the gtm engineer Growth Hiring, Artistry & Resonance with Gaurav Vohra, Startup Advisor and Former Head of Growth + Growth Product @ Superhuman
Gaurav Vohra worked in consulting for 5 years, where he honed his ability to attack problems with a high degree of vigor, speed and urgency, before he joined Superhuman to run growth in 2015. At Superhuman, he ran growth, analytics, and growth product from the early days to tens of millions in ARR.
During this time, Gaurav dove deep into the technical + analytical parts of growth, while also spending time on deep craft and artistry, which is clear to anyone who ever interacted with the Superhuman product. After a ~10-year run at Superhuman, Gaurav took a step back to become a startup advisor for businesses like Clay, Replit, and Wispr Flow.
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In this podcast, we discuss:
* The Grammarly acquisition of Superhuman and what about the Superhuman name invoked Grammarly taking it on
* The two mission-critical characteristics Gaurav looks for in growth operators, how he tests for those skills, and what it took to build the skills himself
* Balancing the analytical with artistic and creative side of growth and Gaurav’s reach vs. resonance framework
* How to build very good taste to drive resonance in growth work
* How growth skills building is changing (and not) in the age of AI
* The future of growth vs. growth product vs product teams
* The growth hack hall of fame move that Grammarly made during the Superhuman name change
Episode highlights:
* Superhuman was initially called Supercharged, but changed after the team thought it was too sports car oriented. Superhuman ended up being a brand name so broad and aspirational that Grammarly eventually took it on as the overall business name.
* The two critical skills in successful growth operators are CPU and velocity. All other important and relevant skills can be derived from processing through large amounts of information to find solutions (CPU), and from doing so + iterating extremely quickly (velocity).
* CPU and velocity are not innate, but require a consistent and concentrated effort. This comes from pushing to move faster and think from first principles to process information. If you get to the end of the day and your brain is tired, you know you’re pushing on the CPU and velocity muscles.
* While people who process information a bit slowe but arrive at the right answer can be successful in growth, it becomes a hiring risk, especially in growth roles that require particularly high levels of velocity.
* Content, products and ideas can fall in any of the four quadrants of resonance X reach. High reach = large distribution, and high resonance = deep influence and impact. The best products and growth ideas sit in the quadrant of high resonance and high reach.
* Different sorts of roles within growth require different levels of artistry (and resonance). Generally speaking, the closer you get to touching product, the more important art becomes.
* Building the skill of taste (which influences resonance) requires many reps of seeing what amazing looks like, testing ideas out in the world, paying attention to what is currently driving resonance + reach (can often measure by what is going viral), and by spending time understanding users.
* As AI becomes more effective, the importance of technical skills appears to be reducing - with coding or analytics as prime short-term examples. It’s unclear how it will all shake out down the line, but having the deeper level of understanding can be useful on foundations work and/or to be in the top 1 or 0.1%.
Where to find Gaurav:
Transcript details:
(00:00) Pod intro
(03:45) Gaurav introduction and background
(05:45) Superhuman’s name and the Grammarly acquisition
(10:06) The two critical traits to being effective in growth - CPU and velocity
(13:44) Building CPU and velocity muscles
(20:57) How writing & analytical skills fit into the CPU / velocity framework
(24:57) Whether smart, slower processors can be effective in growth
(27:28) Balancing the left vs. right brain in growth and Gaurav’s resonance vs. reach framework
(32:56) How to improve resonance and taste
(38:06) How building growth skills is changing with AI
(42:44) Whether PLG vs. SLG is changing with AI
(44:31) How growth vs. product roles are evolving
(47:00) Other parts of the growth landscape that are changing
(49:53) AI pricing
(51:43) Intense competition and startups as the new investment banks
(56:03) Growth hack, favorite tool & conclusion
For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast and to recommend any guests, email noah@thegtmengineer.ai
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