Reforge

Brian Balfour is the founder of Reforge, the former VP of Growth at HubSpot, and a student (and teacher) of product growth. Brian has studied every major platform shift—from Facebook to Apple to Google—and he’s spotted a pattern that’s about to repeat with ChatGPT. In this conversation, you’ll learn: 1. The 4-step cycle every platform follows (and why ChatGPT just entered step 2) 2. Why ChatGPT’s platform launch could be bigger than Facebook’s early platform 3. The exact signals that ChatGPT will launch a third-party platform within six months 4. Why you have six months (not years) to make your platform bet 5. Why companies that don’t integrate with ChatGPT will lose to competitors that do 6. How Zynga grew to $1B by betting on Facebook’s platform early (before it was obvious) 7. Why so few companies are actually doing what they need to be doing right now — Brought to you by: DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers: http://getdx.com/lenny Basecamp—The famously straightforward project management system from 37signals: https://www.basecamp.com/lenny Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life: https://miro.com/lenny — Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-chatgpt-will-be-the-next-big-growth-channel-brian-balfour — My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/170294620/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation — Where to find Brian Balfour: • X: https://twitter.com/bbalfour • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/ • Website: https://brianbalfour.com/ • Substack: https://blog.brianbalfour.com/ • Podcast: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Welcome back, Brian! (04:13) The changing landscape of product growth (05:09) The importance of distribution (08:14) The role of new distribution platforms (09:45) The four-step cycle of distribution platforms (17:38) Examples of platform cycles (30:01) The rise of ChatGPT (44:47) The future of AI agents (46:01) Preferred partners and platform credibility (47:18) Monetization mechanisms and free tiers (48:14) Betting strategies for startups (01:04:34) Adopting AI tools: challenges and strategies (01:08:41) The importance of hard constraints (01:14:23) Effective AI adoption in companies (01:19:05) Lightning round and final thoughts — Referenced: • The Next Great Distribution Shift: https://blog.brianbalfour.com/p/the-next-great-distribution-shift • Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-balfour-10-lessons-on-career • This Week #9: Breaking into growth, leading with influence, and (not) stepping on toes: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/this-week-9-breaking-into-growth • Distribution vs. Innovation: https://a16z.com/distribution-vs-innovation/ • On Platform Shifts and AI: https://caseyaccidental.com/on-platform-shifts-and-ai/ • How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within • Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/thinking-beyond-frameworks-casey • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ • Claude: https://claude.ai/ • Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ • Vine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_(service) • Periscope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periscope_(service) • Myspace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace • Friendster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendster • AltaVista: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltaVista • Lycos: https://www.lycos.com/ • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ • Zynga: https://www.zynga.com/ • TBPN: https://www.tbpn.com/ • Deedy Das on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debarghyadas/ • ChatGPT’s product retention curves are a product manager's wet dream: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/debarghyadas_chatgpts-product-retention-curves-are-a-activity-7338384752393035776-ice1/ • Windsurf: https://windsurf.com/ • Building a magical AI code editor used by over 1 million developers in four months: The untold story of Windsurf | Varun Mohan (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-untold-story-of-windsurf-varun-mohan • Anthropic’s CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropics-cpo-heres-what-comes-next • Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/ • Cursor: https://cursor.com/ • The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell • Notion: https://www.notion.com/ • Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/ • Monday: monday.com • Sierra: http://sierra.ai • He saved OpenAI, invented the “Like” button, and built Google Maps: Bret Taylor on the future of careers, coding, agents, and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/he-saved-openai-bret-taylor • Introducing ChatGPT agent: bridging research and action: https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-agent/ • Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building • Marc Andreessen on Why Optimism Is the Safest Bet: https://nymag.com/marc-andressen-2014-10-20/ • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com • Reforge Insights: https://www.reforge.com/insights • Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/ • 25 proven tactics to accelerate AI adoption at your company: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/25-proven-tactics-to-accelerate-ai • Clouded Judgement: https://cloudedjudgement.substack.com/ • NFX: https://www.nfx.com/news • James Currier: https://www.nfx.com/team/james-currier • Hallway Chat: https://www.hallwaychat.co/ • Bryan Johnson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanrjohnson/ • Silicon Valley on HBO: https://www.hbomax.com/shows/silicon-valley/b4583939-e39f-4b5c-822d-5b6cc186172d • Stick: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/stick/umc.cmc.52w04zy67tiv11p8xvbc57wmc • Ergonofis standing desks: https://ergonofis.com/en-us/collections/standing-desks • Coping with the loss of a child and protecting your time | Brian Balfour (father of 2, CEO and founder Reforge, venture partner): https://www.startupdadpod.com/coping-with-the-loss-of-a-child-and-protecting-your-time-brian-balfour-father-of-2-ceo-and-found/ — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge

