77 Cliff Lerner Quotes on Explosive Growth (STARTUP)

Wise Cliff Lerner Quotes About Growing a Startup Via Explosive Growth

“For us, it wasn’t a matter of if a story was going to go viral, it was a matter of when do we want the next story to go viral.”
Cliff Lerner

Opportunities were seized, regrets were had, and success was ultimately achieved. — Opportunities were seized, regrets were had, and **success** was ultimately achieved.

Inspiration comes from strange places sometimes. — **Inspiration** comes from strange places sometimes.

I wanted to be my own boss and God knows I wanted to travel.

One of the most common mistakes people make is massively underestimating the amount of money they need to start a business and get traction. — One of the most common mistakes people make is massively underestimating the amount of **money** they need to start a business and get traction.

Once you've figured out how much start-up capital you need, double it. — Once you’ve figured out how much start-up capital you need, double it.

Fear of the unknown is a destructive force. It causes people to make suboptimal choices by avoiding that fear. — **Fear** of the unknown is a destructive force. It causes people to make suboptimal choices by avoiding that fear.

Your first few hires will set the tone for your culture. Secure elite talent ASAP and hire carefully. — Your first few hires will set the tone for your **culture**. Secure elite **talent** ASAP and hire carefully.

Learn how to validate an idea with as little time and financial investment as possible. — **Learn** how to validate an idea with as little **time** and financial investment as possible.

A marginally better product is worthless. It needs to be ten times better.

You can often find success at the intersection of passion and expertise.

You can't improve what you don't measure. — You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

The more tests we ran, the more we learned, and the more we succeeded. — The more tests we ran, the more we **learned**, and the more we succeeded.

Growing quickly through a highly effective marketing channel is crucial for most start-ups.

Many of today's billion-dollar companies succeeded by growing on top of other platforms. — Many of today’s billion-dollar companies succeeded by growing on top of other platforms.

A great product without great growth strategy will likely fail. — A great product without great **growth** strategy will likely fail.

If people are complaining about something, it means the product is good enough that they care about it. — If people are **complaining** about something, it means the product is good enough that they care about it.

Read all your customer emails, because there's a pot of gold in them if you look closely enough. — Read all your customer emails, because there’s a pot of gold in them if you look closely enough.

Just like inspiration, genius can also come from some of the strangest places.

AYI needed to take advantage of our biggest competitor being offline - we needed to kick'em while they were down. — AYI needed to take advantage of our biggest competitor being offline – we needed to kick’em while they were down.

Better late than never is a bad plan for site reliability. — Better late than never is a bad plan for site **reliability**.

Knowing when to take a big risk and hiring the best is one of the biggest lessons we learned. — Knowing when to take a big risk and hiring the best is one of the biggest lessons we **learned**.

When an industry leader takes a shot at you in the press, that's one way to know you've arrived. — When an industry leader takes a shot at you in the press, that’s one way to know you’ve arrived.

Several companies took opportunities for fast growth by implementing shady tactics, but I refused such a notion.

I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to innovate to improve people's lives, not to become a pesky, spam-crazy nuisance. — I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to **innovate** to improve people’s lives, not to become a pesky, spam-crazy nuisance.

When a competitor starts copying your features, you can pretty much write them off completely, as it means they ran out of innovative ideas. — When a competitor starts copying your features, you can pretty much write them off completely, as it means they ran out of **innovative** ideas.

If your largest source of revenue stopped paying you or disappeared, could your business survive for at least six months?

Revenue tests take several months to reveal their true impact and long-term ramifications on user growth and retention.

Never start charging for something that users are used to receiving for free.

Getting existing customers to pay more money is much easier than acquiring new users.

If I'm going to screw this thing up, it's not going to be from a lack of focus. — If I’m going to screw this thing up, it’s not going to be from a lack of focus.

When a billionaire wants to work with you, never say no.

The best way to go completely viral is to do something that nobody is doing, do it well, and if the timing is right-Boom! Explosive growth is the result.

I just didn't have the time or will to listen to all the bullshit doublespeak. — I just didn’t have the time or will to listen to all the bullshit doublespeak.

