Top 8 Growth Hackers to Follow in 2022

Growth samurai, marketing “hackers”, and digital super-master guru.
Growth hackers and SaaS consultants pop up left and right every day, so how do you know who you’ll really be following?

Hopefully, this fresh list with top growth hackers will save you some time.

1. Andrew Chen

For more than a decade, Andrew Chen has been an angel investor and advisor to several companies including Dropbox, AngelList, Product Hunt, and Tinder.

In 2015, Andrew led Uber’s rider growth product teams until 2018. It’s no surprise that this was the time when Uber really took off.

Today, Andrew Chen is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley,

In Andrew Chen’s blog, you’ll find his essays on technology and development such as “The Law of Shitty Clickthrough” and “Why “Uber for X” Startups Failed.

2. Brian Balfour

Known for: Hubspot, Reforge
Quote on Growth: “If you have poor retention, NOTHING else matters.”

Brian has been very busy since the beginning of his career. Accordingly, he has started several successful companies, some of which were VC-backed along the way.

His role at HubSpot made him more prominent in the digital/growth marketing landscape. For a little over two years, Brian led the development team on HubSpot’s new products. He later became a lecturer in the Growth for Entrepreneurship classes at Harvard Business School.

Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge. Reforge is responsible for some of the most advanced intensive development programs in data-driven and growth marketing.

3. Eric Peters

Known for: Hubspot Academy
Quote on Growth: “Build machines, don’t run campaigns”

Eric Peters did a good job if you know HubSpot Academy. Eric is HubSpot’s Training Course Development and Product Manager and has been building and developing HubSpot’s certification program for the past 5 years.

In addition, Eric has a background in technology entrepreneurship, digital marketing and growth-stage startups. Prior to HubSpot, Eric was a member of the advisory board of Udacity, the popular tech-oriented educational organization.

4. Josh Fechter

Known for: BAMF (Badass Marketers & Founders), The Product Company
Quote on Growth: “A product worth a great story is a product worth selling.”

Josh Fechter was originally known as the co-founder of BAMF, a growth hacking agency in LA. During this time he broke LinkedIn’s feed algorithm.

Since he left BAMF, most of his focus has been on Product Company, an invite-only community of specialist marketing teams. Josh is also a partner at Product Manager Headquarters, another product-oriented company that seeks to educate the next generation of product managers.

5. Matthew Barby

Known for: Hubspot
Quote on Growth: “Every single experiment at HubSpot is carried out with the sole purpose of driving more free users to their products.”

Matthew Howells-Barbie is no stranger to the development and digital marketing landscape. Matthew is mostly interested in three things: Growth, Acquisitions and SEO. and material. So that makes them four.

Matthews is always on the lookout for innovative ways to increase customer acquisition, regardless of the industry. If you, too, want to learn from HubSpot’s director of acquisitions, you can visit his website and read his essay or find out where his next conference talk is going to take place.

6. Noah Kagan

Known for: Sumo, AppSumo
Quote on Growth: “A startup can focus on only one metric. So you have to decide what that is and ignore everything else.”

From Intel to Facebook and Mint, Noah has got his hands on many different projects and products, and their marketing. He also likes tacos. very.

Although Noah is mostly known for Sumo and AppSumo, a list-building set of tools and a daily deals website, respectively. For over 10 years Noah has led and developed two of the most recognized brands in the digital marketing landscape.

7. Sean Ellis

Known for: Dropbox, Growth Hackers
Quote on Growth: “Growth is an aftereffect of strong product/market fit and great distribution.”

This would not be a complete list without mentioning Sean Ellis. Shawn is responsible for the term ‘growth hacking’ as he coined it in 2010. He is also the co-author of ‘Hacking Growth’, one of the most important books in the Growth Bibliography.

Business-wise, Sean is formerly the founder and CEO of marketing software company Qualaroo, which was acquired by Xenon Ventures. In 2013 he founded Growth Hackers, the largest online community for growth hackers.

8. Steli Efti

Known for: Close.io
Quote on Growth: “You have to grow step by step, customer by customer, instead of reaching 100 customers at breakneck speed.”

Steli Efti is the co-founder and CEO of Close.io, a sales automation CRM that helps companies increase their sales. He is an alumnus of Y Combinator, and is also an advisor to several startups and entrepreneurs.

He is also the author of The Ultimate Startup Guide to Outbound Sales.