Ely Lerner is an EIR at Reforge and an advisor for startups transitioning from traction to hypergrowth. Previously he was Head of Consumer Product at Chime, and before that spent an incredible 8 years at Yelp in a number of different roles including Head of Product at Eat24, and Product Leader/GM at Yelp. In Today's Episode with Ely Lerner We Discuss: 1. Entry into Growth: How did Ely make his way from engineering manager to growth leader? What are a couple of his single biggest takeaways from his time with Yelp and Chime? Why do employees in large companies have to have P&L ownership when innovating within the larger company they are in? 2. Advisors: What, When and How: What are the three different types of advisors founders can work with today? When is the right time to engage with each of them? Should the advisor have had direct experience with the problem you need help with? How should these advisors be compensated; what is normal? What are 1-2 of the biggest reasons startup advisory roles do not work out? 3. Offense vs Defence: The Tricky Balance: What is the difference between offense and defense in product strategy? What should the resource allocation be between the two? What is the right amount of offensive strategies to have on at the same time? How can leaders prevent their defensive teams from feeling like second-class citizens? 4. Ely Lerner: AMA: Why does Ely disagree with many and suggest that horizontal products do have a core ICP? Should growth teams sit on their own or within functions in the org? What are the core reasons teams fail to ship fast? What state should your data be in when you bring in your first growth hire?

Ely Lerner

EIR

Reforge

Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies — Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge. Prior to Reforge, he was the VP of Growth at HubSpot and co-founded three other startups. In today’s episode, Brian shares 10 lessons from his career, growth, and life: • Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person. • Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost. • Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay). • Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months. • Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization. Change one and you affect them all. • Lesson 6: Do the opposite. • Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas. • Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one. • Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches. • Lesson 10: 2x+ the activation energy for things that need to change. — Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-balfour-10-lessons-on-career-growth-and-life/ — Where to find Brian Balfour: • X: https://twitter.com/bbalfour • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/ • Website: https://brianbalfour.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Brian’s background (04:29) His Notion doc of lessons (07:35) Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person (12:39) Implementing lesson 1 and a recap of Reforge Artifacts (16:01) Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost (18:17) Why you should revisit your ideal end state often (20:25) How planning works at Reforge (23:50) Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay) (26:31) The “players, coaches, captains” framework (30:24) How AI will allow for smaller teams (34:13) Small teams do bigger things (34:37) Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months (38:20) Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization  (40:44) Examples of engagement and retention problems from HubSpot and Reforge (46:21) Lesson 6: Do the opposite  (55:25) Brian’s thoughts on category creation (57:39) Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas (1:01:18) The use case map (1:03:38) Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one  (1:11:14) There are many ways to do product (1:16:52) Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches (1:23:49) Advice on setting the tone for group sharing (1:25:07) Lesson 10: You need to give 2x the activation energy for things that need to change (1:32:02) Lightning round — Referenced: • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/ • Frank Slootman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankslootman/ • Artifacts: https://artifacts.reforge.com/artifacts • Ray Dalio’s 5 Step Process: https://commoncog.com/dalios-5-step-process-to-getting-what-you-want/ • Building effective teams: https://www.reforge.com/blog/building-effective-teams • Scott Belsky’s website: https://www.scottbelsky.com/ • MOOCs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course • The Creative Act: A Way of Being: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Act-Way-Being/dp/0593652886/ • A Breakdown of LinkedIn’s AI Assisted Growth Loop: https://brianbalfour.com/essays/a-breakdown-of-linkedins-ai-assisted-growth-loop • Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/ • Acquired podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/ • Unsolicited Feedback podcast: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback • Elena Verna Analyzes Airtable’s Shift to Enterprise and Slack’s Product Roadmap: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback/episode-5 • The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led-sales-elena-verna/ • How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher-lochhead-author-of-play-bigger-niche-down-category/ • Dharmesh Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharmesh/ • The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta-co-creator-of-the-framework/ • How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/ • Target the Right Market: https://hbr.org/2012/10/target-the-right-market-2 • Douglas Atkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doatkin • How Linear builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linear-builds-product • How Notion builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-notion-builds-product • Aaron White on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmwhite/ • Ariel Diaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieldiaz/ • Ray Dalio’s website: https://www.principles.com/ • Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296 • The Wolf of Wall Street on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70266676 • Margin Call on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Margin-Call-Kevin-Spacey/dp/B005UT29Z0 • The Big Short on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80075560 • The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f • Halt and Catch Fire on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Halt-Catch-Fire-Season-1/dp/B00KCXIHJG • Vuori: https://vuoriclothing.com/ • The man in the arena: https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx • Startup Dads podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-dad/id1693312339 — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge

