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20Growth: Inside Perplexity's Growth Machine: What Worked, What Did Not Work | Why Paid Acquisition is a Drug and Brand Marketing is BS | The Good, Bad and Ugly of A/B Tests and Why Micro-Optimisations are Under-Rated with Raman Malik

Nov 15, 2024

Raman Malik, Head of Growth at Perplexity and a former member of Lyft's growth team, delves into the heart of growth marketing. He shares why he sees paid acquisition as a 'drug' and dismisses brand marketing as often ineffective. Raman emphasizes the importance of partnerships and data-driven strategies for user retention. He offers insights on the nuances of A/B testing and advocates for hiring former founders for their unique perspectives. Discover the underestimated growth channels that propelled Perplexity forward and the real metrics that define engaged users.

59:19

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Episode guests

Raman Malik

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Engaging users early on and achieving multiple interactions is vital for retention and long-term loyalty in product growth.

A successful growth strategy for startups relies heavily on collaboration between marketing and product teams to optimize user experiences.

Micro-optimizations, while under-appreciated, play a crucial role in improving key metrics, complementing larger-scale innovation efforts.

Deep dives

The Importance of User Engagement

Users typically need to interact with a product three to seven times before they commit to giving it a fair trial. Achieving three queries in a single session can indicate a positive user experience and potential for retention. Engaging users early on is crucial, as it lays the groundwork for their likelihood to return. Fostering this initial level of engagement is seen as a key metric for growth and customer loyalty.

Intro

3min

From Alabama to Growth Leadership

8min

The Dynamics of A-B Testing: Insights and Challenges

3min

Engagement Metrics and User Retention

14min

Smart Acquisition and Monetization Strategies

5min

Navigating TikTok and Growth Marketing

9min

Building an Agile Growth Team

13min

Reflecting on Insights and Promoting Collaboration Tools

3min

Raman Malik is the Head of Growth at Perplexity where he is responsible for growth marketing, onboarding, activation, retention, and monetisation. Prior to Perplexity, Raman, was an early member of the growth team at Lyft and joined Perplexity earlier this year after his own startup journey.

In Today’s Episode with Perplexity’s Head of Growth:

1. Inside the Perplexity Growth Machine:

What have been the single biggest needle movers in the growth of Perplexity?
What has not worked? What have they learned from that?
How have partnerships driven growth? Lessons on what makes a good vs bad partnership?
Why does Raman think paid acquisition is a drug and Perplexity do not do it? How does Raman advise other founders when it comes to paid acquisition?

2. Acquisition, Retention, Churn: Mastering the Basics:

Why does Raman think that brand marketing is BS? When does it become more important?
What are the simplest things startups and product teams can do to drive retention up?
How do Perplexity count an “engaged user”? What metric suggests they have a retained user?
What is the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to A/B tests?

3. How Perplexity Built a Growth Machine:

Why does Raman advise all founders to hire more former founders?
How does the way you manage founders turned employees differ from employees who have never been founders?
What is the must under appreciated growth channel today that has worked for Perplexity?
What growth channel has been the biggest flop for Perplexity? What did Raman learn from losing money on the channel?

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

20Growth: Inside Perplexity's Growth Machine: What Worked, What Did Not Work | Why Paid Acquisition is a Drug and Brand Marketing is BS | The Good, Bad and Ugly of A/B Tests and Why Micro-Optimisations are Under-Rated with Raman Malik

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

The Importance of User Engagement

Growth Team Structure and Strategy

Micro-Optimizations vs. Big Swings

Effective Acquisition Strategies

Retention as a Major Focus

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts