alexe-ev Design Growth Model
Purpose
Help teams build or evaluate a growth model that maps how users move through the funnel and which levers drive sustainable growth.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A team doesn't have a clear growth model
- Growth has plateaued and the team doesn't know which lever to pull
- A new product is being designed and the growth engine needs to be thought through
- A growth review requires a structured model to diagnose performance
Do not use this skill when
- The goal is a specific channel campaign (use strategize-channel-campaigns)
- The goal is lifecycle messaging design (use plan-lifecycle-engagement)
Required inputs
- Product description and business model
- Current growth data (even rough)
Optional inputs
- Current funnel metrics
- Revenue model
- Key growth experiments run so far
- Competitive growth patterns
Upstream context
Works best when:
- Product-market fit signals exist
- Some data on acquisition, activation, and retention is available
If upstream context is missing
Produce a growth model framework with placeholder metrics and flag what data is needed.
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- plan-lifecycle-engagement
- strategize-channel-campaigns
- optimize-conversion-growth-loops
Instructions
- Map the growth funnel: acquisition → activation → retention → referral → revenue.
- Identify current conversion rates at each stage (or estimate).
- Identify the stage with the biggest growth gap or opportunity.
- Identify the primary growth loop (viral, paid, content, product-led).
- Assess leverage: where does improving 10% at one stage have the biggest downstream impact?
- Recommend priority growth focus areas.
Output
Provide:
- Growth funnel map with metrics at each stage
- Primary growth loop description
- Stage-level assessment: healthy / underperforming / unknown
- Leverage analysis (where to focus first)
- Recommended growth priorities
- Data gaps
Risks / caveats
- Growth model without retention data is just acquisition optimization — fix retention first
- Not all growth loops apply to all products — identify the primary one before optimizing
- Vanity metrics (total installs, registrations) tell you nothing about growth health