Brian Balfour is the Founder and CEO of Reforge. Previously, he was the VP of Growth @ HubSpot. Prior to HubSpot, he was an EIR @ Trinity Ventures and founder of Boundless Learning and Viximo. He advises companies including Blue Bottle Coffee, Gametime, Lumoid, GrabCAD, and Help Scout on growth and customer acquisition. In Today's Episode with Brian Balfour We Discuss: 1. Entry into Growth and Lessons from Hubspot: How did Brian make his entry into the world of growth? What does Brian know now about growth that he wishes he had known when he started in growth? What are 1-2 of his single biggest takeaways from his time at Hubspot that impacted his mindset? 2. The Foundations: What is growth? What is it not? What does Brian mean when he says "all growth can be boiled down to 4 things"? When is the right time to bring in your first growth person? Should the first growth person be senior or junior? Should the growth team be standalone or sit within an existing function? 3. The Importance of Product Channel Fit: What is product channel fit? How should founders approach it? How do you know when you have it? What are the single biggest mistakes founders make with regards to PCF? 4. Next Comes Channel Model Fit: What is channel model fit? How should founders approach it? What are clear indicators that you have or do not have channel model fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make with CMF? 5. Finally, Model Market Fit: What is model market fit? How should founders approach it? What are clear indicators that you have or do not have model market fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make with MMF? 6. Brian Balfour: AMA: Why is product market fit not enough? What does Brian mean when he says "revenue does not create usage"? What are the biggest dangers of mixing customers and users? What do Hubspot do better than anyone else to know when an existing product/strategy is dying? Is it always better to diversify marketing channels?

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge

Brought to you by Amplitude—Build better products | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Ahrefs—Improve your website’s SEO for free — Hila Qu is an Executive in Residence at Reforge as well as a renowned growth advisor, angel investor, and published author (her book about growth was named one of the top 10 business books of 2018 in China). Previously, she served as the Director of Growth at GitLab, where she implemented and scaled their PLG motion, and VP of Growth at Acorns, scaling them from 1 million to 5 million users. In today’s episode, we discuss: • The importance of having both a product-led and a sales-led motion for companies of all sizes • A step-by-step process for implementing PLG • Common pitfalls of layering on PLG • How to audit your existing funnel • Conversion, activation, and retention tactics • Structuring your growth organization from day one, and as it scales — Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-adding-a-plg — Where to find Hila Qu: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/HilaQu • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilaqu/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Hila’s background (03:26) The outcome of writing guest posts for Lenny’s Newsletter (05:12) Why companies should have PLG and sales (07:58) What PLG is and why it’s so popular (09:41) Zoom, an example of a PLG company (11:24) Common pitfalls in adding a PLG motion (16:06) The spectrum of when PLG makes sense (20:04) What you need to be successful in a product-led growth strategy (24:52) The first step to adding a PLG motion (30:11) What GitLab does and how the sales funnel and PLG funnel work there (34:07) Mapping out the funnel (35:29) Finding leverage and other next steps (38:24) What an aha moment is and conducting an audit (47:30) Activation and conversion  (52:17) Why you should start with activation, and who is doing it well (55:24) Retention, the messy part of the funnel (1:00:34) How Hila made an impact on retention at Acorns (1:03:03) The two buckets of data  (1:04:56) Tools for implementing a PLG motion (1:08:47) The importance of data  (1:10:20) Tips to get started, and why you need to have good data first (1:12:10) How to do a data audit (1:15:04) Building a PLG team (1:22:40) The core growth squad (1:27:51) Lightning round — Referenced: • Hila’s guest post on Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/five-steps-to-starting-your-plg-motion • Ravi Mehta on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/building-your-product-strategy-stack-ravi-mehta-tinder-facebook-tripadvisor-outpace/ • Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/ • GitLab: https://about.gitlab.com/ • Lauryn Isford on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/mastering-onboarding-lauryn-isford-head-of-growth-at-airtable/ • Acorns: https://signup.acorns.com/ • PostHog: https://posthog.com/ • Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/ • Pendo: https://go.pendo.io/ • Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com/ • Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/ • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ • Clearbit: https://clearbit.com/ • ZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com/ • Endgame: https://www.endgame.io/ • Pocus: https://www.pocus.com/ • Pace: https://www.paceapp.com/ • Toplyne: https://www.toplyne.io/ • Crystal Widjaja on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-scrappily-hire-for-measure-and-unlock-growth-crystal-widjaja-gojek-and-kumu/ • Redshift: https://aws.amazon.com/redshift/ • The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness: https://www.amazon.com/Almanack-Naval-Ravikant-Wealth-Happiness-ebook/dp/B08FF8MTM6 • How Women Rise: https://www.amazon.com/How-Women-Rise-Habits-Holding/dp/1847942253/ • 硅谷增长黑客实战笔记 (Hila’s best-selling book on growth): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BZC8L78?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_ND87BRFMB0CMWBEVB747 • The Wandering Earth II: https://wellgousa.com/films/wandering-earth-ii • The Three-Body Problem: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Cixin-Liu/dp/0765382032 • Lululemon yoga pants: https://shop.lululemon.com/c/women-pants/yoga/ • ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/chat • Someday: https://www.amazon.com/Someday-Alison-McGhee/dp/1416928111 — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Hila Qu

Executive in Residence

ReforgeGitLab

Adam Grenier is an OG of the growth world. His first role in growth, was none other than Uber where he was Head of Growth Marketing and Innovation building the global marketing growth infrastructure and team from the ground up. He then enjoyed successful spells at Lambda School and Masterclass as VP Growth and VP of Marketing, respectively. If that was not enough, Adam is also a prolific angel having made investments in Superhuman, Table22, and FitXR to name a few. In Today's Episode with Adam Grenier We Discuss: 1.) Entry into the World of Growth with Uber: How did Adam make his way into the world of growth with Uber and Ed Baker? What are the single biggest takeaways from his time at Uber, Lambda and Masterclass? What does Adam know now that he wishes he had known when he started in growth? 2.) Growth: What it is? Why You Do Not Need a Team for it? How does Adam define the term "growth" today? What is the role of "Head of Growth"? Why does Adam believe that you do not need a growth team? How can leaders infuse growth principles, mindsets and metrics into existing teams? WHat are the single biggest mistakes founders make when thinking about growth? 3.) Hiring Growth Mindsets: How to Ask the Right Question: What are the clearest signs to Adam that someone has a growth mindset? What are the right questions to ask to see how they think? How does Adam use tests and case studies to determine the growth mindset of a person? What did Uber teach Adam about the best practices to hire for growth? 4.) Uber: Scaling a Monster and Spending $1BN on Ads: What are some of Adam's biggest lessons from spending $1BN on advertising at Uber? Why at anytime were there 200 people paying for ads with their personal credit cards? Why does Adam believe China was "the wild-west"? How did all of their competitors in China have Uber data? How do growth mechanics, channels and disciplines compare between US vs China?

