How to Crush Your Growth Role, with Former Gitlab and Acorns VP of Growth Hila Qu
Oct 15, 2024
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Hila Qu, a growth expert with extensive experience at Acorns and GitLab, shares her secrets to building effective growth models. She discusses the importance of aligning metrics with long-term strategies and optimizing growth funnels using various levers. Hila also dives into career growth through experimentation, emphasizing the impact of AI on product management and user retention. Her insights into navigating growth tools in B2B sectors and the challenges faced by growth leaders make this conversation a treasure trove for anyone seeking to enhance their growth strategies.
Building a growth model is essential for companies to identify key growth areas and strategize effectively.
A balanced approach between short-term gains and long-term investments is vital for sustainable growth and team alignment.
Continuous experimentation and customer engagement are crucial for iterating on growth strategies and enhancing user retention.
Deep dives
Importance of Growth Models
Building a growth model is essential for companies aiming to scale effectively. It serves as a foundational step in identifying key areas for growth and strategizing interventions that can have the most substantial impact. Hila emphasizes the need for clarity regarding the primary metric a company is trying to enhance, such as self-service revenue or product-qualified leads (PQL). A thorough understanding of these target metrics enables businesses to focus their efforts on the highest leverage areas, reinforcing Hila's belief that growth is about identifying and acting on the most impactful opportunities.
Balancing Short-term and Long-term Goals
Growth leaders face the challenge of balancing short-term results with longer-term strategic investments. Hila points out that while metrics can provide immediate insights, they may lead teams to prioritize actions that yield quick wins over those that foster sustainable growth. To mitigate this, it's crucial for growth teams to allocate a portion of their resources to tech debt, community building, and brand marketing. By ensuring a well-rounded approach, companies can simultaneously pursue immediate improvements while laying the groundwork for future success.
Navigating Metrics and Growth Strategies
There is an inherent risk in fixating solely on metrics, as demonstrating short-term gains might not accurately reflect the overall health of a growth effort. Different companies often pressure growth teams to deliver specific outcomes, sometimes leading to a culture of metrics-driven short-termism. Hila stresses the importance of comprehensive analysis and a balanced perspective, as various factors can influence growth trajectories. True growth requires understanding the nuances behind performance metrics and remaining flexible to adapt strategies based on evolving data.
Prioritizing Customer Engagement and Value
Focusing on customer engagement is pivotal for driving growth and enhancing overall product experience. After addressing initial acquisition, it is essential to design strategies that keep users engaged and derive value from the product over time. This can mean creating continuous onboarding experiences and employing in-product monetization triggers to convert users based on their context and usage patterns. Delivering sustained value ensures not only user retention but also encourages upgrades and promotions within the service.
The Evolution of Growth and Product Models
Hila highlights the convergence of product growth models and financial metrics, underscoring the need for alignment between product and finance teams. Understanding the financial implications of growth actions can enable companies to position themselves better in the marketplace. However, growth leaders must ensure that this financial focus does not overshadow customer-centric values that foster loyalty and long-term relationships. A balanced approach that considers both customer value and financial goals leads to a more holistic growth strategy.
Embracing Experimentation and Iteration
Experimentation is at the heart of any successful growth strategy, allowing teams to validate hypotheses and uncover new opportunities for enhancement. Hila advocates for an iterative process where businesses commit to continual testing and learning from results. This embraces a mindset open to change and adaptation, which is particularly crucial in fast-paced sectors such as tech and finance. By maintaining a culture of experimentation, companies can foster innovation and stay ahead of the competition as user needs evolve.
Every company wants growth, but not everyone knows how to make it happen.
In today’s episode, Hila Qu breaks down the secrets of building a growth model that can optimize metrics and also unlock untapped potential.
Hila is a growth expert who has led success at Acorns and GitLab. She’s also been an EIR at Reforge and was the First PM of Growth at Growth Hackers. She has over a decade of experience in product-led growth.
