Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Growth tactics, retention strategies, and becoming a better writer | Julian Shapiro (Demand Curve, Hyper, Webflow, TechCrunch)

Sep 25, 2022

Julian Shapiro, founder of Demand Curve and CMO at Webflow, shares his expertise in growth marketing. He emphasizes product-led acquisition as the key to scaling businesses. Listeners will discover innovative strategies for enhancing user retention, including the 'Curiosity Faucet' concept to boost creativity. Julian also discusses the importance of authentic engagement on platforms like Twitter, advocating for quality content over quantity. His insights on effective writing will inspire anyone looking to elevate their content creation skills.

59:27

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Episode guests

Julian Shapiro

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Quick takeaways

Having a clear objective is crucial when choosing topics to write about in order to gauge progress and achieve writing goals.

Tapping into creativity through curiosity, diverse content consumption, and creative thinking activities leads to more innovative and captivating writing.

Incorporating novelty into writing through counterintuitive information, counter-narrative insights, shocking facts, or elegant articulation captivates readers and enhances memorability and shareability of content.

Deep dives

Choosing Topics: Objectives and Motivation

When selecting topics to write about, it is important to consider two factors: the likelihood of completing the writing and the quality of the final piece. To determine these factors, it is crucial to identify the objective of the writing and the level of motivation to achieve that objective. Objectives can range from challenging the status quo, provoking thoughts, providing original insights, or telling engaging stories. By having a clear objective, the writer can gauge their progress and determine when the piece has effectively achieved its goal.

Product-Led Acquisition vs. Referral Programs Explained

00:51

The Creativity Faucet: The Approach of Prolific Creators Explained

03:01

Writing with Novelty

02:46

Product Lead Acquisition

01:22

Intro

2min

The Role of Data in Business Growth and Retention Strategies

2min

Navigating Twitter: Building a Loyal Following through Originality

4min

Quality Connections on Twitter

6min

Mastering Product-Led Growth

15min

Enhancing Growth Through Effective Experimentation and Retention Strategies

2min

Building State for User Retention

8min

Unlocking Creativity: The Role of Novelty in Writing

21min

Julian Shapiro is widely known as the founder of Demand Curve, where he’s helped thousands of companies figure out their growth strategy. He also wrote the growth marketing column at TechCrunch, was CMO at Webflow, and even created an animation engine called Velocity that’s now used in apps like Uber and WhatsApp. In today’s episode, Julian dives deep on product-led acquisition (PLA) and why he believes it’s the best way to grow your company. He shares specific marketing strategies for growth and retention and speaks about his framework for creating novel, engaging content, and how to choose topics for that content. He also discusses a framework called the Curiosity Faucet, inspired by prolific creators such as Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, and Neil Gaiman, to help you unlock your own creativity.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/growth-tactics-retention-strategies-and-becoming-a-better-writer-julian-shapiro-demand-curve-hyper-webflow-techcrunch/#transcript

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Where to find Julian Shapiro:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Julian

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-shapiro/

• Website: https://www.julian.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/