Adam Grenier

Growth and Marketing Advisor

ReforgeUber

Hila Qu is one of the leading growth execs of the last decade. Hila helped scale Acorns from 1 million to 5 million users as their VP of growth. Hila then joined GitLab, where she launched their PLG motion (on top of an established sales motion), and built their first-ever growth team. Today Hila is an advisor to amazing companies like Replit and funds like Mucker Capital, Openview and First Round Capital. In Today's Episode with Hila Qu We Discuss: 1.) From Biology and Explosions to Growth: How Hila made her way into the world of growth with growthhackers.com? What are 1-2 of the biggest takeaways from her time with Acorns and Gitlab? How do B2B growth orgs compare to B2C growth orgs? What is different? What is the same? 2.) WTF is Growth? When? How & Why: How does Hila define growth today? What is it not? When is the right time for early-stage founders to hire their first growth hire? Why does Hila always look for data analysts in this first growth hire? From a data standpoint, what should founders have ready and accessible for their first growth hire to have access to and learn from? Is Google Analytics enough? 3.) Hiring Your First Growth Hire: How should early-stage founders structure the hiring process for the first growth hire? What do the best growth job descriptions include? What do they not include? Once applications are in, how does Hila advise founders screen for the best candidates? How should founders structure the interview process post-screening? What are the must-ask questions? Who is involved in the interview process? What are some red flags? 4.) The Master of Onboarding: What should new growth hires want to achieve in the first week? What should they want to complete in the first month? In the first quarter, what do the best candidates have completed? What can founders do to set their growth hires up for success in the best way at this time? 5.) Growth Models, North Stars, Activation and Onboarding and Key KPIs: What really is a growth model? How do founders and growth teams create one? How does Hila advise founders on how to pick the right North Star Metric to focus on? Why are activation and conversion Hila's two favorite growth metrics? What are growth loops? What are growth funnels? How do they work together?

Hila Qu

Executive in Residence

ReforgeGitLab

Fareed Mosavat is Chief Development Officer at Reforge, where he leads production, content, and new-product experiences. Previously, he led growth and product teams at Slack and Instacart, was a GM at Zynga, and also served as VP of Product at RunKeeper. Before all of that, Fareed’s fascinating career began in engineering for Pixar, where he learned the art of storytelling and collaboration. In today’s episode, we talk about how his time at Pixar influenced the way he thinks about product, why it’s so difficult to become a better PM, and how to avoid the “manager death spiral.” Fareed shares important insights on how to earn the trust of your manager and coworkers, the four types of product work—and why you need to understand all four. He also provides solid examples of how to generalize your learnings and explains why this will expand your options, make you a better PM, and boost your chances of moving into a leadership role.  — Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-establish-credibility-and — Where to find Fareed Mosavat: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/far33d • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fareed/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Coda: http://coda.io/lenny • Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/ • Vanta: https://vanta.com/lenny — Referenced: • Naval Ravikant’s Twitter thread about specific knowledge: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002104865919664128 • Merci Grace on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/merci-grace-ex-head-of-growth-at-slack-on-plg-interviewing-storytelling-building-a-diverse-team-hiring-salespeople-building-a-growth-team-and-much-more/ • “Crossing the Canyon: Product Manager to Product Leader,” by Fareed Mosavat and Casey Winters: https://www.reforge.com/blog/crossing-the-canyon-product-manager-to-product-leader • Casey Winters on Lenny’s podcast: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/ • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:38) Fareed’s background (03:55) Lessons from Pixar (09:07) What Fareed does at Reforge (11:57) The scale of Reforge at this time (13:51) Why it’s so difficult to become a better PM (18:03) A PM pie chart—execution, generalizing your solutions, communication, and scaling (23:00) How creating trust helped Fareed’s career grow (26:24) How to gain trust by leveraging your curiosity and communication skills (33:50) How to move from PM to Product Lead (36:43) The manager death spiral and how to avoid it (40:43) The four types of product work (44:13) Moving from IC to product manager  (47:15) How to ask for the proper resources (50:00) The trend of senior PMs diversifying into advising, teaching, and angel investing (57:20) The downsides of being your own boss (01:00:45) Advice for breaking into advising — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Fareed Mosavat

