Full-Scale: How to Grow Any Startup Without a Plan or a Clue

by Anthony W. Richardson

The biggest secret of the startup industry is that bad marketing is the #1 cause of startup failure. This secret exists for two reasons; one, marketers are adept at shifting blame to the product, the market, the user, the management, etc., and two, many of the great startup marketing minds are holding their cards close. You may find tips and tricks elsewhere, but you will never receive similar results. In Full-Scale, startup growth consultant and entrepreneur Anthony W. Richardson reveals the exact framework that he has built over the course of his career that enables him grow any startup client, of any industry without as much as a marketing plan or a yearly budget. Some say as many as 90% of startups fail, yet 83% of Anthony W. Richardson's clients are either still in business or have already been acquired.

Richardson begins with a bold scientific premise: What if we could say with literal certainty that we are spending our money, time and resources on the marketing tasks that will have the greatest impact? What if we build a formula that measures these things directly against the causes of startup failure? What if the growth marketer is not only responsible for scaling a startup but also any items that would prevent growth? Growing a startup isn't difficult when you start with a great framework.

The methodology found in Full-Scale goes even further, beyond growth marketing, and demonstrates how the principles found within this book will also indicate when and how to make other big decisions like: feature development, hiring and firing, pivoting, fund raising getting acquired and more. Suddenly, growth drives the entire operation and the startup is moving at Full-Scale, from the top down, without tips or tricks.

Full-Scale presents a new, proven way to grow startups as well as a comparative look at the pitfalls of existing marketing methodologies and why a consultant needed something stronger than simply startup marketing, growth hacking, full-stack or even traditional methods.

199 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2014

Reviews

[Jose Papo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Scale is a must read book if you want t understand the principles behind Growth Hacking, Startup Marketing and how it's different from traditional marketing we are used to.

The book uses the scientific method (also based on Lean Startup paradigm) applied to Traction and growth. The four principles are:
- Only in testing will I know if something is going to be successful.
- Only data and results will show me the best way to market my startup.
- I will only scale successes and kill failures. There is no gray area.
- Data levels all arguments.

Overall, strongly recommended to learn the new ways and paradigms startups are using to scale exponentially. I also recommend the book "Traction: A Startup Guide to getting customers" for details on many different growth tactics you can use.

[P.G. Sundling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight forward business advice

I thought about doing direct sales of my books, so this book might be useful later. It goes into all the various marketing and how to make your venture profitable and intelligently allocate your limited capital. The book does a good job of specifics on these critical components.

[David Yarde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a solid read

Excellent points on growing startups especially when it comes to dealing with the common pursuit of making things viral.

Definitely worth the read, especially if you're just starting out.

[Rendier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much of "I did so great with this", and not enough of "this is how to do it".