Build A Growth Machine

I'm Brian Balfour, Founder/CEO of Reforge, previously VP Growth @ HubSpot. I've started multiple VC backed companies, and grown user bases to millions of daily active users. I write detailed essays on growth and user acquisition that have been featured in Forbes, Hacker Monthly, and OnStartups to help you build a growth machine.

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My Most Popular Essays

Acquisition

How To Become A Customer Acquisition Expert

The guide I wish I had when I started to learn customer acquisition and growth.  

5 Steps To Choose Your Customer Acquisition Channel

A structured step by step framework to properly analyze and choose the customer acquisition channels for your company and product

From 0 to 2 Million Daily Active Users

Everything I learned growing one of my companies from 0 to 2 million daily active users through partnerships.  

High Performance Growth Teams

How To Run Growth Meetings That Get Results

One great meeting can save you from countless additional mediocre meetings.  Here is how to implement and get results. 

Be The Best At Getting Better

Learning is a competitive advantage in the long run.  Here is how to get the best at it.  

How To Drive Growth Insights

How do you find solutions that drive massive growth? 

Growth Is Never Done

Think something is ever fully optimized?  Think again.  Here is why growth is never done.  

Growth Strategy

Growth Is Optional:  10 Reasons Companies Fail At Growth

These are the top ten reasons I see why companies fail to implement high performance growth teams.   

Traction vs Growth

The three phases of a company - traction, transition, growth - and the goals, metrics, team, and channels that correlate with them.  

Why Focus Wins

I have come very close to a few very big wins in my career.  Close, is the key word in that sentence.  Here is the one thing that was missing.

Retention

The Never Ending Road To Product Market Fit

How do you know when you have product market fit?  My answer isn't probably what you expect. 

Seek Authentic Growth

The cycle of meaningless growth and how to avoid it. 

The Three Ways To Beat Your Competition

Here are the three ways to beat your competition in a competitive customer acquisition industry.