The Breakout Growth Podcast

Currently valued at around $13 Billion, ZoomInfo, made its Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ in early June. It was the technology sector’s largest IPO of 2020, and in this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews ZoomInfo’s, CEO Henry Shuck. We discover how using data, technology, and insights, Henry and his team have built a platform that today is used by more than 200,000 sales and marketing professionals at 16,000 companies to help them find their next best customers.Henry explains that the journey began when he was a law school student. Having worked for a company in the same space that ZoomInfo would eventually occupy, he saw an opportunity to help an underserved area of the market and launched Discover.org (5:00). The business took off, but it was learnings from a webinar a few years later that helped him see how sales and marketing automation could be transformational for the business. Using these emerging technologies to power meaningful interactions with customers, the company--which was bootstrapped through 2014--rapidly expanded and positioned itself for growth through acquisition (12:40).Discover.org eventually bought the original company Henry had worked at while he was in college, and in 2017 they completed the purchase of ZoomInfo. Merging Discover.org’s powerful tools with ZoomInfo’s tremendous industry breadth proved fruitful, and today the combined company has more than 1300 employees. While the large organization is built to support and drive a sales-driven model, Henry explains that an always-experimenting mindset, using data at every step in the customer journey, is actually the foundation of ZoomInfo’s breakout growth (34:00).We discussed: The story of how Discover.org came into existence to fill a market need, and how that eventually led to the acquisition of ZoomInfo, and the recent IPO (5:00)How sales and marketing automation transformed the business and became the company’s competitive edge (12:40)Key challenges that have threatened the company’s success, but also helped the company thrive (23:52)How experimentation powers growth within ZoomInfo’s sales-driven model (24:00)The intricate organizational structure, that relies on specialization to acquire and retain an enthusiastic user base (28:30) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

With more than 4000 course offerings on its online education platform, over 65 million people have found opportunities to learn new skills and improve their lives through Coursera. That demand is growing rapidly as Covid-19 changes how we work and interact with the world around us. In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Shwetabh Mittal, Coursera’s Senior Director of Product Management to learn how the company has built a 3-sided platform in its mission to provide universal access to the world’s best education.Coursera offers learners access to high-quality classes from top universities at no cost, as well as more structured fee-based learning programs. At the same time, businesses can use the platform to re-skill and upskill their workforces (4:37), and university partners provide full degree programs to extend their reach beyond their campus footprint. To support these solutions, Coursera has developed a pedagogy designed to help learners stay engaged and retain knowledge in an online format (6:49). And powering growth is an obsession with creating learner value and driving successful learner outcomes (22:45).As Sean digs into the business with Shwetabh we learn how the company’s B2B growth engine taps into the strategic agenda of companies looking to develop the skills their workforces will need to compete into the future, and how Coursera’s Global Skills Index Report helps in that process (40:27). In addition, we will gain insight into the team structures that facilitate collaboration and experimentation in the growth process, and we will find out more about how the company has met the challenges of Covid-19 for its University partners.We discussed: The learner-focused pedagogy Coursera has developed to create more value for users (6:49)How Coursera makes money working with consumers, businesses, universities and governments (9:46)Why  tapping CEO level agendas has driven B2B growth, and the process the company uses to engage the right decision-makers (25:02)The team structure and organizational processes helping Coursera sustain growth (33:51)How the company brings prospects into the pipeline, identifies their needs, and looks to engage them effectively to drive sales (39:23)Learn more about Shwetabh Mittal, Coursera’s Senior Director of Product Management at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mittalshwetabh/Learn more about Sean Ellis at www.SeanEllis.me Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Tally’s Vice President of Growth, Mark Powlen. Tally offers an automated debt manager, which analyzes a user’s financial profile to determine the best and fastest way to pay down credit card debt. Their algorithm finds the lowest available interest rates and leverages an integrated credit line to saves customers money as they reduce their debt. Tally only makes money