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In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr catch up with Henry Schuck, CEO & Founder of ZoomInfo. We first spoke with Henry after his company’s 2020 IPO. So in this conversation, we wanted to see what has changed for him and his team over the last few years.   What we found is a much larger company, expanding into new areas, and taking on increasingly greater challenges. And for Henry, that has meant changes in how he leads his now 4000+ person team (it was about 1100 when we first spoke). But, the most important takeaways from this discussion may not be in what has changed, but rather in what has stayed the same.   As Henry recounts the stories of how his company took on the challenge of adding a talent acquisition service, or how his go-to-market insights team helped surface opportunities for growth, what is clear is that the same principled approach that brought ZoomInfo to its IPO continues today.  That approach is very much based on data, experimentation, and an unstoppable desire to inspire curiosity across the organization.   Even though ZoomInfo is now a very large business, this is a conversation for businesses of all sizes and types. The importance of focus, the value of surfacing insights through data, and planning strategy in an organized way are all topics we discuss that apply to startups and scale-ups alike.   Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.   Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ   Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * ZoomInfo today: Expansion and Growth post-IPO (08:15) * Changing responsibilities as the head of a public company (12:56) * The importance of communications as companies scale (15:18) * How the best-run companies plan strategy (16:29) * “Docusigns per day” as an aligning KPI (17:55) * Making a lot of big bets and maintaining focus (37:32) * Leveraging a valuable data asset (38:14) And much, much, more . . .

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr speak with GS Jha, who serves as both Global Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Accuray, a manufacturer of radiotherapy technologies.   When you hear GS’s story it’s evident where his passion for life sciences comes from. As a child growing up in India, GS saw firsthand the impacts of poor access to medicine on his community.    And while he thought that his contributions to world health might be as a doctor, ultimately his path led to a place where infrastructure and business converged. That intersection is a key reason why GS feels he can be a catalyst for growth at Accuray in his role as CIO.   From GS’s perspective, success depends on aligning the systems he manages with the goals of both the company and the individuals who drive it forward. And what connects these things together is creating value for customers.    So we think you will enjoy this discussion as you hear why even as CIO, GS sees engaging with oncologists directly as an important part of his role, and why everything from his hiring approach to his considerations for systems and infrastructure is informed by a larger mission to save lives.    Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.   Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ   Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * On a mission to deliver lifesaving technologies (04:21) * CIO vs. CTO, what are the differences (07:33) * How IT functions to unlock a business’ potential (11:31) * The challenges and importance of driving alignment (27:19) * Hiring technology people to drive growth (33:11) * Learning from customers, directly (33:56) And much, much, more . . .

Product-Led Growth is all the rage, but it wasn’t working   Today, things are looking good for Chameleon and its CEO, Pulkit Agrawal. Since we recorded this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast with him, Chameleon announced a successful Series A. But in 2015 the company was heading towards the startup scrap heap.   That’s where co-hosts Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr pick up this conversation. Pulkit and his co-founders had built a product that offered simple tools to personalize customer experiences with product tours and tooltips. They were following the Product-Led playbook that was driving success for other startups in similar categories all around them.    The problem was they were running out of money. The business was not taking off even with an easy-to-use self-serve interface and low prices.      Pivoting to a Sales-Led Go-to-Market Strategy    If you listened to our previous conversation with the CEO of Fireflies, Krish Ramanelli, you will hear a story where PLG was exactly the right strategy. So why wasn’t it right for Pulkit and his team? And how did he figure it out?   Jump in and hear how focusing on the must-have experience helped Pulkit and his team regroup and reframe the business, why he doesn’t see the world as either Sales-Led or Product-Led and how the tough early journey informed his team’s growth approach.     The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * Building a business to solve a personal pain point (03:59) * Realizing the team had over-indexed on a self-serve model (06:08) * Learning that intuition isn’t fact (12:48) * Sales-Led & Product-Led; different learnings, different value (18:30) * Thinking through customer motivations to drive growth (24:55) * Building the culture to support Sales-Led growth (43:29) And much, much, more . . . 

