‘growth hacking’, as he coined it a decade ago. If you don’t know anything about growth hacking, then that’s alright – this book is for you! The “godfather of growth hacking” co-wrote the book with Morgan Brown. Among other things, Morgan is a growth and product executive. Currently, he is Facebook’s director of product. Together they wrote one of the must-have growth hacking books.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, you will learn what growth hacking is all about, what methods does growth hacking use, and what are its processes. The second part is basically a playbook. This is where you will discover how to apply the methods and processes of the first part to your business – regardless of your industry – and get the most out of the 4 growth stages (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Monetization).

Hacking Growth is a must-read for any marketer and entrepreneur, and especially for those working on product and SaaS companies. It’s easily-readable, content-dense, with tons of practical takeaways for the reader. As one of the best growth hacking books, will spark many ideas for your own company that you’ll want to put in use immediately.

2. The Growth Handbook

Brought to you by Intercom

Authors: Des Traynor, Karen Peacock, & Andrew Chen | Published: 2018| Pages: 79

Andrew Chen is one of the first thought leaders in the growth hacking scene. In 2012, he explained why a ‘Growth Hacker is the new VP Marketing’. He led Uber’s Rider Growth product team. Today, he is a general partner of a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Along with the team from Intercom, and a few veterans from the industry, who have grown businesses like AtlassianAlassian, Slack, and Pinterest, they provide tested frameworks, valuable tips, and priceless observations through this book.

The authors and contributors share their thoughts on why Retention is more important than Acquisition. Spoiler alert: It has to do with the current subscription-based economy. Additionally, you will learn how to make valid growth experiments and what are the common mistakes to avoid. 

You will be able to answer questions like: How do I calculate my gross and net churn? Why every business needs a mechanism for free acquisition? How do I acquire the right “breed” of customers? How do I find my product’s magic moment? And -you won’t see this one coming- what is the law of shitty clickthroughs?

3. Traction

How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

Authors: Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares | Published: 2015 | Pages: 240

Traction is written by two very successful entrepreneurs, Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. The former is the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, one of the most popular alternative search engines. The latter is the founder of several successful startups.

Traction is written with every startup in mind. Why do some startups fail when others succeed? According to the book, most startups don’t fail because they can’t build a product. Rather, they fail because they can’t get traction. In other words, new customers and users. As the writers put it, “traction trumps everything”.

The book not only broadens the reader’s horizons in the business field, but it also offers actionable insights and guidance. What’s more, the authors draw on interviews with founders from successful companies, like Reddit, Hubspot, and Wikipedia. They will also talk the reader through the 19 traction channels. Which one should you pick for your company and how can you make the most out of them? To answer that, the reader will find a three-step framework called Bullseye. Overall, Traction offers a vast wealth of knowledge, tactics, facts, and opinions that can benefit your startup.

4. Product-Led Growth

How to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Author: Wes Bush | Published: 2019 | Pages: 276

Wes Bus may be relatively new in the growth marketing scene but he has already established a strong presence. He is the co-host of the ‘Product-led podcast’, creator of the ‘Product-led 6-week course’ and author of Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself.

That’s dandy and everything, but what on earth is ‘product-led’, I can hear you asking. The term ‘product-led growth’ was coined by Open View Partners, a VC firm from Boston, a few years back. According to the firm, “Product Led Growth (PLG) is an end user-focused growth model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion.” In other words, product-led growth places the product at the center of the customer’s journey. Thus the product itself, rather than the sales or marketing, becomes the mechanism through which the company will acquire, activate, and retain customers.

In his book, Wes will talk the reader through the concept of product-led growth strategy, given that it makes sense for their business in the first place. What’s more, you will answer questions like: Which of the SaaS pricing strategies is the only one with long-term viability? What are the 7 roles that a product-led growth ream needs to have? How do you stop customer churn? How can you transform free trial and freemium users into paying customers? You will also learn the #1 thing to change to maximize your customer lifetime value. If you have a SaaS business or you are working for one in roles such as marketing, sales, and product, this book is considered to be a must-read since the day it came out.

5. Growth Hacking

Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret

Authors: Raymond Fong & Chad Riddersen | Published: 2016 | Pages: 204

Growth Hacking – Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret is another excellent option for anyone who wants to get introduced to growth hacking. It’s written by Raymond Fong and Chad Riddersen. Raymond is a former engineer who later in his life discovered his passion for marketing and became a growth marketer and a consultant. Chad started his career in investment banking but ended up being a growth consultant for companies like Boeing and Dollar Shave Club.

Contrary to the traditional growth marketers, Chad and Raymond don’t think in growth funnels. Rather, they built their own framework and called it the Automated Sales Process (ASP). So what’s this? Basically, ASP is their take on deconstructing and analyzing the elements of a sales and value delivery cycle. You can get the idea of what that is from the book cover on the left.

The book offers real-life examples from some of the now-well-established companies. By understanding what worked for them -and why- you will be able to apply many of these practices on your own business. However, you will have to learn about the growth process and the growth mindset first, both of which are explained in the book.

6. Startup Evolution Curve

From Idea to Profitable and Scalable Business

Author: Donatas Jonikas | Published: 2017 | Pages: 338

Startup Evolution Curve – From Idea to Profitable and Scalable Business is branded as ‘the IKEA guide for building your next startup’. It’s written by Dr. Donatas Jonikas, a scientist, a marketer, and a reserve lieutenant. In order to write his book, Donatas surveyed 1,447 startup founders and startup marketing agencies from all over the world. But he didn’t stop there. Additionally, he took a few hundred interviews with founders who managed to skyrocket their startup, and even with some who didn’t; failures can teach us as valuable lessons as successes.

The content of the book puts a huge weight on the business aspect of the startup. In this way, it starts with analyzing the value proposition, the business environment, and the competitive analysis. It then moves on how to create a minimal viable product and how to evaluate profit and growth potential. Chapter 3 is dedicated to fundraising, while Chapter 4 is all about the product launch. In Chapter 5, Growth Hacking, you will learn about ‘profit hacking’, how to create viral loops, and a few marketing automation strategies, among other things.

Furthermore, Startup Evolution Curve provides free additional resources for the reader. Accordingly, besides its 338 pages with concrete insight, you will also get templates and some swipe files for download, an online video course on how to create an irresistible offer and an invitation to join the group of like-minded startup entrepreneurs.

7. Hooked

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Author: Nir Eyal | Published: 2014 | Pages: 336

In growth marketing, retention has become the most important stage of the funnel. And one of the first thinkers to put retention in the spotlight so successfully was Nir Eyal. Nir is an expert in behavioral engineering, which is a fusion of psychology and technology. He’s also a professor at Stanford University, a tech startup founder, and investor.

In his book, Hooked, Nier introduces the Hooked model. As the name suggests, the model explains how it hooks users so they use the product again and again without thinking about it too much. As the author explains, the Hooked model has 4 Phases. The first phase is the Trigger, which is anything that sets behavior in motion. The second phase, Action, is that which is being done in expectation of the next phase, Reward. And, according to Eyal, there are three types of rewards: rewards of the tribe, the hunt, and the self. The fourth and last phase is Investment, the part where the user is asked to give back some of his time and get committed.

Hooked is a must-read for product managers, marketers designers, marketers, and start-up founders. It’s also a great book for anyone who is interested in knowing more about themselves by knowing more about the products they use – and how the products use them.

8. The Paper Plane Plan

Growth hacking techniques especially for the B2B service industry

Author: Ross Davies | Published: 2017 | Pages: 184

The Paper Plane Plan is one of these books that you should read with a pen and a notepad on your side (or -you know- whatever works for you to keep notes). It leaves the reader with many takeaways. The tactics and strategies written in the book are well-written, well-presented, and pretty practical, thus giving you the chance to implement them as soon as you put the book down.

While many growth hacking books focus on SaaS and product, The Paper Plane Plan offers a blueprint for the B2B services industry. It’s a brilliant step-by-step guide that provides great value to B2B professionals who are looking to grow their business. Be it accountants, solicitors, recruiters, or photographers, there is something for every professional who works in the B2B service industry. The book starts with some marketing basics, a few of them being value propositions, buyer personas, and customer perception. From there, it moves on to teach more advanced concepts, like how to select the perfect marketing hack/idea for your business or how to scale your marketing rapidly without extra effort. 

The author Paper Plane Plan is Ross Davies. He is a partner in a design & CRO agency, called Strafe Creative. He’s also a partner at a second marketing firm, as well as a creative and marketing advisor to a few tech firms. Last but not least, he’s a lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and a council member in Nottingham UK.

9. Contagious

Why Things Catch On

Author: Johan Berger | Published: 2016 | Pages: 256

Growth hacking is known for its low (or no) budget potential. Startups and small businesses are not the Big 5 Tech; they are not even close in terms of money, connections, or operation. Yet companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, and Dollar Shave Club managed to grow without spending millions on promotion and advertising. Their little secret? Word-of-mouth marketing is a big component of growth and D2C marketing.

