--- title: Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo Founder, Gets You Traction description: Gabriel Weinberg failed in his first business because he didn't understand the sales cycle. By his third he got traction and DuckDuckGo is here to stay. image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-20770025-1.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction#main-content) [![Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer®](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png?width=1560&height=360&name=wes-header-lockup.png)](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/) - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) - [Take the Scorecard](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/score) [Take the Scorecard](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/score) Jun 17, 2016 # Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo Founder, Gets You Traction ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duckduckgo-founder-gabriel-weinberg-gets-you-traction) ## Learn how to make money creating what you want and need then offering it to the world   ## [Entrepreneurship Tips](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) you'll learn on [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)... - How to bounce back from failure in business - What to do when your heart's not in your work - The importance of understanding the sales cycle in growing your business - How to hire the right people to ensure your growth - How to determine the minimum viable products for your launch - Where you should focus when building your product - What Google really is - What the Bulls Eye Framework is - Why you should spend half your time on traction vs all of your time on product - The importance of testing even though most tests fail - **"The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs"** - Why you as the business owner needs to own the customer acquisition plan - The four steps to launch ## Catch Up on The Previous Episode of [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) ## Links Mentioned In [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) - Follow [Gabriel Weinberg ](https://twitter.com/yegg)on X - Get updates on [Gabriel's "Traction" book on X](https://twitter.com/TractionBook) - Read up on Gabriel's [Traction book's website](http://tractionbook.com) - Buy Gabriel Weinberg's book, [Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth](http://amzn.to/1fXsK88) - [Follow Andrew Chen on X](https://twitter.com/andrewchen) for more wisdom on how to beat "The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs"  ## Show Some Love For [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Share your appreciation for this episode by [letting my guest and](https://x.com/fixerwes)**[me](https://x.com/fixerwes) know on X**. 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[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## Related posts [![Jim Palmer Went From 'Revenue-Free' To The High Seas | The Sales Podcast with Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_Podcast_Images/Jim%20Palmer%20on%20The%20Sales%20Podcast%20259.png?height=200&name=Jim%20Palmer%20on%20The%20Sales%20Podcast%20259.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-palmer) [The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## [Jim Palmer Went From 'Revenue-Free' To The High Seas](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-palmer) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 Focus on Lifestyle To Know How to Grow Sales Tips you'll learn in The Sales Podcast... Docked in... [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-palmer) [![Jim Brown: Why salespeople Need a Process to Profit — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_Podcast_Images/Jim-Brown---The-Sales-Podcast-%23277.png?height=200&name=Jim-Brown---The-Sales-Podcast-%23277.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-brown-sandler-sales) [The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## [Jim Brown: Why salespeople Need a Process to Profit](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-brown-sandler-sales) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 Just because you know your product doesn't mean you can sell it \[ LISTEN NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS \]... [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jim-brown-sandler-sales) [![Play. Pause. Do. Grow. Daniel Ramsey Explains on The Sales Podcast — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales ](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-28583176.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-28583176.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/daniel-ramsey) [The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## [Play. Pause. Do. Grow. Daniel Ramsey Explains on The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/daniel-ramsey) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Dec 20, 2019 Leverage Teams Properly To Grow . 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