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, Sean Ellis, and Ethan Garr talk with Sandeep Chouksey, Chief Technical Officer of Harry's, the company that manufactures and sells men's personal care products via online and retail channels.    It turns out Harry’s has a superpower!  They can spin up a direct-to-consumer brand in just a matter of weeks, and then–if the brand’s potential is validated–roll into an omnichannel marketing strategy almost as quickly.   Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, and other giants of the consumer packaged goods industry are surely taking notice as Harry’s approach threatens to disrupt a variety of established players across markets. And men’s razors are just the beginning. The company, now valued at more than $1.7 Billion, has four brands in six countries . . . One of them is a cat food brand!   What gives Harry’s the confidence to try to make entrances into new and disparate categories? And why are they able to move so quickly? Sandeep explains that it starts with people; Harry’s is very intentional in how it hires people who are ready to “embrace the mammoth” and try new things.    In fact, Sandeep himself embodies this mindset and in our discussion, he doesn’t sound at all like a prototypical CTO.  He views his role as one of aligning technical resources around their impact on growth, and “figuring out how to be omnichannel”. It’s an approach that seems to be working well for him and Harry’s, a fast-growing company changing the world of CPG.   Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.   Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ   Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * From razors to cat food; leveraging digital capabilities (05:47) * New speed in CPG; from DTC to omnichannel in a flash (07:19)

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, Sean Ellis, and Ethan Garr talk with Jonathan Becher, President of Sharks Sports & Entertainment. If you are a hockey fan you probably know the San Jose Sharks, the flagship brand of Jonathan’s organization, but in this discussion, we quickly learned that when it comes to growth, the sports team itself is just one component of an exciting and complex ecosystem.   With its huge media presence, four buildings (arenas and skating facilities), and fans with varying interest levels and unique backgrounds, Jonathan has a variety of tools and resources he and his team can tap into to create meaningful experiences to attract and retain audiences. But it is not without its challenges.   Professional sports are typically steeped in tradition and slow to embrace change, but sports teams can’t afford to ignore the world around them. The Sharks literally live in the heart of Silicon Valley, and the world around them is becoming more digitized every day.  Jonathan sees his job as one of “pioneering the future of sports entertainment,” so growth is then about embracing traditions while at the same time building new, engaging, and interconnected digital experiences for the future.    A hockey fan at his core, Jonathan believes his staff is up to the task, and he brings a wealth of experience that includes everything from working as a developer to building startups, to even serving as CMO of SAP, to inform his approach. We learned quickly that Jonathan is a growth hacker at heart; working to understand the must-have experiences powering growth, and using data and experimentation to meet the needs of diverse audiences.   Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.   Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ   Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * Much more than just a hockey team; Sharks Sports & Entertainment  (05:40) * A future built on content and connected experiences (28:18) * Tattoos for die-hard fans &n

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Kevin Indig, who at the time of the interview was the Director of SEO at Shopify. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be an important growth driver for startups, but it is an easy channel to misunderstand and get wrong.  We wanted to talk to someone who is best-in-class in this field to separate truth from fiction and find out how growth leaders can support, leverage, and embrace SEO in their businesses.    Fortunately, Kevin brought his “A” game to the conversation and did a great job of demystifying SEO for our listeners. He explains why SEO is a must-have for some companies, but just a nice-to-have for others.  Then he describes why, when SEO is a necessary channel for growth, companies should invest early and heavily to maximize their potential.    In the past, SEO could feel very “hacky” and there were definitely a lot of bad actors in the space.  Kevin shows us why today’s SEO is won with a deep focus on delivering value, why it needs to be validated like any other channel, and why elements like backlinks continue to be important.    While you shouldn’t expect to leave this conversation as an SEO expert, you will very likely be in a much better place to support, guide, and set up your organization for SEO success after you hear Kevin share his knowledge and experience.  This is one of our more directly practical discussions and one we really enjoyed.     So click that play button and jump in with Sean and Ethan as we look to better understand how to drive growth through Search Engine Optimization with Kevin Indig.    The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * The two dimensions of SEO at Shopify (04:09) * Who wins with SEO: Aggregators versus Integrators (07:05) * Misconceptions and constants in a murky world (18:49) * Practical implementation; how to get started in SEO (34:39) * Building SEO into a growing organization (36:26) * Differentiation; why this is a channel that requires specific effort (50:20) And much, much, more . . .