Jon Berger, the author of the book, delves into human psychology and the world of ideas. He demystifies virality and investigates what makes things popular. According to Jon, there are 6 basic principles that define virality and the science behind word-of-mouth. Whether you are a content writer, a copywriter, or most kinds of ‘writer’, or you are working for any media, including social, or looking for ways to make your product or idea catch on, Contagious is the go-to place.

The book is separated into 6 basic parts. And the purpose of each part is to provide explanations for common phenomena, as well as answer the question it poses. In this fashion, in Chapter 2  which is about Triggers, you will read the answers to questions like  ‘Which gets more word of mouth, Disney or Cheerios?’ and ‘Could where you vote  affect how you vote?’. In the next chapter, Emotion, you will understand how anger is similar to humor. And in Chapter 5, Practical Value, you will learn ‘How an eighty-six-year-old made a viral -video about corn’, and ‘Why hikers talk about vacuum cleaners’.

10. Top 101 Growth Hacks

The best growth hacking ideas that you can put into practice right away

Author: Aladdin Happy | Published: 2015 | Pages: 132

For five months straight, Aladdin Happy, the author of the book, was collecting growth hacks. For 2 to 5 hours every day, he would gather growth hacks from all over the internet. Then, he would put them into action for his startup. After a while, Aladdin decided to share these hacks through a subscription service. As a result, 1700 subscribers were reading his content just 3 weeks later (with $0 in marketing budget). Seeing that there is an audience for that, he then put all these hacks together in one book and published it.

In Top 101 Growth Hacks you will read exactly what the title suggests: 101 growth hacks from product/market fit to referral and revenue. Accordingly, you will learn how to increase email opt-ins and your conversion rate. Whether ‘Money back guarantee’ or ‘Free trial’ works better. How to write a good copy that converts and headline formulas that work. And how to unlock viral marketing and hack offline word of mouth.  

Be aware that many of these growth hacks have become since then obsolete. However, this doesn’t change the fact that many examples can inspire you and help you with your out-of-the-box thinking. Nonetheless, if you end up reading Aladdin’s book and enjoying it, you should know that two years later he published a second book: TOP 101 growth hacks – 2: The best new growth hacking ideas that INSPIRE you to put them into practice right away.

11. The Growth Hacking Book

Most Guarded Growth Marketing Secrets The Silicon Valley Giants Don’t Want You To
Know

Authors: Parul Agrawal, Rohan Chaubey | Published: 2019 | Pages: 322

The Growth Hacking Book is another good read for anyone who doesn’t know much about growth hacking and growth marketing and is looking to change that. The book explains the concept of growth hacking, as well as the mindset, the skillset, and the toolset a growth hacker should possess. These are the basic elements that constitute growth hacking today. Moreover, it teaches how to identify and analyze growth channels and how to automate workflows for faster and easier growth.

Structure-wise, the book is the sum of many short essays by over 30 contributors. Accordingly, each contributor shares their expertise in their respective field, describing their experiences, and sharing with the reader what worked and what didn’t work. The Growth Hacking Book covers much ground on today’s marketing. Its topics range from the content skillset and various social media skills to tactical skills and how to grow a business in an unorthodox niche. Ultimately, The Growth Hacking Book is a very good summary of what growth hacking is capable of – and what you will also be capable of after reading it.

In 2021, The Growth Hacking Book 2 was published – the second book of the series. If you enjoyed reading the first one, make sure to add the second one in your to-read list.

12. Blitzscaling

The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies

Authors: Reid Hoffman, Chris Yeh | Published: 2018 | Pages: 288

Blitzscaling is looking to answer one question: what separates the startups that start growing but then disappear from the ones that grow to become global giants? The book introduces a set of techniques for scaling up any tech startup. According to the authors, Hoffman and Yeh, the objective of Blitzscaling is not to help you go from zero to one, but rather to go from one to one billion. As quickly as possible.

This growth hacking book is inspired by the popular class at Stanford Business School that Hoffman and Yeh were lecturing. During those classes, they would reveal how to navigate the necessary shifts and the challenges that arise at each stage of a company’s life cycle. Accordingly, some of the topics they would delve into are how to design business models for igniting and sustaining relentless growth; strategies for hiring and managing, and how the role of the founder and company culture must evolve as the business matures.

Whether you run a business with ten employees or ten thousand, Blitzscaling is an essential playbook for winning in a world where speed is the ultimate competitive advantage.

13. Lean Analytics

Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster

Authors: Alistair Croll, Benjamin Yoskovitz |  Published: 1013| Pages: 448

Marc Andreesen once said that “markets that don’t exist don’t care how smart you are.” Whether you’re a startup founder trying to disrupt an industry, or an intrapreneur trying to provoke change from within, your biggest risk is building something nobody wants.