If I didn't completely understand the magnitude of the contract, I needed to put my pen down and walk away, regardless of what everybody else was telling me to do. — If I didn’t completely understand the magnitude of the contract, I needed to put my pen down and walk away, regardless of what everybody else was telling me to do.

No deal. I have to understand what’s in these documents before I sign anything.

Don't be pressured into making any decisions or signing any documents you're unsure about. — Don’t be pressured into making any decisions or signing any documents you’re unsure about.

Leverage is everything in a negotiation. Understand when you have it and when you don't. — Leverage is everything in a negotiation. Understand when you have it and when you don’t.

The best time to raise money is when you don't need to. — The best time to raise money is when you don’t need to.

Investors are a lot like jealous exes - they want you a lot more when someone else is interested. — Investors are a lot like jealous exes – they want you a lot more when someone else is interested.

We were getting press coverage and stock inquiries like we were a biotech company that had discovered a way of cooking bacon to cure cancer.

We needed to keep innovating, outworking everybody else, and above all, staying focused. — We needed to keep **innovating**, **outworking** everybody else, and above all, staying focused.

Whenever you can take money off the table (especially life-changing money) do it.

Our credo was to learn fast and fail fast, if need be. — Our credo was to **learn** fast and fail fast, if need be.

If there's an employee who looks good on paper, but doesn't reflect the company's values, I should let them go sooner rather than later. — If there’s an employee who looks good on paper, but doesn’t reflect the company’s values, I should let them go sooner rather than later.

Don't hire someone you wouldn't want to have a beer with after work. — Don’t hire someone you wouldn’t want to have a beer with after work.

If nobody wants to tell their friends about your product, then the answer is clear: Your product sucks!

Can you describe your product's USP in one concise sentence? — Can you describe your product’s USP in one concise sentence?

I didn't see long-term success without regaining the ability to grow organically. — I didn’t see long-term success without regaining the ability to grow organically.

Once again, the power of a terrific engineer - A-list talent - led to extraordinary results. — Once again, the power of a terrific engineer – A-list talent – led to extraordinary results.

It's very difficult to change what a product is in the eyes of the existing customers. — It’s very difficult to change what a product is in the eyes of the existing customers.

Don't waste time and money by trying to market and grow a product that has a poor NPS (Net Promoter Score) — Don’t waste time and money by trying to market and grow a product that has a poor NPS (Net Promoter Score)

Early-stage companies are obsessively focused on growth, usually at the expense of retention.

Retention should be the north-star of any early-stage product.

If someone builds a great product that users keep coming back to, it will be easy to figure out how to grow it.

Marketing a product with a low NPS is essentially saying to potential customers, 'Hey, my product sucks, check it out.' — Marketing a product with a low NPS is essentially saying to potential customers, ‘Hey, my product sucks, check it out.’

Ultimately, retention is the most important metric to measure for any online business.

If people keep coming back to the product, every other problem becomes of little significance.

Retention without growth is a problem any entrepreneur should love to have, because it means people love the product.

We saw incremental improvements in usage as we decluttered the site. — We saw incremental **improvements** in usage as we **decluttered** the site.

We prefer an ugly but accurate report today over a fancily formatted report tomorrow.

The faster we move, the faster we fail, and the faster we learn. — The faster we move, the faster we fail, and the faster we **learn**.

We seek first to understand and then to be understood.

When we hit a bump in the road, we focus on learning, not on blaming. — When we hit a bump in the road, we focus on **learning**, not on blaming.

We are able to spar intellectually one moment and then grab beers together in the next.

If I was the only one who knew what our values were then I would have been the only one capable of making decisions.

They say first impressions mean everything, so we make sure new employees went home smiling.

I learned that little things go a long way. — I **learned** that little things go a long way.

If we could get that far without a uniform goal, imagine what would happen when we were properly aligned.

My wall street background led me to believe that everyone is motivated by money, but it turns out that's no really true. — My wall street background led me to believe that everyone is motivated by money, but it turns out that’s no really true.

Seek creativity from everyone in the organization, because you never know where true genius may be hiding.

A little time invested in newsjacking can provide the potential for a big ROI.

I've heard of some $50,000 campaigns with helicopters and bikini-girls handing out flyers that got absolutely nothing in return. — I’ve heard of some $50,000 campaigns with helicopters and bikini-girls handing out flyers that got absolutely nothing in return.

