Adytum › Certifications › Growth Operator › Foundations

Adytum Education · Track 02 · Tier 1 of 4

Growth Operator · Foundations

For founders + SMB owners who don't have a marketing department — or whose first marketing hire needs the framework. Self-paced. Two portfolio pieces. Reciprocal peer review. Open Badges 3.0 credential on completion. You leave able to do marketing-assistant work Monday — campaign briefs, content audits, channel selection, performance reporting — grounded in canonical marketing science (Sharp, Ehrenberg-Bass), behavioral economics (Kahneman, Cialdini), and operational discipline (Binet/Field). Tool-independent.

Earn a certificate for any single lesson

Don't have time for the full 7-module track? Every module is independently certifiable. Take a single lesson, pass the focused micro-portfolio at the end, get peer-reviewed against the published rubric, and earn an Open Badges 3.0 micro-credential displayable on LinkedIn.

The lesson certs stack: earn all 7 + pass the final synthesis portfolio = full Growth Operator Foundations credential. Same competence bar at every level. No attendance certificates.

See the lesson rubrics →

Curriculum — 7 modules · ~15 hours · all tool-independent

PhD-density curriculum grounded in primary sources. Module 1 live now (~7,400 words, 18+ cited sources). Modules 2-7 in active authoring on the Brand Strategist pattern.

Module 1 · Domain theory Live

~3 hours · ~7,400 words · 18+ cited sources

What marketing actually is (Drucker, Levitt). Marketing science (Sharp, Ehrenberg-Bass, Romaniuk). Behavioral economics (Kahneman, Cialdini). The funnel + its critics (AIDA, McKinsey CDJ, growth loops). Positioning, segmentation, targeting (STP) + JTBD synthesis. Brand-equity vs activation (Binet/Field). Connecting theory to operational practice.

Start Module 1 →

Module 2 · Workflow design — tools optional Authoring

~3 hours · process-first, tools as accelerators

Campaign brief design. Content audits. Channel selection frameworks (PESO model). Audience research workflows. Campaign-planning canvas. Tool-options matrix.

Module 3 · Process design Authoring

~3 hours · the operations layer above workflows

Marketing intake systems. DACI for marketing decisions. Sprint cadences. Cross-functional handoffs (Sales, Product, Finance). Definition-of-done for marketing assets.

Module 4 · Edge cases Authoring

~2 hours · pattern-based judgment

Crisis comms. Channel concentration risk. Attribution disputes (sales vs marketing). Founder-led organic vs brand-led. Regulatory marketing (financial, health, AI). Influencer/UGC ethics. M&A marketing handoff. Sunset/discontinuation messaging.

Module 5 · Stakeholders Authoring

~2 hours · cross-functional dynamics

Sales (the eternal tension — and how to actually align). Product. Finance / CFO (and defending the marketing budget). Founders / CEO. Agencies. Customer Success. Customers themselves as stakeholder.

Module 6 · Ethics & governance Authoring

~2 hours · honesty + compliance

FTC Endorsement Guides (2023). GDPR/CCPA consent. Dark patterns (and how to recognize one in your own copy). Inclusive marketing. AI-content disclosure norms. Brand safety in algorithmic distribution.

Module 7 · Measurement Authoring

~2 hours · measurement that drives decisions

LTV, CAC, payback period (canonical SaaS metrics, with the math). Marketing mix modeling (MMM) vs multi-touch attribution. Brand-equity tracking vs activation tracking. Binet/Field 60/40 rule. Goodhart resistance: how each metric can be gamed and what to do about it.