First real Growth team started at Facebook, Chamath and Sheryl Sandberg discussion, back in 2008.

Poor distribution - not product - is the number one cause of failure. Peter Thiel, Zero to One

You need great tech, a great product, and great distribution to be successful.

Example: Concur - terrible product people complain about constantly, but it grew to $7.5B market cap.

Defensibility

The more distribution, more you can leverage into other products to drive more distribution.

• Snap Stories copied by FB, Instagram, WhatsApp)
• HubSpot started by building dominant entrenchment in mid-market B2B for marketing automation, then used that to leverage audience into Sales/CRM, Services/Customer Support

Habit and user expectation remains a stronger moat than most appreciate. Ben Thompson, Stratechery

Switching costs once a habit has been established is very difficult.

Resources

Talent

Talent market is increasingly competitive. Compensation aside the best talent wants:

1. Validation that's growing
2. Opportunity for personal and professional growth
3. Work with other talented people

As you grow, you can then attract more talent. If applied correctly, it leads to more growth.

Capital

The more you grow the more capital that you can attract. This applies at the company and the project level.