Splitting your time between growth and building?
Isaac Ng
10 replies
Hey everyone,
My days are typically split into two blocks:
1. Growth e.g. acquiring new users, talking to users etc.
2. Building e.g. Iteration, Figma, prototyping etc.
For makers on PH, how do you manage your time between growth and product-building? I'm hoping to learn from those who have found a way that has worked for them.
Do you have timeblocks during the day for certain tasks? Or do you focus on one aspect for a few days and toggle alternatively?
Keen to hear!
Replies
Robin@robinkunz
First focus on product (100%)
Later build in growth mechanism
Then promote great product (70 focus /30 product)
Share
@robinkunz What's your iteration cycle like? Obviously testing out a hypothesis quickly is important before deciding what to actually build.
I'm usually working on weekly iteration. Spend some week focus on building and some focus on Growth.
When I focus on growth I'm getting a lot user feedback that I'm adding to the product backlog. On the week focus on the iteration I'm clearing the backlog.
There are 2 exceptions to this spit:
- Fixing production bugs take priority over any Growth activity.
- Inbound leads from Calendly get priority over building even on building week. However I'm always booking at least two days in my callender to have ne Calendly meeting.
@fabian_maume Thanks for sharing! How do you decide what's useful user feedback?
I try to alternate days between building and growth. It's tough because I much prefer building but it helps to have a bit on an interest in the community you're building something for.
I will often stray to more days building if there's a bug or a task that needs a few days of focus. Context switching can be tough.
@tobiasgray Context switching really is tough. If your headspace is in building, it feels odd when you're speaking to users.
Test growth first, build later. You can build along the way, however growth takes more time to search and find the right organic channel.
thinking to divide days between building and marketing
This is the same situation with me. I tried different ways but the thing worked for me is the prioritization. Every day, first of all I am checking --
1- What all tasks I have.
2- What is critical most task for me today which I cannot do later or someone got blocked due to me if I will not do the task on priority. Defer tasks that are not impactful for now
3- Checking if someone else can do this. Delegate tasks that someone else can do.
4- Do tasks that are important and urgent (Not categorizing them in Growth Marketing and Product Building)
----------In summary, work is based on priority.---------------
Delete tasks that are not impactful at all
Defer tasks that are not impactful for now
Delegate tasks that someone else can do
Do tasks that are important and urgent
@kartik_jhakal That's a good way to think about it! Thanks for sharing.