In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Krish Ramineni, Co-founder and CEO of Fireflies.ai.  The Fireflies.ai video conferencing bot is an AI assistant that takes searchable notes to help teams maximize their productivity on Zoom, MSFT, Webex, and other video conferencing platforms. We dive in with Krish to get to the heart of why Product-Led Growth has proven to be the right approach for his team, why it is not right for everyone, and why Fireflies now plans to move beyond their purely self-serve model. And that might be what makes this conversation so interesting. Even though Fireflies has crushed it with PLG they are also learning and adapting every day.  “Let people buy the way they want to buy” is a mantra for Krish and his team, but through data and experimentation, they are continuing to better understand what drives value for their customers. They have learned that some users do need a more conversational approach to succeed, so Krish is hiring a sales team to support that audience. We have seen evolutions like this from purely self-serve to hybrid models in other fast-growing companies like Slack and Hubspot and it shows how the best PLG companies are always working to better understand their growth engines and customers. So dive in with Sean and Ethan as they look to uncover what’s driving breakout growth success at Fireflies.ai The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed: *  From Project Manager at Microsoft to Fireflies.ai (06:35)*  Let people buy the way they want to buy (12:19)*  Why hiring salespeople is now on the radar (13:54)* Not every product is right for PLG, but it shines for collaboration tools (16:49)*  Building and monitoring predictability in growth (41:12)*  Growth is repeatable (54:16)And much, much, more . . . Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Is differentiation always important? If you are trying to grow, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr, say it absolutely is, but it is not just about offering unique features. That’s the topic of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short. Learn why it iscrucial to understand what the must-have experience looks like through the eyes of your customers, and why that is important in helping you to differentiate your business even in a crowded market. You might be surprised as you learn how Sean approached differentiation when he was interim head of growth at Dropbox. Or, you might find some inspiration as Ethan describes a company he is working with now that is launching a new product that will compete against products that solve the same problem for customers. Perhaps this will get you thinking about new questions to ask your customers to better distinguish your offerings. Either way, we think you will enjoy it! So jump in, and in less than 10 minutes you will have food for thought as you work to achieve breakout growth.We discussed: * The hot market trap; why copycats struggle to grow (01:03)* Differentiation is not just about nifty features or lower pricing (01:51)* What do customers see as unique? A lesson from Dropbox (03:41)* Why you should never assume fit transfers across products (05:24)* Fast-followers and other takeaways (07:21) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Tony Beltramelli, Uizard’s Co-founder and CEO. If you can picture a perfect up-and-to-the-right curve, then you can visualize what growth looks like for this AI-powered product design tool created for non-designers. To learn what is powering the company’s success we asked Tony to dive further into a LinkedIn post he published where he asked the question, “What did we learn and what did we do differently?” It turned into an amazing discussion. Product and growth people can easily see the appeal of a rapid-prototyping tool that can turn even hand-drawn sketches into websites, mobile apps, and software designs, but despite that promise, Uizard (pronounced Wizard) was still struggling to grow in its early days. As a technical founder, Tony was frustrated that he could not just fix the problem by writing more code.  Fortunately, with learnings from “Hacking Growth” and insights from Superhuman’s CEO on building a Product/Market Fit Engine, Tony and his team discovered what was actually driving must-have experiences for users. That proved to be a huge confidence booster, and with those learnings, the company’s trajectory shifted quickly and drastically. What we love about this conversation is Tony’s honesty and enthusiasm. Even though his LinkedIn post took pride in the company’s huge achievements, he wasn’t bragging. It seems that Tony wanted to share what he learned on this “wild ride” to inspire and help others. Turning customer learnings into processes, investing in data, and narrowing the company’s focus have all been key elements of Uizard’s success, but it also appears that creating a great culture to support those efforts has been equally important.  As of our recording, Uizard is looking for Growth Engineers and Marketing Designers to join their team, so if you are looking for an early-stage rocket ship, you may want to get in touch. Jump in and let’s find out what is behind Uizard’s breakout growth success. Tony’s original LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tony-beltramelli-513b1219_founders-startup-saas-activity-6889230200631111680-xdSW The Breakout Growth Podcast is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA/featuredWe discussed:* Sharing a hockey stick graphic and learnings from a wild ride and on LinkedIn  (08:30)* Junior founders and early assumptions (11:52)* How the Product/Market Fit Survey helped change the growth trajectory (12:38)* Uizard&rsquo Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

If you want to generate more raving fans for your business build a machine to understand what drives some of your users from awareness to white-hot enthusiasm. That is the theme of this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr. The ”Perfect Customer Loop” is a way to visualize the journey that evangelizer-customers follow as they try, use, and fall in love with your product.  In our last Growth Snack, we talked about the trap companies often fall into when they achieve product/market fit but fail to understand it deeply enough to operationalize growth effectively. This conversation builds on that and will help you avoid that mistake while tapping into the emotions that drive users to your product’s must-have experience. So jump in with us, and in less than 10 minutes you will learn how The Perfect Customer Loop can help you accelerate growth.We discussed: * “The Perfect Customer Loop”, a tool for dialing-in product/market fit (00:34)* The value of visualizing retention and referral in action (02:56)* How teams win with this exercise (04:03)* Leveraging the learnings to improve speed-to-value  (05:23)* Warning; don’t fall into this trap (05:41) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Mayur Gupta, Gannett’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer.  Very few industries have been as dramatically impacted by digital disruption as the newspaper industry, so we wanted to learn from Mayur how he approaches and looks to drive growth in a world of constant change.  Gannett owns USA Today and more than 1000 other daily and weekly publications. As the world has shifted from print to digital consumption of media, the company has had to evolve from its legacy media roots into a content subscription business. Mayur describes Gannett today as “The Netflix of non-fiction content” and that has meant a new approach to marketing and growth. What has not changed is Mayur’s underlying beliefs about what drives sustainable growth. Mayur describes growth as foundational, and not just a tactic or a hack. And he goes on to explain that sustainable growth is a mindset and culture where you work to create flywheels that grow the brand, grow the user base, and grow user value. So when the world is changing around you, as is now the norm in the newspaper business, there is still firm ground from which to view and seize opportunities.  This is our second conversation with Mayur, who joined The Breakout Growth Podcast a few years ago when he was at Freshly. He also previously led growth at Spotify. So as we look to learn more about how to lead and navigate growth in a rapidly changing environment Mayur’s perspective is both unique and powerful.  Let’s jump in with Mayur Gupta, and don’t forget to subscribe to `the Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zAWe discussed:* Joining Gannett, “The Netflix of non-fiction content” (06:44)* The formula for sustainable growth: grow the brand, grow the user base, grow user value (10:23)* Seizing digital growth while respecting a loyal but ebbing print market (17:29)* North Star Priorities, OKRs, and Cross-functional pods (35:00)* Managing through data blind spots (26:00)* Establishing ourselves as a “trusted destination” (54:23)* Growth is a foundation and an outcome (56:00) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

What are the biggest mistakes companies make after they find product/market fit? Find out in this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr. It can be hard enough to find product/market fit in the first place, but even companies that do achieve this milestone often fail to build sustainable growth. So in this discussion, we tackle two key reasons why companies tend to stumble at this juncture. But more importantly, we talk about the strategies successful teams employ to avoid these errors and thrive. Product/market fit isn’t a gate that you pass through and then leave behind as you move on to growth. It’s the foundation on which you build and operationalize your business. So jump in with us and find out how to stay focused on what really matters at a crucial time in your organization’s journey to breakout growth success.   We discussed:  * Two common mistakes for companies with product/market fit (00:36)  * How teams can focus on learnings to avoid mistake #1 (01:52)  * Why teams get this wrong (04:24)  * Monitoring product/market fit to stay on track (05:40)  * Product/market fit; not just a startup thing (06:36)  Please subscribe to our new Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zA Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Oren Kaniel, AppsFlyer’s CEO and cofounder. AppsFlyer is a mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform. When Apple announced the vast app tracking transparency changes it deployed in 2021 it shook the Mobile Marketing Partner (MMP) ecosystem. So we wanted to learn from Oren how a fast-growing company like his was able to navigate and lead through this massive sea change. One of the standout moments from our conversation was when Oren explained that as these external forces of change began to manifest around him, he asked the question, “What do we know won’t change?” With so much uncertainty in the industry, knowing what he and his team could safely rely on to