The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch 20Growth: How to Build a Paid Marketing Machine: ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) 101 | The Rise of User Generared Content and How to Use It | TikTok Ads: Expectations vs. Reality | Hiring for Growth: When and Who with Sandy Diao
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Oct 24, 2025 
Sandy Diao, a growth leader who has driven success for major companies like Meta and Pinterest, shares her insights on building effective marketing strategies. She emphasizes the importance of strong growth hypotheses and the pitfalls of copying competitors. Sandy discusses the rise of user-generated content and the realities of TikTok ads, advocating for more authentic approaches. Hiring for growth is also highlighted, with tips on when to make your first growth hire and what qualities to seek.
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Learning Growth From Support Tickets
- Sandy's first week at Pinterest was answering 500 support tickets to learn user problems firsthand.
- That ground-level work produced growth hypotheses on onboarding, monetization, and messaging.
Build Hypotheses From Data And Story
- Form a growth hypothesis from a data-inspired insight plus a customer story that explains the data.
- Avoid acting on blind funnel drops without customer-context; understand why users behave that way first.
Avoid Copying Competitors Blindly
- Don't copy competitor tactics blindly; tailor strategies to your customers, timing, and distribution.
- Hire growth specialists aligned to the channel that's already showing early fit instead of a generic head of growth.