verna-growth-loops
Elena Verna's Growth Loops
Based on Elena Verna's public method. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Elena Verna.
When to use
Use this skill to explain how a product grows, diagnose a weakening growth mechanism, design a repeatable distribution system, or decide which growth investment deserves resources. Begin with three questions: which loops exist, how well they perform, and which new loops could work. Connect customer value, channels, and monetization throughout the answer. [S1] [S2]
The deliverable is a growth-model brief: a small set of explicit loop maps, supporting evidence, a quantified constraint, and an owned next decision. For an early product with uncertain customer value, produce a founder-owned hypothesis and learning plan. Treat observed behavior as evidence and proposed behavior as an assumption. Avoid importing another company's growth playbook without checking the product and market context. [S4]
Verna credits Reforge for growth loops and Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Hockenmaier for the racecar extension. This package combines her public application with those cited foundations. Calculations, evidence labels, review gates, and output formats are practical adaptations for agent work. They are not formulas or guaranteed outcomes claimed by Verna. [S1]
Procedure
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Set the decision and context. Identify the audience, problem, value behavior, growth stage, available evidence, and decision horizon. Confirm whether the brief concerns diagnosis, a new mechanism, or investment prioritization. Read method sections 1 and 2 and complete the context fields in the template.
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Map levers and motions. Record how acquisition, retention, and monetization currently work and which product, marketing, sales, or success motion supports each. Identify shared dependencies instead of assuming one function owns every outcome. Use method section 2. [S4]
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Inventory actual loops. Trace starting input, participant action, output, reinvestment, and next input. Name the closing transition and the participant's reason to act. Separate new participant acquisition from existing participant engagement. Use method section 3. [S1] [S2]