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Andrew Davies, Chief Marketing Officer at Paddle. Offering a complete payment infrastructure for businesses in a single stack, Paddle is particularly valuable for PLG businesses, and helps more than 3000 customers in 200 markets set up and sell their SaaS offerings.     This year Paddle has acquired Profitwell, the recurring revenue growth platform, and raised $200 million in funding (bringing the company’s total valuation above $1.4 billion). As CMO, Andrew intends to continue driving aggressive growth by adapting a playbook he has developed in a career that includes serving as VP of Corporate Marketing at Optimizely and as co-founder of the “demand orchestration” platform, Idio.   Andrew is particularly honest about the challenges that companies face at this stage in their journey. He explains that “scale breaks systems” so it becomes really important to work towards a culture that is not super-prescriptive, but instead looks to “teach people the rules of the game, and then get them to play it themselves.”   Our conversation dives into everything from team leadership challenges, to what the CMO role is and how it creates impact in a fast-scaling organization. Ultimately, Andrew feels that Paddle’s success will be a product of its own ability to help customers drive growth in their own businesses. So jump in and hear how he intends to ensure that Paddle is well-positioned to drive that outcome.   Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * Andrew’s Journey to CMO, including Idio co-founder and Paddle advisor (06:39) * Why more complex approaches must replace original, more simple tactics (11:17) * The Profitwell acquisition and the challenges of taming the chaos (16:08) * Why leadership cannot be top-down when scaling up (26:15) * “Tracking is always messed up” – so now what? (29.10) * The massive shift Andrew sees in B2B marketing (44:05) And much, much, more . . . 

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, brought to you by SAP, the world’s leading ERP provider,  Sean Ellis, and Ethan Garr chat with Tim Flaherty, Chief Financial Officer at Enable Injections.  MedTech is an area we hadn’t explored before, but we often find that going outside of what you know can offer new inspiration and insights for all of us working to drive breakout growth success.  Enable Injections is developing enFuse®, an innovative device designed to improve the lives of patients who depend on medical infusions. This less disruptive system for delivering life-sustaining medications has the potential to drive step-change quality of life improvements for people living with a variety of conditions. Tim is leading the company as CFO, and believes this technology can have dramatic consequences for people who sometimes have to give up their ambitions just to live life around their infusion schedules. But what does a CFO really do? Are they administrators who simply ensure that money flows in and out of the business efficiently? Or are they the strategic thinkers working to ensure the financial needs of the business support the mission? Tim certainly ascribes to the latter, and in this discussion, we learn how he brings a passion for patients into his work, and how he must constantly think about the future to ensure the long-term health of the business. Medtech has its own unique challenges, and everything from fundraising to regulation comes into the growth equation, but ultimately, many of the themes we discuss are applicable across industries and markets.   Before you jump in, learn more about SAP's cloud solutions for mid-size enterprises at sap.com/sme. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched-together solutions to manage business finances, operations, HR, suppliers, and customer relationships, leverage the flexibility of SAP's cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.   Achieve breakout growth success now with SAP at bit.ly/3UUPDxJ We discussed: * Real patients: the hardships of living with in-clinic infusions (04:42)   * Big Tech/Big Pharma – The impact of big budgets for CFOs (07:39)   * Fundraising over $400 million to support a long-term strategy (11:01)   * Once approved, we have to take off like a rocketship! 16:28)   * When companies should hire a CFO (35:03) And much, much, more . . .  The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube:

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Jacob Eiting, Co-Founder and CEO of RevenueCat. Building the backend system to support subscriptions in a mobile app can take months. Jacob had done this work himself multiple times as an engineer and realized there had to be a better way. So today, mobile developers rely on RevenueCat’s APIs and SDKs to quickly add, manage, and grow subscription revenue in their businesses. For startups, time is a precious commodity, so being able to offload work that isn’t directly focused on improving customer experiences can be super-valuable. But it isn’t just time-savings that RevenueCat delivers.   Working within the confines and ever-changing world of Apple and Android’s walled-gardens can be daunting for developers. RevenueCat deeply understands these ecosystems and uses that knowledge to make it easier for every customer to thrive on these platforms. The company wins by helping its developers grow their businesses, and it is clearly working as RevenueCat itself has grown into a go-to solution for mobile developers around the world. But, the work isn’t done. Jacob is pushing his team to look for additional ways to ensure RevenueCat is adding value for customer throughout their entire journey.  He wants the company to, “be the Salesforce of what we do”, helping and empowering people who build apps at every step.  From our conversation, it seems like he and his team are well on their way. Whether you are an app developer or not, this is a great conversation for anyone looking to better understand why directly aligning your company goals with the goals of your customers is a winning formula for sustainable growth.  Take a listen, we think you will really enjoy this one! We discussed: * The RevenueCat backstory: from subscription frustration to accessible solutions (04:52)   * “Building on the back of a giant;” adding value within Apple & Android’s walls (15:01)   * The importance of being part of the wider developer community (17:59)   * Figuring out RevenueCat’s long-term value for customers  (27:52)   * OKRs and other efforts to drive alignment (46:20)   * Jacob’s most valuable growth learnings (55:18) And much, much, more . . .

How do you find your first growth channel and is that what you should be thinking about today? That’s the topic of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr. We dive into common mistakes startups make in searching for that first scalable channel, and offer some practical advice to help you make good decisions along the way.    We also mention a couple of resources you might want to check out:   * “Traction,” a book by DuckDuckGo Founder, Gabriel Weinberg offers a framework for identifying and testing potential channels. * The First1000, (https://thefirst1000.substack.com/) offers inspiration on how to get early customers.  * "Do Things That Don't Scale" (http://paulgraham.com/ds.html) Paul Graham's famous article emphasizing the importance of validating Product/Market Fit before looking for a scalable growth channel.    So jump in, and in less than 10 minutes you will have food for thought as you work to achieve breakout growth success in your business. We discussed:   * First growth channel mistakes Sean and Ethan see companies make (00:18) * Why for some businesses certain channels need to be thought about early (02:24) * Frameworks and resources for finding your first growth channel (05:01) * You will need to experiment! (06:17)

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Rajesh Jain, founder and managing director of Netcore Cloud. Rajesh bootstrapped Netcore into existence in 1998. Today, still without any outside investment, this global marketing technology company earns nearly $100 million in ARR.   More than five thousand brands use Netcore to help create digital experiences for their customers with email, personalizations, nudges, and other tools. In India, the company has captured about 75% of the B2C email market, and they are a dominating force in many emerging markets around the world. But for the first ten years of Netcore’s life, growth was slow.    That changed when Rajesh realized that despite his early successes (he sold his first business for $100 million), he did not have the right leadership skills to drive Netcore to its full potential. So, with that self-awareness, he put ego aside and hired a CEO to lead the company’s next chapter.     That decision allowed Rajesh to provide leadership in different ways, and his story offers valuable lessons for anyone evaluating how they can make an impact in their roles. At the same time, Netcore was able to blossom. Today the company shares similarities with businesses like Braze and Twilio, offering services that help customers acquire, engage, and retain users.    So join Sean and Ethan as they learn from Rajesh’s thoughts on everything from the hidden value of conferences to “understanding customers’ vocabulary” and much more.    The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured   We discussed: * Netcore, a B2B SaaS company for B2B companies (05:19) * Rajesh’s Early success and the “Midas Touch” fallacy (25:29) * Moving into Martech (41:44) * What a new CEO brought to the table (44:01) * “Don’t lose someone else’s money!” (33:38) * Growth through acquisition (38:40)   And much, much, more . . .

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Charlie Cole, Chief Executive Officer at FTD Flowers. In March of 2020, it was day one of a global pandemic, and day one of Charlie’s new job at a 110-year-old, global flower delivery company that had recently gone through a bankruptcy. The odds seemed stacked against him, but in this conversation, we discover that whether you are managing a startup or a turnaround there are fundamental similarities that power a winning approach.    Most startup leaders–under tremendous pressure to hit promised numbers or simply to not run out of money–make a common mistake; they try to do everything all at once. Similarly, in a turnaround situation, Charlie explains that “there is so just so much that is broken,” but the only way to fix everything is really to just focus with intensity on a very few of the most important things.    If you enjoy unfiltered honesty, you are probably going to love this conversation. When we asked Charlie why he delivers flowers himself on Valentine’s Day, he admitted that at first it was just because he didn’t know what else to do. And when we asked him about starting his role in a pandemic he says, ”I was completely unprepared . . . but I think if we're being honest, anyone would be completely unprepared!”    Delivering flowers helped him better understand the florists and customers FTD served and helped him to create a new culture that would put FTD back on solid footing.  And starting in chaos forced him to find new pathways to build trust with employees and customers.  It has not been easy, but Charlie says it is the most fun he has ever had.    If you listened to last week's Growth Snack, you will know just how inspired Sean and Ethan were by this discussion.  So jump in with us and Charlie Cole as he shows us another side of breakout growth success.     The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * FTD’s origins as a wire service: “the first peer-to-peer network” (05:05) * Charlie’s biggest surprise coming into his new CEO role (09:36) * “There's just so much broken”–ruthless pragmatism, because you can’t fix it all at once (20:32) * What does success look like when you are rebuilding? (32:36) *  Differentiation is important, but it's equally important to know how you're not different (39:02) * Walking the walk; why Charlie delivers flowers himself and what it’s taught him about customers and suppliers (37:51) And much, much, more . . .

Growth isn’t about doing everything, it’s about doing the right things. That’s the topic of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short. This concept came into sharp focus for Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr when they spoke with Charlie Cole, the CEO who has led the turnaround of FTD Flowers (full episode next week). A standout learning from that discussion is that startups and turnarounds often make the same crucial mistake: they try to do everything all at once.   So where should you point your relentless focus? And what is the order of operations that prevents you from simply throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks? In this episode, we look to answer these questions as we dive into the importance of getting the right people to the right experiences with qualitative and quantitative learnings, and more.    So jump in, and in less than 10 minutes you will have food for thought as you work to achieve breakout growth success in your business. We discussed:   * Even the best leaders will try to do too much all at once (00:45) * The order of operations matters; slow down and focus (01:15) * Don’t let the pressure to hit numbers force poor execution (02:00) * Growth isn’t just about channels, focus on core customer challenges (03:13) * Get the right customers to the right experiences (03:45)

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Krish Ramineni, Co-founder and CEO of Fireflies.ai.  The Fireflies.ai video conferencing bot is an AI assistant that takes searchable notes to help teams maximize their productivity on Zoom, MSFT, Webex, and other video conferencing platforms. We dive in with Krish to get to the heart of why Product-Led Growth has proven to be the right approach for his team, why it is not right for everyone, and why Fireflies now plans to move beyond their purely self-serve model.   And that might be what makes this conversation so interesting. Even though Fireflies has crushed it with PLG they are also learning and adapting every day.  “Let people buy the way they want to buy” is a mantra for Krish and his team, but through data and experimentation, they are continuing to better understand what drives value for their customers. They have learned that some users do need a more conversational approach to succeed, so Krish is hiring a sales team to support that audience.   We have seen evolutions like this from purely self-serve to hybrid models in other fast-growing companies like Slack and Hubspot and it shows how the best PLG companies are always working to better understand their growth engines and customers.   So dive in with Sean and Ethan as they look to uncover what’s driving breakout growth success at Fireflies.ai   The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed:   *  From Project Manager at Microsoft to Fireflies.ai (06:35) *  Let people buy the way they want to buy (12:19) *  Why hiring salespeople is now on the radar (13:54) * Not every product is right for PLG, but it shines for collaboration tools (16:49) *  Building and monitoring predictability in growth (41:12) *  Growth is repeatable (54:16) And much, much, more . . .