when their customers derive this value, and this deliberate “alignment with users” is an underlying theme of Tally’s breakout growth success story (24:58).Making users less stressed and better off financially is the company’s mission, and to make this actionable the company has built teams and processes around a North Star Metric that focuses on how quickly users are getting out of debt (23:40). This informs and drives a test, learn and adapt growth approach driven by Tally’s dedicated growth team, but embraced company-wide (13:05). In this episode, we will learn how Tally drives growth through cross-functional alignment and how intentional growth leadership has made this possible even as the company has grown to a team of 132 employees from just 8  four years ago. We will also dig deep into Mark’s approach to high-velocity experimentation and learn how the development and prioritization of tests leverage quantitative learnings from analytics paired with qualitative information from user research and customer support feedback loops. For fans of Sean Ellis’ “Hacking Growth” this episode will certainly resonate, as Mark and his team have embraced the book’s key principles on their way to breakout growth success.In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Tally’s Vice President of Growth, Mark Powlen. Tally offers an automated debt manager, which analyzes a user’s financial profile to determine the best and fastest way to pay down credit card debt. Their algorithm finds the lowest available interest rates and leverages an integrated credit line to saves customers money as they reduce their debt. Tally only makes money when their customers derive this value, and this deliberate “alignment with users” is an underlying theme of Tally’s breakout growth success story (24:58).Making users less stressed and better off financially is the company’s mission, and to make this actionable the company has built teams and processes around a North Star Metric that focuses on how quickly users are getting out of debt (23:40). This informs and drives a test, learn and adapt growth approach driven by Tally’s dedicated growth team, but embraced company-wide (13:05). In this episode, we will learn how Tally drives growth through cross-functional alignment and how intentional growth leadership has made this possible even as the company has grown to a team of 132 employees from just 8  four years ago. We will also dig deep into Mark’s approach to high-velocity experimentation and learn how the development and prioritization of tests leverage quantitative learnings from analytics paired with qualitative information from user research and customer support feedback loops. For fans of Sean Ellis’ “Hacking Growth” this episode will certainly resonate, as Mark and his team have embraced the book’s key principles on their way to breakout growth success.We discussed: How lessons of the last financial crisis have helped Tally through Covid-1 Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis is joined once again by Ethan Garr to discuss what’s driving growth at the world’s fastest-growing companies. The conversation focuses on learnings from Sean’s interviews with companies nailing growth in the challenging world of Hardware. While Sean and Ethan expected growth for businesses building hard goods to be vastly different from their personal experiences leading growth for software and mobile apps, they found themselves pleasantly surprised as they honed in on learnings from hardware companies that are applicable for anyone seeking to drive breakout growth in their organization.Iterating to product/market fit is often not practical for hardware companies, but innovative approaches to drawing out market signals have the ability to tap into the love consumers have for product ideas even when an MVP or prototype isn’t possible (1:59). While a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign informed Glowforge as to who would embrace their 3D Laser Printers for makers and crafters (2:44), Brynn Putnam, the founder of the Mirror, learned through a survey of her boutique gym clients that wall mirrors could provide the immersive experiences consumers hunger for in their connected-fitness devices for home workouts.The conversation also looks at the interdependencies of growth drivers seen throughout these interviews. While EVBox, a manufacturer of electric vehicle charging stations and software, showcased how a focus on customer advocacy can drive referral and retention cycles, a look into AfterShockz, a manufacturer of innovative headphones, brought to life how video and other methods for simulating and showcasing value for users can play an important role in growth (20:44).Even though experimentation can be difficult in the slower cycles of hardware development, Sean & Ethan discover how these companies are still able to use a test/learn culture in their approach. Although hardware companies have unique challenges to overcome, in this episode, you will find that the fundamental tools and techniques driving growth at the world’s fastest-growing companies can cohesively be applied across industries and markets.We discussed: Product/Market Fit as the foundation for