The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Growth: The Inside Story to Uber's Hypergrowth Scaling; What Worked, What Did Not? | Spending a $1BN Budget at Uber and Why China was the Wild West for Uber | Why You Do Not Need a Growth Team with Adam Grenier

Mar 15, 2023

In a captivating discussion, Adam Grenier, a growth expert with a rich history at Uber and other tech giants, shares his journey into the growth world. He reveals why you don’t necessarily need a dedicated growth team and how to instill growth principles in existing ones. Adam also provides insights into effective hiring practices that identify growth mindsets. He talks about Uber's scaling challenges in China and the balance of data and user psychology for sustainable growth, highlighting the importance of real-world marketing strategies.

54:45

Creator website

Episode guests

Adam Grenier

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Importance of Metrics in Marketplaces

01:24

How to Use Data to Predict Churn

01:21

The Wild West of Digital Advertising

01:21

The Role of a Growth CMO in Infusing Growth Throughout the Business

01:30

Intro

4min

The Evolution of Growth in Digital Marketing

17min

Navigating Team Dynamics and Customer Engagement

15min

Mastering the Art of Postmortems for Continuous Improvement

2min

Navigating Growth Challenges

8min

Navigating Growth and Market Fit

4min

Streamlining Growth: Essential Tools for Modern Businesses

4min

Adam Grenier is an OG of the growth world. His first role in growth, was none other than Uber where he was Head of Growth Marketing and Innovation building the global marketing growth infrastructure and team from the ground up. He then enjoyed successful spells at Lambda School and Masterclass as VP Growth and VP of Marketing, respectively. If that was not enough, Adam is also a prolific angel having made investments in Superhuman, Table22, and FitXR to name a few.

In Today's Episode with Adam Grenier We Discuss:

1.) Entry into the World of Growth with Uber:

How did Adam make his way into the world of growth with Uber and Ed Baker?
What are the single biggest takeaways from his time at Uber, Lambda and Masterclass?
What does Adam know now that he wishes he had known when he started in growth?

2.) Growth: What it is? Why You Do Not Need a Team for it?

How does Adam define the term "growth" today? What is the role of "Head of Growth"?
Why does Adam believe that you do not need a growth team?
How can leaders infuse growth principles, mindsets and metrics into existing teams?
WHat are the single biggest mistakes founders make when thinking about growth?

3.) Hiring Growth Mindsets: How to Ask the Right Question:

What are the clearest signs to Adam that someone has a growth mindset?
What are the right questions to ask to see how they think?
How does Adam use tests and case studies to determine the growth mindset of a person?
What did Uber teach Adam about the best practices to hire for growth?

4.) Uber: Scaling a Monster and Spending $1BN on Ads:

What are some of Adam's biggest lessons from spending $1BN on advertising at Uber?
Why at anytime were there 200 people paying for ads with their personal credit cards?
Why does Adam believe China was "the wild-west"? How did all of their competitors in China have Uber data?
How do growth mechanics, channels and disciplines compare between US vs China?

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.