Is differentiation always important? If you are trying to grow, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr, say it absolutely is, but it is not just about offering unique features. That’s the topic of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short. Learn why it iscrucial to understand what the must-have experience looks like through the eyes of your customers, and why that is important in helping you to differentiate your business even in a crowded market.   You might be surprised as you learn how Sean approached differentiation when he was interim head of growth at Dropbox. Or, you might find some inspiration as Ethan describes a company he is working with now that is launching a new product that will compete against products that solve the same problem for customers. Perhaps this will get you thinking about new questions to ask your customers to better distinguish your offerings.   Either way, we think you will enjoy it! So jump in, and in less than 10 minutes you will have food for thought as you work to achieve breakout growth. We discussed:   * The hot market trap; why copycats struggle to grow (01:03) * Differentiation is not just about nifty features or lower pricing (01:51) * What do customers see as unique? A lesson from Dropbox (03:41) * Why you should never assume fit transfers across products (05:24) * Fast-followers and other takeaways (07:21)

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Tony Beltramelli, Uizard’s Co-founder and CEO. If you can picture a perfect up-and-to-the-right curve, then you can visualize what growth looks like for this AI-powered product design tool created for non-designers. To learn what is powering the company’s success we asked Tony to dive further into a LinkedIn post he published where he asked the question, “What did we learn and what did we do differently?” It turned into an amazing discussion.   Product and growth people can easily see the appeal of a rapid-prototyping tool that can turn even hand-drawn sketches into websites, mobile apps, and software designs, but despite that promise, Uizard (pronounced Wizard) was still struggling to grow in its early days. As a technical founder, Tony was frustrated that he could not just fix the problem by writing more code.    Fortunately, with learnings from “Hacking Growth” and insights from Superhuman’s CEO on building a Product/Market Fit Engine, Tony and his team discovered what was actually driving must-have experiences for users. That proved to be a huge confidence booster, and with those learnings, the company’s trajectory shifted quickly and drastically.   What we love about this conversation is Tony’s honesty and enthusiasm. Even though his LinkedIn post took pride in the company’s huge achievements, he wasn’t bragging. It seems that Tony wanted to share what he learned on this “wild ride” to inspire and help others. Turning customer learnings into processes, investing in data, and narrowing the company’s focus have all been key elements of Uizard’s success, but it also appears that creating a great culture to support those efforts has been equally important.    As of our recording, Uizard is looking for Growth Engineers and Marketing Designers to join their team, so if you are looking for an early-stage rocket ship, you may want to get in touch. Jump in and let’s find out what is behind Uizard’s breakout growth success.   Tony’s original LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tony-beltramelli-513b1219_founders-startup-saas-activity-6889230200631111680-xdSW   The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featured We discussed: * Sharing a hockey stick graphic and learnings from a wild ride and on LinkedIn  (08:30) * Junior founders and early assumptions (11:52) * How the Product/Market Fit Survey helped change the growth trajectory (12:38) * Uizard&rsquo

If you want to generate more raving fans for your business build a machine to understand what drives some of your users from awareness to white-hot enthusiasm. That is the theme of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr. The ”Perfect Customer Loop” is a way to visualize the journey that evangelizer-customers follow as they try, use, and fall in love with your product.    In our last Growth Snack, we talked about the trap companies often fall into when they achieve product/market fit but fail to understand it deeply enough to operationalize growth effectively. This conversation builds on that and will help you avoid that mistake while tapping into the emotions that drive users to your product’s must-have experience.   So jump in with us, and in less than 10 minutes you will learn how The Perfect Customer Loop can help you accelerate growth. We discussed:   * “The Perfect Customer Loop”, a tool for dialing-in product/market fit (00:34) * The value of visualizing retention and referral in action (02:56) * How teams win with this exercise (04:03) * Leveraging the learnings to improve speed-to-value  (05:23) * Warning; don’t fall into this trap (05:41)