growth; how retained engagement is crucial across industries (3:00)How hardware companies tap into love for their products through community building and customer engagement (10:45)The challenges hardware companies face in using data to drive growth, and how that has changed with connected devices (6:42)Why the interdependence of growth drivers is critically important for these companies, and how they use tools like video to connect users to value (17:53)How growth is built and nurtured in fast-growing hardware companies with a clear focus on mission, and how team leadership and alignment drives success (34:45) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews the Global Co-CEO of Finder, Fred Schebesta. Finder is on a mission to help people make better buying decisions with comparison tools, guides, and news, and their breakout growth story is one of constant reinvention. Fred wants Finder to be more than a unicorn, and to sustain growth long into the future (12:50). To do this, he believes the company needs to take big risks. Today, that means shifting the organization from a media company to a product and technology company.The company’s mobile app represents the beginning of this shift. Finder has already helped consumers make 74 million decisions, but their goal is to help the world make a billion decisions. That’s difficult when consumers are wired to use Google for every search, but as the Finder app intercepts and predicts purchasing intent, the company hopes to disrupt both itself and the market (11:15). In this discussion, Sean digs into the mindset and approach to growth that is allowing Finder to thrive and expand on the global stage. The company serves more than 10 countries with over 300 employees, and Finder recognizes that product/market fit is not a constant across the globe. Fred explains his personal passion for listening to and identifying customer needs and the importance of this approach as the company reimagines itself into these markets, and we also learn why this approach has helped the company adapt to the challenges of a world swept by Covid-19. While nothing can fully prepare an organization for a global crisis, Finder has been able to use its reinvention-based DNA to continue growing through this period.We discussed: Finder’s reinventions from a blog-based comparison site to a media company and now to product and technology company (2:05)Fred’s reasons for taking big risks despite the company’s and his own success, and why he thinks this critical for sustained growth (11:54)The challenges of expanding into other markets and how Finder has approached and finds product/market fit in each country (14:33)Leading growth with a distributed, growing team through the Covid-19 pandemic (29:00)Turning the desire to help the world make a billion decisions into a Northstar Metric  (36:50)How Finder’s growth engine, begins with performance channels and moves to brand and awareness channels, taking into account the nuances of each market (40:00) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Marlo Struve, Glowforge’s Vice President of Growth. Glowforge is a 3D printer that allows crafters and makers to create unique and innovative things using a subtractive manufacturing process. Where traditional 3D printers add layers of material to create items, Glowforge carves away material using a CO2 laser to reveal a maker’s ideas for prototypes, parts, crafts, and gifts. Breakout growth started with a hugely successful 2015 crowdfunding campaign that yielded more $30 million dollars in 30 days, and while that did demonstrate incredible demand for the concept, it would actually take two years before the first Glowforge printers would be delivered to customers. In this interview, Sean uncovers how the team built off of the excitement and anticipation of the original crowdsourcing campaign to transform customer love for an idea into a flywheel effect that now drives sustainable growth (28:36). He also discovers how the company’s growth mindset stressed the idea of “growing the market while you sell it,” to unlock opportunity and expand the potential userbase (23:02). Perhaps the most interesting part of this conversation is a deep dive into how Glowforge intentionally and skilfully uses friction to unearth a white-hot core of passionate fans and users (19:44). The idea of always working to reduce friction is ingrained in the minds of growth professionals through books, conferences, and interviews, but this discussion may make you think differently about how you might apply “educational friction” to accelerate growth. We discussed: The advantages, opportunities, and challenges that grew out of the company’s crowdsourced beginnings and the two-year period before delivery. (2:20)How early demand served as an indicator of product/market fit and how the company navigated its transition from concept to growth (9:09)Why intentionally introducing friction helps the company distinguish an intensely loyal customer base excited to help share and grow the product (19:44)How an incentivized referral program contributes to 50% of sales. (21:25)The power of Glowforge customer enthusiasm in helping to make a difference during the Covid-19 outbreak (34:25) Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Hugo Pereira, Chief Growth Officer of EVBox, a manufacturer of electric vehicle charging station solutions on a mission to drive sustainable mobility and a zero-emission world. Their breakout growth can partly be attributed to their focus of not just being a market leader in charging manufacturing and development, but instead on being an industry leader (27:56), building mindshare around electric vehicle adoption. To meet their mission and vision, EVBox shifted from a B2C to B2B2C approach and put an incredible emphasis on customer advocacy (13:17). By amplifying the value of customer relationships the company has been able to center their test/learn growth process around effectively meeting the needs of diverse customer sets that include automobile manufacturers, energy companies, fuel retailers, and others. In this interview, we learn about the challenges that come along with this explosive growth. Transferring knowledge as a team grows by 40 - 50 people a month is incredibly challenging (27:03), and Hugo describes how collaborative culture and transparency have made is possible for the company to expand from a dozen employees to more than 600 in five years.Hardware businesses are notoriously complex as there is little room for error when it comes to nailing product/market fit. Hugo explains how a shift in mindset has helped overcome these challenges, and how a culture has emerged where people powered by purpose build the right products in a fast-moving industry (27:40).We discussed:How Covid-19 may change the EV landscape forever, and how that has presented both internal and external challenges and opportunities (11:42).The unique challenges of getting it right vs. getting it fast in the hardware space (26:30).How being acquired in 2017 by a large energy firm gave EVBox more power to form partnerships and make an impact in the industry (29:24).Why managing accountability across the organization is an important part of the growth team’s role in a growing organization (36:00).How bureaucratic control is balanced with a startup mindset that connects to the mission, vision, and values of the company (38.55).  Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Santi Jaramillo, CEO and cofounder of Emplify, a B2B company that combines software and consulting to deliver insights that unlock the potential in teams. We discussed: The challenging path that Emplify took to reach product/market fitHow Emplify drove interest using thought leadership and content marketingThe team structure that Emplify has used to convert highly engaged customersHow the Emplify team overcome the COVID 19 disruption to accelerate their company missionBeyond learning about Emplify’s approach to growth, Santi also shared insights into how teams around the world have been affected by the COVID crisis and ways to help them succeed despite the challenges.  Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Breakout Growth Podcast, Sean Ellis interviews Hitachi Solutions' SVP Operations Jessica Hawk and Growth Team Lead Dean Kroker. They both played a key role in driving growth from a small startup to hundreds of employees and an impressive acquisition by Hitachi.We discussed:How to overcome resistance to growth transformation in larger organizations.Their transformation over the last year from a traditional growth approach of an IT services business to one that effectively uses data and experimentation to accelerate growth. Their response to Covid 19 and how their startup agility and experience with remote implementations at Capax Global has been very helpful for the broader Hitachi solutions team. The importance of applying technical intensity to developing scalable solutions to operational growth challenges.The role of a partner in driving growth when providing services built on the partner's platform.The role that workshops can play in driving the organizational transformation to an agile growth hacking approach in a large company. Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Breakout Growth Podcast I’m speaking with Mark Frank and Scott Orn from Sondermind, a company growing 20% month over month. The founding team of Sondermind recognized that mental health services are way too hard to get for many of the patients who need them. So they built a platform to make it easier for patients to find excellent mental healthcare professionals and navigate the challenges of paying for these services. Sondermind is needed now more than ever and due to their strong mission, they were quickly able to introduce a remote care option.In the episode we discussed the following topics.Role of mission in driving success at SondermindHow they acquire most of their new clientsHow they initially seeded their networkHow they are expanding their network to new statesHow Sondermind managed the fundraising processBest way to communicate with investors after raising fundingHow they keep balance in the two sides of their networkThe answers to these questions are critical to understanding how Sondermind is achieving 20% month over months growth. Get full access to Growth with Sean Ellis at seanellis.substack.com/subscribe