Are your most talented people working on the biggest opportunities instead of the biggest problems?

You Might Also Be Interested:

14 Cliff Lerner Quotes About Dating Using Data (FirstMet, formerly known as AYI)

The data quotes below are taboo and controversial. I’ve decided to add them to spice up this post. They were sourced from Cliff Lerner’s book: Explosive Growth (data are from Lerner’s business – a dating app called FirstMet… which is formerly known as AYI).

If you are interested to use data to tell stories (that have a high probability to go viral), then I highly recommend that book.

“The key takeaway was that men earning more than $150,000 annually received 53% more messages than men earning less than $40,000 annually.”
Cliff Lerner

Do blondes really have more fun (online)? Apparently , they do - at least that's what our research show us. — Do blondes really have more fun (online)? Apparently , they do – at least that’s what our research show us.

We discovered that blonde women get 28% more matches than women with other hair colors.

The data revealed that being bald wasn't a detrimental at all, because bald men received 5% more matches than the average male. — The data revealed that being bald wasn’t a detrimental at all, because bald men received 5% more matches than the average male.

Our data told us that everyone likes money and women prefer taller guys.

Every additional inch in height increased a guy's attractiveness, until 6'8". — Every additional inch in height increased a guy’s attractiveness, until 6’8″.

In Jersey City, short guys fared much better with a 7.6% like rate.

Asian women are the most preferred by all men except Asian Men, who actually prefer Hispanic women.

Asian men are most likely to 'like' curvy women with a 15% 'like' rate. — Asian men are most likely to ‘like’ curvy women with a 15% ‘like’ rate.

Caucasian men are the least likely to 'like' curvy women. — Caucasian men are the least likely to ‘like’ curvy women.

Asian men are 85% more likely than Caucasian men to 'like' curvy women. — Asian men are 85% more likely than Caucasian men to ‘like’ curvy women.

African-American men are 52% more likely than Caucasian men to 'like' curvy women. — African-American men are 52% more likely than Caucasian men to ‘like’ curvy women.

Hispanic men are 28% more likely than Caucasian men to 'like' curvy women. — Hispanic men are 28% more likely than Caucasian men to ‘like’ curvy women.

Men of all ethnicities prefer slender or toned women.

Cliff Lerner Short Biography

Former CEO and co-founder of Snap Interactive (now known as PeerStream), Cliff Lerner is one of the pioneers of online dating. He started IamFreeTonight.com in 2005 after leaving his Wall Street career at Lehman Brothers.

In 2007, Lerner decided to focus on his new application AreYouInterested (AYI) to leverage and ride on the growing momentum of Facebook.

It was a gamble since the social media behemoth we know of today wasn’t as big then. However, that bold risk paid off handsomely for AYI via explosive growth… Thanks to Lerner’s insight, awareness, and courage to take calculated risks.

Back in the days, even with limited resources and experience in entrepreneurship, Cliff Lerner had built a company that matches the Goliath of online dating Match.com (no pun intended).

Cliff Lerner was able to do that because his motto was to do fast, fail fast and learn fast.

Another huge advantage Lerner had over his competitors was his fervent implementation of A/B testing. It was not uncommon for AYI to be running several hundred tests simultaneously.

Due to this velocity, Lerner had the unfair advantage of acquiring data knowledge of his users which ultimately led to even more growth for his application, AYI – now known as FirstMet.

Further reading:

Cliff Lerner Turned His Business Failures into the Entrepreneurship Playbook – Scribe
Learn the Art Of Turning Failures Into Success With Cliff Lerner – Cloud Ways
Cliff Lerner: ‘I walked away from a $10 Million check, it’s hard not to think about what could have been’ – Irish Tech News

Here are the wisest Cliff Lerner quotes about starting and growing a company so you experience the power of explosive growth in your startup business.

(MUST READ)

**Explosive Growth: A Few Things I Learned While Growing My Startup To 100 Million Users & Losing $78 Million**

Also read:

Wise Cliff Lerner Quotes About Growing a Startup Via Explosive Growth

14 Cliff Lerner Quotes About Dating Using Data (FirstMet, formerly known as AYI)

Cliff Lerner Short Biography

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