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 Sean’s Substack 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 Sean’s Substack 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 Sean’s Substack 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 Sean’s Substack 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 Sean’s Substack 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 Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

How can growth teams win by borrowing a bit from their engineering counterparts? Find out in this week’s Growth Snack: The Breakout Growth Podcast Short. Here, Sean Ellis and Ethan Garr discuss the idea that growth teams win when they “Write the Report Before they Run the Experiment”.  Ethan says growth teams that do this run better experiments, more frequently, with more predictable outcomes. Sean likes the idea because he has seen just how difficult it can be to get high-tempo testing to take flight. Because this technique forces teams to start with the end in mind as they run experiments, he believes it is a good habit to get into if you are looking to improve your growth trajectory. If you want to learn more about applying this concept after you listen, visit, “Write The Report Before You Run The Experiment” on BreakoutGrowth.net https://bit.ly/3sEo8f0We discussed: * Writing the report first is a good idea if you want to test more effectively (28.81)* Why faster testing shouldn’t come at the expense of quality learnings (01:18)* Documenting what you are going to do; a lesson from GoPractice!  (03:48)*  Begin with the end in mind to think ahead and drive test/learn cycles (04:26)*  Who should build this habit (05:34) Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast is sponsored by Rise with SAP and features Garima Sinha, Instacart’s Head of Growth. Instacart makes it easy to get groceries conveniently delivered to your home, but that is just the beginning. The company is working to bring that same convenience to a wide range of products we use in our daily lives. Garima joined less than a year ago after serving in growth roles at Facebook, so we wanted to learn more about what drove her successful transition and how her experience can help other growth professionals.  People are more mobile in their careers than ever before, but moving from one large fast-growing company to another, especially in a leadership role, can be difficult.  Garima explains that while it was not an easy decision to make the change in the first place, Instacart offered new challenges that she was hungry to embrace. When she says, “there was much to do,” you can hear just how excited she was to take on her new role. Bringing her passion for both the challenges and the mission clearly have been key elements of her success at Instacart, but Garima also offers practical insights when making this kind of career change.  From building a team culture where individuals play a key role in the decision-making process to spending the time to dive into the levers she had less experience with, Garima shares a path that others can follow. And of course, because she is specifically leading growth, this episode is full of actionable insights around data and experimentation as well.  Please remember to check out this week’s sponsor, RISE with SAP S/4Hana Cloud. If you have ambitious goals, SAP is the technology partner you need to scale and drive innovation. Instead of relying on stitched together solutions to manage business finances, operations, and customer relations, leverage the flexibility of SAP’s cloud-based ERP solution to gain the insights that will help drive your breakout growth success.  RISE with SAP Link: bit.ly/3u27Ay6 Please take a moment to rate and review The Breakout Growth Podcast wherever you listen. We discussed:* Grappling with the decision to move from Facebook to Instacart (04:28) * Thinking of growth as the full funnel (13:47)* What Garima did first when taking on this role (15:41)* Conviction; why growth leaders shouldn’t give up easily on their first instincts (34:47)* Deferring decisions to the teams (35:58)And much, much, more . . . Get full access to Sean’s Substack at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

Ron Schneidermann, CEO of AllTrails, discusses his unconventional growth strategy that landed the app a whopping $150 million in funding. He reveals how focusing on product/channel fit before traditional market fit transformed AllTrails into a favorite for outdoor enthusiasts. Ron shares insights on navigating startup challenges, the importance of sustainable growth, and the impact of COVID-19 on user engagement. He also emphasizes humility and strategic alignment with investors as keys to fostering a thriving company culture.