One of the most common terms used to describe growth in a startup is a hockey stick. The idea is that things like users, page views, or revenue starts growing at a normal linear pace and then, once an inflection point is hit, growth takes off at an exponential rate. Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding hockey stick growth for startups:
- The initial phase of linear growth can be for years before the right product/market fit is found and the market is ready
- Startups with a network effort or strong viral nature are more likely to experience this type of growth
- Growth will start to level off at some point and it’s important to be cognizant of when that’s on the horizon as high growth and slow growth present different types of challenges
Being part of a startup with hockey stick growth is an amazing experience that doesn’t happen too often. Startups should pay attention to their growth pattern and understand when the linear growth turns into exponential growth as well as when it turns back into linear growth.
What else? What are some other things to keep in mind about hockey stick growth?
David Cummings on Startups 
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