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Mayur Gupta, Gannett’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer.  Very few industries have been as dramatically impacted by digital disruption as the newspaper industry, so we wanted to learn from Mayur how he approaches and looks to drive growth in a world of constant change.    Gannett owns USA Today and more than 1000 other daily and weekly publications. As the world has shifted from print to digital consumption of media, the company has had to evolve from its legacy media roots into a content subscription business. Mayur describes Gannett today as “The Netflix of non-fiction content” and that has meant a new approach to marketing and growth. What has not changed is Mayur’s underlying beliefs about what drives sustainable growth.   Mayur describes growth as foundational, and not just a tactic or a hack. And he goes on to explain that sustainable growth is a mindset and culture where you work to create flywheels that grow the brand, grow the user base, and grow user value. So when the world is changing around you, as is now the norm in the newspaper business, there is still firm ground from which to view and seize opportunities.    This is our second conversation with Mayur, who joined The Breakout Growth Podcast a few years ago when he was at Freshly. He also previously led growth at Spotify. So as we look to learn more about how to lead and navigate growth in a rapidly changing environment Mayur’s perspective is both unique and powerful.    Let’s jump in with Mayur Gupta, and don’t forget to subscribe to `the Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA We discussed: * Joining Gannett, “The Netflix of non-fiction content” (06:44) * The formula for sustainable growth: grow the brand, grow the user base, grow user value (10:23) * Seizing digital growth while respecting a loyal but ebbing print market (17:29) * North Star Priorities, OKRs, and Cross-functional pods (35:00) * Managing through data blind spots (26:00) * Establishing ourselves as a “trusted destination” (54:23) * Growth is a foundation and an outcome (56:00)

What are the biggest mistakes companies make after they find product/market fit? Find out in this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr.   It can be hard enough to find product/market fit in the first place, but even companies that do achieve this milestone often fail to build sustainable growth. So in this discussion, we tackle two key reasons why companies tend to stumble at this juncture. But more importantly, we talk about the strategies successful teams employ to avoid these errors and thrive.   Product/market fit isn’t a gate that you pass through and then leave behind as you move on to growth. It’s the foundation on which you build and operationalize your business. So jump in with us and find out how to stay focused on what really matters at a crucial time in your organization’s journey to breakout growth success.      We discussed:     * Two common mistakes for companies with product/market fit (00:36)     * How teams can focus on learnings to avoid mistake #1 (01:52)     * Why teams get this wrong (04:24)     * Monitoring product/market fit to stay on track (05:40)     * Product/market fit; not just a startup thing (06:36)     Please subscribe to our new Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Oren Kaniel, AppsFlyer’s CEO and cofounder. AppsFlyer is a mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform. When Apple announced the vast app tracking transparency changes it deployed in 2021 it shook the Mobile Marketing Partner (MMP) ecosystem. So we wanted to learn from Oren how a fast-growing company like his was able to navigate and lead through this massive sea change.   One of the standout moments from our conversation was when Oren explained that as these external forces of change began to manifest around him, he asked the question, “What do we know won’t change?” With so much uncertainty in the industry, knowing what he and his team could safely rely on to stay the same helped define the starting point from which they could meet the challenges and embrace new opportunities as they emerged.   This was quite instructive and fits in with the longer view of the world Oren takes. Rather than getting hung up on what will happen in the next year or two, he tries to look at the world through the lens of ‘where are we going,’ five years, ten years, and even beyond. In the startup world, it is often difficult to expand one’s view beyond the urgency of the moment, but AppsFlyer’s success demonstrates the importance of balancing that urgency with what will be important to the business over the longer term.   Google recently announced its own round of privacy changes, similar to what Apple has instituted. Undoubtedly, this will further impact AppsFlyer and the entire mobile ecosystem. Despite the chaos this creates, companies like AppsFlyer will find ways to continue to thrive and grow.     Dive in with us and find out how to lead growth when the world around you is in flux, and please subscribe to our new Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA We discussed: * The beginning of AppsFlyer; noticing an imbalance in 2010 (06:14) * The business of enabling businesses; 10,000 partners from Salesforce to Facebook (10:21) * Apple and IDFA; staying focused through challenge and change (24:52) * “What we know won’t change” (28:44) *  A future with winners and more complex solutions (56:07) And much, much, more . . .