stay the same helped define the starting point from which they could meet the challenges and embrace new opportunities as they emerged. This was quite instructive and fits in with the longer view of the world Oren takes. Rather than getting hung up on what will happen in the next year or two, he tries to look at the world through the lens of ‘where are we going,’ five years, ten years, and even beyond. In the startup world, it is often difficult to expand one’s view beyond the urgency of the moment, but AppsFlyer’s success demonstrates the importance of balancing that urgency with what will be important to the business over the longer term. Google recently announced its own round of privacy changes, similar to what Apple has instituted. Undoubtedly, this will further impact AppsFlyer and the entire mobile ecosystem. Despite the chaos this creates, companies like AppsFlyer will find ways to continue to thrive and grow.   Dive in with us and find out how to lead growth when the world around you is in flux, and please subscribe to our new Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zAWe discussed:* The beginning of AppsFlyer; noticing an imbalance in 2010 (06:14)* The business of enabling businesses; 10,000 partners from Salesforce to Facebook (10:21)* Apple and IDFA; staying focused through challenge and change (24:52)* “What we know won’t change” (28:44)*  A future with winners and more complex solutions (56:07)And much, much, more . . . Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Prioritizing experiments is a bit of an art and a science, but how do you get it right? Find out in this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short with Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr. When Sean was struggling to find a good way for teams he led to compare growth ideas across dimensions he needed a tool that would balance the need to move the needle with the need to move fast. He came up with ICE scoring, and since then, thousands of growth teams have used this as their starting point for choosing experiments.  In this Growth Snack, we share insights that will help you tune whatever approach you use for prioritizing experiments.  Whether you use ICE or another system, this quick conversation can help you think about the best ways to surface and choose the high-impact ideas most likely to accelerate growth in your business. We discussed:  * What’s important when picking growth ideas to test (00:57)  * The basics of Impact  (02:59)  * Understanding Confidence (04:09)  * Using a little bit of creativity to assess Ease (05:13)  * Haphazard testing and other pitfalls (06:30)And much, much, more . . .  Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Victoria Repa, founder and CEO of BetterMe, a Ukraine-based health and wellness app developer, shares her journey of growing the company to over 100 million users. She discusses the balance between business growth strategies and the importance of empathy during the Ukraine conflict. Victoria emphasizes user-centric development, highlighting how feedback drives innovation in their health coaching and mental health offerings. The conversation dives into the strategic use of push notifications for user engagement, showcasing BetterMe's commitment to fostering healthier lifestyles.

In this week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr chat with Kevin Yip, Blueboard’s Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer. Blueboard is a platform that allows companies to reward employees with amazing experiences; anything from a skydiving adventure to dinner at a Michelin-rated restaurant is fair game. How does a company with such a unique business concept not only achieve product/market fit but stay dynamic enough to retain it through challenging times? In this episode, we find out. While entrepreneurs often dream of bringing new ideas to market that nobody else has thought of, it can be a huge challenge to get from zero to one with a completely new idea. Kevin and his co-founder had their work cut out for them in their early days. They literally went door-to-door to try to get companies and their HR teams excited about the value of Blueboard experiences.  An intro into GoPro proved to be a boon for the fledgling business, and eventually, Blueboard’s vision of an experience marketplace came to life.  The team continued to dial-in product/market fit. They learned how to more effectively sell into HR, they developed feedback loops to ensure that as employees enjoyed Blueboard rewards they were able to effectively share their experiences with their colleagues and more. The company had found its footing and was on a roll and then Covid hit. But Kevin’s team understood their product/market fit and quickly figured out how they could continue to bring value to employers and their employees in the new stay-at-home environment. Take a listen, and please subscribe to our new Breakout Growth Podcast YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-K_CY4-IrZ_auEIs0j97zAWe discussed:* “Rewards really matter;” how Blueboard makes an impact (08:29)  * Customer vs. investor conversation; why it’s not just about giving employees more money (38:41)* Door-to-door; finding product-market fit one company at a time  (26:01)* The James Bond Experience (32:01)* What happens when the world shuts down; product/market fit and COVID (33:55)* Feedback loops; amplifying the Bluebaord experience (42:28)And much, much, more . . . Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe