Gina Gotthilf, co-founder of a stealth-mode education startup and former VP of Marketing at Duolingo, shares her insights on growth strategies. She discusses the importance of engagement and retention for startups and how AI transforms education by personalizing learning. Gina highlights the role of PR in driving organic growth and emphasizes the need for creativity under resource constraints. She also reflects on her journey connecting with Gen Z and plans to become an influencer to learn from her audience.

Teresa Torres, a Product Discovery Coach and author of Continuous Discovery Habits, shares her wealth of knowledge in product development. She emphasizes the need for teams to focus on outcomes rather than just features, fostering better customer engagement. Torres discusses the critical role of customer feedback in driving business growth and how continuous discovery can shape successful products. She also highlights the importance of curiosity in organizations and the value of balancing customer needs with business goals for sustainable growth.

Vickie Peng, a Partner at Sequoia Capital and former product leader at Instagram and Polyvore, shares her journey from product management to venture capital. She discusses the critical role of conviction in startups, emphasizing problem understanding and customer happiness. Vickie outlines Sequoia’s Arc Program, which accelerates growth for pre-PMF companies. She also highlights retention's importance as a foundation for sustainable growth and delves into the collaboration of cross-functional teams in shaping successful products.

In this enlightening discussion, Pablo Srugo, a Partner at Mistral VC and host of The Product Market Fit Show, shares his venture capital insights. He emphasizes that product/market fit is an ongoing pursuit, shaped by deep customer engagement and adaptability. Pablo highlights the importance of sustained growth over rapid revenue, using real-world examples from successful startups. He also discusses the critical dynamics between founders and their teams, underscoring how complementary personalities can drive success in achieving product/market fit.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify and YouTubeEpisode Overview:In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr sit down with Tom Smith, CEO and Founder of GWI, a London-based consumer research software company. Tom shares the 15-year journey of GWI, from its bootstrapped beginnings to its current position as a global leader in consumer insights. The conversation explores how GWI has scaled by leveraging technology, particularly the recent integration of AI, to make consumer data more accessible and actionable for companies worldwide.What You’ll Learn:* From Bootstrapping to Scale: Discover how GWI transitioned from a scrappy startup to a 600-person global company by evolving its product and staying ahead of market trends.* The Power of AI: Learn why Tom believes AI is the most exciting development in market research in the last decade and how GWI is integrating AI to democratize access to consumer insights.* Customer Insights at Scale: How GWI helps organizations, from TikTok to Chelsea FC, make data-driven decisions using a vast dataset of over 20 million consumers across 55 countries.* Navigating the SaaS Transition: Hear about the pivotal moment when GWI transitioned from selling research services to building a SaaS platform and the impact it had on the company's growth.* Building for the Future: The challenges and opportunities of integrating AI into GWI's product and how it aligns with their long-term mission to make consumer insights accessible to all professionals, not just researchers.Key Takeaways:* "AI is the most exciting thing that's happened to market research. It’s going to transform how people access and use data." — Tom Smith* "Our success came when we focused not just on selling data, but on making that data useful and easy to access for everyone, not just researchers." — Tom SmithTimestamps:* [00:00] – Introduction: Sean and Ethan kick off the conversation with Tom Smith.* [04:00] – Tom shares GWI’s backstory and early struggles bootstrapping during the 2009 financial crisis.* [09:00] – The turning point: GWI’s transition to a SaaS model and how it changed their business trajectory.* [15:00] – Real-world examples: How companies like TikTok and Chelsea FC use GWI data to drive decision-making.* [20:00] – AI integration: How GWI is using AI to simplify consumer research and enhance user experience.* [29:00] – The challenges of scaling a 600-person company and staying agile in the face of rapid technological change.* [40:00] – Reflections on growth: Tom discusses the power of subscription-based growth and how his understanding of growth has evolved over time.Why Listen:If you’re curious about how AI is reshaping industries, particularly market research, or want to hear the story of a company that bootstrapped its way to international success, this episode is for you. Tom Smith’s journey with GWI offers valuable lessons for both startup founders and established businesses looking to scale.Links & Resources:* GWI Website: Visit here* Follow Tom Smith on LinkedIn: Connect here* Subscribe to The Breakout Growth Podcast: Subscribe hereJoin the Conversation:If you enjoyed this episode, share your thoughts on social media and tag us! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps more people find the show. Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Join a thrilling adventure as the host shares insights from a three-month journey exploring global growth strategies. Discover how cultural differences shape business approaches in Brazil, Japan, and India. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the humorous chaos of travel, including a disruptive flight story. Learn about the transformative impact of hands-on workshops and the importance of local knowledge in global markets. Plus, dive into a fascinating comparison of India's and China's technological landscapes!

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with positioning expert, April Dunford, author of the best-selling books, “Obviously Awesome” and “Sales Pitch.” April had a successful career as a marketing and operations executive at companies including IBM and Nortel and it was in these roles that she developed her passion and approach to building effective positioning. Today she shares this passion and her knowledge as a consultant, speaker, and writer with companies around the world.  In “Sales Pitch”, April lays out her hypothesis that marketers have been taught storytelling that doesn’t work for sales. She says 60% of deals that are started are never finished so it’s often indecisiveness and the status quo that sales teams must work to overcome. Even if you are not focused on sales, you will find a lot of value in this discussion. Messaging and positioning are fundamental to growth and what we get to in this conversation is a deeper look into how businesses can differentiate themselves, help their audiences discover value, and ultimately break through the noise. What makes this especially fun and useful is that April isn’t afraid to take contrary and non-obvious positions. As an example, she doesn’t like the concept of Product/Market Fit, and since we do, it made for some good back-and-forth! So jump into this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast as we learn more about the art of effective positioning with April Dunford. And thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast. Don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed:* April's story from executive to “Positioning is my jam!”(06:46)* The problem with most sales pitches (09:44)* Why it matters that 60% of started deals are never finished (22:04)* Building and validating your sales Pitch (27:02)* Positioning isn’t static; how to keep it fresh (52:44)And much, much, more . . .  Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Ron Schneidermann, CEO of AllTrails, shares insights into the company's dynamic growth journey post-pandemic. He discusses ambitious strategies for international expansion and the complexities of adapting to new markets. Ron emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, balancing vulnerability with authenticity to drive innovation. He reflects on the challenges of team management and scaling the product while maintaining a strong culture. The conversation highlights valuable lessons in breaking into diverse markets and the necessity of genuine local connections.

According to Todd Olson, Pendo’s founder and CEO, ‘the market isn’t just receptive to AI, it’s demanding it!’  So in this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr dive deep with Todd, to better understand what this and other changes in the world of product, marketing, and growth will mean for businesses. Pendo helps companies accelerate how they build and launch products that customers actually want by combining the power of analytics tools with messaging and customer experience features. For Product-Led Growth companies, this can be quite powerful as it helps teams intelligently use analytics to understand and drive specific valuable behaviors.  In this spirited and fun conversation, we get a sense of Todd’s approach and philosophy, and how that has helped drive Pendo’s international growth over the past 10 years.  From the outset, the company was focused on improving customer experiences in software, but in the past few years, they have been able to accelerate that mission by investing in machine learning. Todd says it’s really important to understand that the “mindset drives the tech,” not the other way around, and he’s built a culture to support that. Just as with our last podcast episode with the VP of EMEA from Moloco, Todd is laser-focused on building enthusiasm around outcomes from technology, not on the technology itself. He says teams have a tendency to celebrate when they ship software, but really the celebration should start when the desired outcome is achieved. It’s this kind of candid and thoughtful growt-minded thinking that made for a great discussion and undoubtedly has been foundational to Pendo’s success thus far. So jump in! And thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast. Don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed:* Building Pendo with a mission to improve experiences in software (06:10)* Speed of innovation is important, but we have to balance change (13:22)* What AI means for businesses and how to embrace it (18:14)* Marketing and product’s relationship to data has changed at a different pace (22:00)* In the future, every PM is thinking about growth (37:31)* Smarter and more efficient: the impact of a down economy (47:58)And much, much, more . . . Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat AI and growth with Ben Jeger, Moloco’s Vice President of EMEA. Moloco’s machine learning-based advertising solutions help marketers take advantage of advertising opportunities outside of the “walled gardens” of Google, Meta, and Amazon. In the past year, AI has taken on a life of its own for good reason, but we wanted to dig beneath the hype cycle to understand how this technology will really impact the world of growth. With Ben, we got just that. Moloco hasn’t changed its messaging to capitalize on the AI whirlwind, even though it’s fair to say they are an AI company.  They have simply continued their relentless focus on delivering customer outcomes.  In performance marketing, that is the only thing that matters, and as Ben says, “Fancy words don’t get us there.” So in this discussion, we learn how these tools level the playing field for marketers and why they are so valuable for augmenting human capabilities. In addition, we get a picture of why Moloco has grown 5x in the past two years to a $2+ billion valuation, and how Ben is approaching his task of expanding the business throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Thanks for listening to the Breakout Growth Podcast, and don’t forget, to watch us and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed:* Moloco’s 10-year, overnight success story (07:50)* Defining AI and Machine Learning (10:58)* In performance marketing, sustainability is about long-term outcomes (14:41)* “It’s not a lie to say we are an AI company,” but what matters is outcomes (17:51)* Creating value outside of the “walled gardens” (27:43)* Growing Moloco beyond gaming (33:52)And much, much, more . . .  Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe