Growth for Early Stage Startups
Chandini Ammineni Distribution Partner
@ammineni
@ammineni #500STRONG
Google Campus Exchange Program, Seoul Oct 2016
GROWTH
@ammineni #500STRONG
@ammineni #500STRONG
SO MUCH TO DO!!!
Shouldn't every startup be doing “Growth”?
@ammineni #500STRONG
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTS Pivots (Product, Messaging, Target Customer) Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
@ammineni #500STRONG
Product-Market Fit
A product that solves a problem “well enough” for a “big enough” market
@ammineni #500STRONG
Acquisition w/o Value != Growth
@ammineni #500STRONG
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTS Pivots (Product, Messaging, Target Customer) Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG
Engagement & Retention ?
@ammineni #500STRONG
Engagement vs Retention
@ammineni #500STRONG
Engagement• Time Spent • # of screens or pages • avg visits/month • DAU/MAU
Retentionhow many users are still visiting 30, 60, and 90 days later?
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTSPivots (Product, Messaging, Target
Customer)Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG
First 1000 rabid fans
ITERATE ONPersonas & Hooks
(Problem Statement, Solution Statement, Language, Emotions - Frustrations, Fears, Aspirations, Motivations, Goals)
@ammineni #500STRONG
DEFINEWho Are They? Where Do They Hangout? What is their Problem?
TESTQualitative Data Collection
Quantitative Data Collection
USE THEIR LANGUAGE!
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU, IT’S ABOUT THEM!
Macro Iterations
Non-Scalable work
• product features • target audience • messaging
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTSPivots (Product, Messaging, Target
Customer)Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG
• Double down on what’s already working
• Fix leaks in your AARRR Funnel
@ammineni #500STRONG
Optimization & Expansion
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTS Pivots (Product, Messaging, Target Customer) Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
@ammineni #500STRONG
Qualitative Data
@ammineni #500STRONG
Qualitative Data
@ammineni #500STRONG
• Why did you sign up/download/buy? • How would you feel if you can no longer use the
product? • What alternate solutions do you use to solve this
problem? • What is the primary benefit you have received from x? • Have you recommended this product to anyone? • How would you describe this product to your friend? • What type of person do you think would benefit from
this? • How can we improve this to better meet your needs?
Quantitative Data
Img credit: Brian Balfour @bbalfour coelevate.com
@ammineni #500STRONG
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTS Pivots (Product, Messaging, Target Customer) Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
@ammineni #500STRONG
Scalable Predictable Repeatable
Japanese ManufacturingTPS Kaizen 5 Whys Lean Kanban
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Adoption in Business
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Adoption in s/w
@ammineni #500STRONG
Focus on Fast Learning
@ammineni #500STRONG
No Goals / No Process
@ammineni #500STRONG
(Disclaimer: No turkeys were hurt in the of making this headless turkey gif)
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTS Pivots (Product, Messaging, Target Customer) Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
@ammineni #500STRONG
Growth Mindset
• NO FAILURE
• Everything is a lesson learnt
• Hypotheses validated or invalidated
• Move Fast, Break Things, take Calculated Risks
• Momentum in experimentation required to outrun failures
• Faster Learnings = Faster Earnings
Most of your growth strategies won’t work. The ones that do will eventually stop. Growth is never done.
@ammineni #500STRONG
Pre P/M Fit Post P/M Fit
GOAL Get to P/M fit Scalable, repeatable, predictable growth
METRIC Engagement & Retention Growth Rate
EXPERIMENTSPivots (Product, Messaging, Target
Customer)Optimization + Expansion
METHOD Hustle/ Non-Scalable Work
Scalable channels & processes
DATA Qualitative + quantitative Quantitative + qualitative
FOCUS Fast Learning Fast Learning
PROCESS LeanStack/SCRUM Growth Machine/SCRUM
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG
Double down on what’s already working
Fixing leaks in your AARRR Funnel
@ammineni #500STRONG
Optimization & Expansion
Identify what already worksProduct: Core Value of product, Magic Moment - obvious post P/M fit
Acquisition: Customer Segmentation Acquisition Channel Segmentation If applicable, Segment Product Category
Other: Customer Service, Brand Value - Qualitative feedback
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Doubling Down - How?Doubling down on Product Reducing friction, referrals, push notifications…
Doubling down on Acquisition Spend more money, broader reach, expanding keyword list…
Doubling down on Most Valuable Customers Evangelists, heavy spenders, better acquisition targeting…
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Optimization & Expansion
Double down on what’s already working
Fixing leaks in your AARRR Funnel
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
The Pirate FunnelACQUISITION
RETENTION
REVENUE
REFERRAL
ACTIVATION1000 Visitors
750 performed core action
300 tagged/invited friends
50 came back a week later
10 paid accnt
Example
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Order can change depending on business model
The Pirate Funnel
ACQUISITION
REFERRAL
REVENUE
RETENTION
ACTIVATION
1000 Visitors
500 Accnts created
100 Users
50 Advocates
10 Customers
10/1000 = 1% conversion rate
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
The Pirate Funnel
ACQUISITION
REFERRAL
REVENUE
RETENTION
ACTIVATION
1000 Visitors cvr = 50%
cvr = 20%
cvr = 10%
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Funnel Optimization
Fixing Leaks or Removing Friction = Funnel Optimization
• Asking for signup/login after/during product value delivery
• Exit pop-up survey • Login with social credentials • Ad landing pages • Personalized user experience (geo, return user)
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Growth EquationACQUISITION
REFERRAL
REVENUE
RETENTION
ACTIVATION
1000 Visitors cvr = 50%
cvr = 20%
cvr = 10%
Revenue = Visitors x activation cvr x retention cvr x revenue cvr x AOV
$2500 = 1000 x 0.5 x 0.2 x 0.1 x $250@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Bottom of funnel = Higher impact
@ammineni #MHW #500STRONG@ammineni #500STRONG
Thank You
@ammineni #500STRONG