Y Combinator Startup Podcast

#132 - Dan Hockenmaier and Gustaf Alströmer

Jun 26, 2019

Dan Hockenmaier, founder of the growth strategy firm Basis One, and Gustaf Alströmer, a Partner at Y Combinator with a background in Airbnb's growth, share valuable insights on navigating startup growth. They discuss the pivotal timing and strategy for acquisition and retention. Hockenmaier emphasizes experimentation over conventional tactics, while Alströmer reflects on Airbnb's growth through unique user experiences. They delve into effective A/B testing, pricing strategies, and the nuances of marketing for both B2B and consumer markets, stressing the importance of data-driven decision-making.

01:01:32

Creator website

Episode guests

Gustaf Alströmer

Dan Hockenmaier

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Navigating Growth Strategies: Retention and Acquisition Insights for Startups

3min

Airbnb's Growth Evolution

17min

Transformative Business Growth Through Experimentation

12min

Navigating Startup Growth and Marketing Strategies

12min

Unpacking Rapid Growth: The Airbnb and Facebook Strategies

4min

Navigating International Growth Strategies

2min

Navigating Startup Growth Strategies

10min

Dan Hockenmaier is the founder of the growth strategy firm Basis One. Prior to Basis One he was the Director of Growth Marketing at Thumbtack. You can learn more at BasisOne.com.

Gustaf Alströmer is a Partner at YC. Prior to YC he was the Product Lead for Growth at Airbnb.

You can find Dan on Twitter @danhockenmaier and Gustaf is @gustaf.

The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.

Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year.

Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

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Topics

00:00 - Intro

00:50 - Dan's most unpopular advice

1:45 - What growth strategies do people jump on too soon?

2:20 - Questions Dan asks a company he's advising

3:50 - Traits Dan looks for in early growth hires

6:30 - How product and growth are tied together

11:30 - Good/bad learnings from Facebook's growth team

14:00 - A/B testing

17:00 - Retention and other metrics

20:45 - The importance of experimentation

23:45 - Getting ideas for A/B tests then choosing which to do

25:00 - Advice for employees who want to get a growth program going

29:00 - B2B vs consumer growth tactics

34:00 - Pricing experiments

35:30 - Paid marketing

39:30 - Launching in new markets

40:15 - Hiring for marketing

43:45 - Metrics for marketing hires

45:45 - Toni asks - Why did Airbnb grow so fast?

48:45 - Step function growth changes for companies that already had scale

49:55 - Michael Savage asks - It would be great to discuss growth into new regions for example Africa and UAE. What would their approach be, how does it differ from region to region, culture to culture?

52:30 - Justin LaRosa asks - What are some of the most common drivers of viral growth?

55:20 - Hiring a growth agency vs building your own team

58:20 - How do you think about growth in the context of improving humanity?

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