Navigating the Dichotomy of Advisory Roles and Founding Ventures

Welcome to Growthmates with Kate Syuma — Growth advisor, previously Head of Growth Design at Miro. I’m building Growthmates as a place to connect with inspiring leaders to help you grow yourself and your product. Here you can learn how companies like Dropbox, Adobe, Canva, Loom, and many more are building excellent products and growth culture. Get all episodes and a free playbook for Growth teams on our brand-new website — growthmates.club, and press follow to support us on your favorite platforms.

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In this episode, we chat with Yuriy Timen, Advisor Ex-Growth Gramnarly. Yuriy shares his inspiring journey from corporate roles to becoming a sought-after growth advisor. With eight years at Grammarly, Yuriy helped scale the company to half a billion in revenue, leading a team of over 40 people in marketing and growth product. Since moving into advisory roles, he’s worked with over 35 companies, like Airtable, Canva, Whimsical, Flo Health, bringing invaluable growth insights. In our conversation, Yuriy delves into the challenges of shifting from corporate to advisory work, the importance of setting boundaries, and the mindset shifts essential for independent success.

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Key highlights from this episode 👇

* Embracing Focus in Advisory Work: Transitioning from a corporate role to an advisor meant Yuriy had to shift from multitasking to a more focused approach. He now dives deeply into fewer projects at a time, fostering a more meaningful impact. This journey away from the “corporate hustle” was driven by a desire to keep learning and make a direct impact.

* Setting Boundaries as an Advisor: Yuriy discusses how he quickly learned to set clear boundaries in his advisory role. Without these boundaries, his time risked being overextended. Establishing expectations has been essential in balancing his work with personal life and enhancing the quality of his engagements.

* Unlearning Corporate Habits: One of Yuriy’s biggest adjustments was unlearning some corporate habits, like reliance on large teams for delegation. In his advisory role, he learned to focus on projects that energized him, rather than draining him, and adopted new ways to work independently, including thoughtful delegation when needed.

* Finding Your Unique “Why”: Yuriy and Kate reflect on the importance of defining a personal “why.” For Yuriy, this clarity helped shape his positioning and differentiate him as an advisor. Knowing what drives you is key to building trust with clients and bringing authenticity to advisory roles.

* Managing the Pressure of Advisory Work: Yuriy talks about the high stakes of providing strategic advice, where a mistake could significantly impact a client’s growth. He shares how aligning expectations and focusing on data-driven decisions helps him manage this responsibility without feeling overwhelmed.

* Non-linear Career Paths as a Strength: Yuriy’s career showcases the value of a non-linear path, from corporate roles to fractional advisory. This diverse experience has helped him bring unique perspectives to growth challenges, reinforcing the idea that embracing a range of experiences can lead to profound personal and professional growth.

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Where to find Kate Syuma, Growth Advisor (ex-Miro):

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/

* Newsletter: katesyuma.substack.com

Where to find our guest — Yuriy Timen (Growth Advisor, ex-Grammarly):

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriytimen/

* Website: https://www.yuriytimen.com/

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What we’ve covered in this episode:

[00:00] Opening by Kate[00:13] Yuriy’s journey from corporate to fractional advisor[02:19] His career highlights and insights from Grammarly[05:00] The leap into independent advisory work[10:25] Importance of setting boundaries[18:41] Relearning delegation and independence[28:21] Shifting from multitasking to focused work[36:33] Managing the stakes of advisory work[42:15] Reflecting on teamwork and corporate dynamics

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📕 Useful Resources and other Podcasts with Yuriy:

* I was known as the “intense guy” - with Yuriy Timen on Delivering Value with Andrew Capland

https://media.deliveringvalue.co/p/i-was-known-as-the-intense-guy-yuriy-timen

* Leah Tharin in & Yuriy Timen on “Product Tea”

https://www.leahtharin.com/p/season-2-plg-episode-6-leah-and-yuriy?utm_source=publication-search

* What is a good activation rate by Yuriy Timen and Lenny Rachitsky

https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-is-a-good-activation-rate

* Yuriy Timen: Lessons from the busiest Growth Advisor in the industry on @TheGrowthloop by Eugene Segal

https://www.thegrowthloop.io/p/e02-yuriy-timen-lessons-from-the

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