Y Combinator Startup Podcast #54 - Growth Office Hours: Round 2
Dec 15, 2017
Anu Hariharan, a Y Combinator partner known for her expertise in growth and user acquisition, teams up with Gustaf Alström, a former founder with a rich background in growth product roles at Airbnb. They discuss pivotal moments for building a growth team and the importance of tracking retention benchmarks across different verticals. The duo emphasizes hiring traits like curiosity and data savviness over pedigree, while also addressing the pros and cons of paid marketing. Insights into international growth strategies and product-channel fit round out their engaging conversation.
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Focus On Two Scalable Channels
- Focus budgets on one or two scalable channels instead of fragmenting across many.
- Early wins usually come from a small set of channels that drive ~70% of traffic.
Surface Data To Change Culture
- If your company isn't data-driven, start surfacing simple weekly metrics to change culture.
- Send concise reports and run small experiments to demonstrate impact.
Make Data Visible And Actionable
- Track and publish metrics in a visible place so people can critique and learn.
- Use data to identify actual growth drivers instead of attributing success to intuition.
