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

20Growth: How to Master Product-Led-Growth, The Biggest Mistakes Startups Make When Scaling into Enterprise, How to Assess "Bets" in Growth; Which to Take and Which to Not with Gonto, Interim CMO @ Vercel

Feb 14, 2024

Martin Gontovnikas, known as Gonto, is a B2B SaaS advisor and co-founder of Hypergrowth Partners, with a notable background at Auth0. He discusses his journey from software engineer to marketing leader, emphasizing the importance of merging product and marketing for growth. Gonto shares insights on common mistakes startups make in scaling, the balance between art and science in growth strategies, and the necessity of qualitative data over pure analytics. He also delves into the significance of risk-taking cultures and innovative influencer marketing in driving success.

01:10:42

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Martin Gontovnikas

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Quick takeaways

Marketing decisions are emotional and rely on coherent storytelling rather than data-driven emails.

Exponential growth requires taking bold risks and temporarily foregoing certain efforts.

Integrating marketing and product teams is crucial to align promises with delivered value and improve user experience.

Deep dives

1. Psychology and Biases in Marketing

Psychology plays a key role in marketing as all decisions are emotional, according to Daniel Kahneman. Biases can be utilized to advantage in marketing. For example, focusing on coherent storytelling rather than data-driven emails has been found to improve conversion rates.

Product Market Fit before Growth

01:00

Qualitative Insights for Growth Through Failure Analysis

01:31

Value-Based Product Iteration

00:57

Start with Specificity and Tailor the Message

01:12

Intro

3min

Navigating Growth: Lessons Learned from Serendipity and Risk-Taking

3min

Embracing Risk for Team Growth

4min

Exploring the Impact of A-B Testing in B2B vs. B2C Growth Strategies

2min

Strategic Growth and User Engagement

21min

Strategies for Product-Led Growth

16min

Bridging Marketing and Product for Growth

17min

Innovative Growth Strategies through Influencer Sponsorship

2min

The Power of Video and AI in Modern Marketing

2min

Martin Gontovnikas, a.k.a Gonto, is a software engineer at heart who moved to the “dark side” to focus on Marketing. With this career transition, he found a way to combine his 2 passions by applying his “engineering thinking” model to Marketing. He is now a B2B SaaS Advisor to Vercel and Airbyte among others and Co-Founder & GP of Hypergrowth Partners. Previously, he was SVP of Marketing and Growth at Auth0.

In Today's Episode with Martin Gontovnikas (Gonto) We Discuss:

1. From No Idea to Growth Leader:

How Gonto made his way into the world of growth when it was not a thing?
What does Gonto know now that he wishes he had known when he entered the world of growth?
Why does Gonto believe product and marketing is more important than sales and marketing?

2. Growth: What, When and Who:

What is growth? What is it not? What do people misunderstand most with growth?
When is the right time to hire your first growth person?
What is the right profile for the right first growth hire? Junior? Senior?

3. Mastering PLG and Enterprise:

What are the single biggest mistakes startups make when scaling into enterprise?
Why does Gonto believe that all PLG companies should start with 6-8 design partners?
Is it possible to do enterprise and PLG at the same time?
How does one provide enough value in a PLG motion to convert enterprise buyers?

4. Data vs Intuition: Art vs Science:

Is growth more art or science?
Why does Gonto believe qualitative data is more important than quantitative?
How does Gonto think about psychology when selling and marketing? What do so few startups? understand about the psychology of their customers?
How does Gonto approach messaging and what is truly great product marketing?

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

20Growth: How to Master Product-Led-Growth, The Biggest Mistakes Startups Make When Scaling into Enterprise, How to Assess "Bets" in Growth; Which to Take and Which to Not with Gonto, Interim CMO @ Vercel

Episode guests