Lean Analytics can help. By measuring and analyzing as you grow, you can validate whether a problem is real, find the right customers, and decide what to build, how to monetize it, and how to spread the word.

Focusing on the One Metric That Matters to your business right now gives you the focus you need to move ahead–and the discipline to know when to change course.

Written by Alistair Croll (Coradiant, CloudOps, Startupfest) and Ben Yoskovitz (Year One Labs, GoInstant), the book lays out practical, proven steps to take your startup from initial idea to product/market fit and beyond.

Packed with over 30 case studies, and based on a year of interviews with over a hundred founders and investors, the book is an invaluable, practical guide for Lean Startup practitioners everywhere.

14. Ready, Set, Growth Hack

A Beginners Guide to Growth Hacking Success

Author: Nader Sabry | Published: 2021 | Pages: 216

One of the latest additions in the growth hacking bibliography, Ready, Set Growth Hack is a blueprint to create and turn your business into a growth engine. You will learn everything from what is growth hacking, why is it vital, how it works, and how to start your first growth hack. The content is based on proven strategies with 88 tools and 50 examples, you can apply growth hacking techniques immediately.

This growth hacking book’s author, Naber Sabry, has been building startups, growing corporations, and advancing governments for over two decades. After founding companies from start-to exit, Sabry has raised $120 million mastering growth hacking over the past 25 years. As a strategist, he can find the reasons that make an organization work or not work and he shares all the elements that can have a significant impact on your business.

From start to finish, Ready, Set Growth Hack is a structured and practical approach for anybody to grow their organization. You don’t need any prior knowledge in marketing, tech, or business to understand how to use the power of growth hacking, so this book can as well be your first one on the subject.

15. The Startup Growth Book

50+ Proven Ways to Scale Your Business Without a Marketing Budget

Author: Andrew Lee Miller | Published: 2021 | Pages: 178

As the name gives away, The Startup Growth Book is written for every startup company that is looking to grow quickly.  Among its pages, you will learn about public relations across all major media channels, SEO, email marketing, influencer marketing, and social media marketing.

The author of the book, Andrew Lee Miller, is an accomplished, early-stage startup marketing expert, who’s taken three young companies to multi-million dollar exits. In his marketing journey in the startup world, he found that there were many valuable growth strategies that can bring serious results and don’t cost anything. After a decade of developing, testing, and proving that these strategies work, he now shares his techniques and insights through this publication.

The Startup Growth Book is highly recommended for those who are looking to bootstrap or are already bootstrapping their business.  It’s one of the go-to resources for bootstrapping a marketing plan for a startup.

16. Remote Not Distant

Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace

Author: Gustavo Razzetti | Published: 2022 | Pages: 326

Although technically not a growth hacking book, Remote Not Distant is a book that can come in handy for many growth hacking teams that work remotely. And those that don’t may find many reasons why they should.

According to the author, in the post-pandemic era, hybrid and remote work are here to stay. This is the new normal. Therefore, those who don’t adapt will be left behind. The book covers critical concepts such as what successful remote leaders do differently, what are the key mindset shifts to reset your workplace culture, and why your office was never your culture.

With Remote Not Distant you will also get access to download a number of useful digital tools and templates that will help you create a hybrid working culture according to your needs.

17. Startup Innovation Hacking

How to Accelerate Growth of Your Business by Echoing Innovative Strategies of Unicorn Startups

Author: Umran Nayani | Published: 2022 | Pages: 190

This is the latest book on growth hacking, coming out only a few days before 2023. Startup Innovation Hacking features a number of success stories from the tech startup world. The author analyzes them by looking at their competition, how they work with their customers, and how they manage business growth.

Among other things, the author of the book Umran Nayani, is a Spend Analyst and has worked with several Fortune 500 clients such as AMD, Intel, and Coca-cola. He launched his first Crowdsourcing Startup in 2013 and grew it to 8 figures in revenue in under 36 months – bootstrapped.

This book is written for entrepreneurs who are looking to create effective business and revenue models for their startups. At the same time, it can also be a useful read for leaders in larger corporations, as they can discover valuable strategic information.

Top Growth Hacking Books to Read – Epilogue

Do you have any favorite growth hacking books we didn’t mention?

Please let us know with a comment!

Also, keep an eye out for digital ways to learn more about growth hacking and digital marketing. With a simple Google research, you will find great resources from digital marketing blogs that publish excellent marketing articles – for free.

Of course, if you want to go beyond growth hacking, make sure to take a look at others books that can help you with business. Like some of the best sales books or the top leadership books in the market.

See you next time & keep on learning!