Chief Development Officer

Reforge

Adam Fishman has decades of experience building and scaling some incredible businesses, like Lyft, Patreon, and Imperfect Foods. He is currently an Executive in Residence at Reforge and an advisor to numerous companies on growth, product, strategy, and company building. In today’s episode, Adam shares his growth PM competency model to help founders identify specific skills when hiring growth leaders, how to structure feedback, and how to identify gaps in your growth team. He also discusses the role of onboarding in retention and how to evaluate a company as a prospective employee. — Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-build-a-high-performing-growth — Where to find Adam Fishman: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/ • Website: https://www.adamfishman.com/ • Adam’s newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Linear: https://linear.app/lenny • Coda: http://coda.io/lenny • Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/ — Referenced: • Stream Super Pumped on Showtime: https://www.sho.com/super-pumped • Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber: https://www.amazon.com/Super-Pumped-Battle-Mike-Isaac/dp/0393652246 •  HitRecord: https://hitrecord.org/ • Adam’s growth competency model: https://www.reforge.com/blog/the-growth-competency-model • Adam’s LinkedIn series: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adamjfishman_ive-now-published-my-complete-series-on-activity-6979198793992802305-VtCu/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:18) Adam’s background (06:16) Lyft’s launch press release  (09:56) Adam’s newsletter and growth competency framework (10:34) Myths and mistakes founders make (15:12) The growth competency model  (18:47) Customer knowledge and user psychology (21:23) Why strategy and communication are more advanced competencies (25:45) Why to hire a junior-level growth executive and how to support them (31:20) Why Adam skews toward internal hiring (33:25) Generalists vs. specialists (35:59) The importance of onboarding (41:49) Opinionated defaults (45:03) Balancing conversion and retention with successful onboarding (48:46) Guidelines for redesigning onboarding (52:22) The PMF criteria for candidates (57:57) What Adam would have done differently at Imperfect Foods — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Adam Fishman

Executive in Residence

ReforgeImperfect Foods

Adam Grenier is the former Head of Growth Marketing and Innovation at Uber, where he helped build Uber’s growth infrastructure from the ground up. He is also the former VP of Product and Marketing at LambdaSchool, and former VP of Marketing at Masterclass. These days, Adam is a growth and marketing advisor to many companies, as well as a teacher through Reforge. In today’s episode, Adam shares how to determine whether a new channel is worth exploring, the rise of the growth CMO, and how improv classes can improve team bonding and create a more positive ‘yes’ culture. He also speaks candidly about his own struggles with burnout and depression and shares some incredible tools that have helped him along the way. — Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-to-invest-in-new-acquisition — Where to find Adam Grenier:• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AKGrenier• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akgrenier/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:• Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny• Coda: http://coda.io/lenny• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/—Referenced:• OOT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_service• Grin: https://grin.co/• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Mainstream/dp/0060517123•Hacking Marketing: Agile Practices to Make Marketing Smarter, Faster, and More Innovative:  https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Marketing-Practices-Smarter-Innovative/dp/1119183170• Adam’s twitter thread about burnout: https://twitter.com/akgrenier/status/1285275433282359296•Why Buddhism is True: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Buddhism-True-Philosophy-Enlightenment/dp/1439195455—In this episode, we cover:(00:35) Adam’s background(05:34) How improv can improve creativity and collaboration(13:09) What we’ll cover in this episode(13:52) Determining when an acquisition channel is a good match(25:38) Advice for how long to test a new channel(30:11) Emerging platforms that are worth exploring(36:53) Influencer marketing tools(37:55) When to broaden your audience(41:22) What is a Growth CMO?(49:36) Why marketing leaders should learn product development(51:32) Red flags that your CMO isn’t a good fit(55:33) Dealing with depression and burnout(1:03:00) Tools to help you through difficult times(1:05:20) Signs you’re facing burnout(1:07:15) What’s next for Adam—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Adam Grenier

Growth and Marketing Advisor

ReforgeUber

Adam Fishman is one of the leading growth practitioners of the last decade. Most recently, Adam was the Chief Product and Growth Offer at Imperfect Foods, where Adam built a 40-person product and growth organization, responsible for 70% of overall company metrics and growing revenue by 400% in one year to $600M annually. Before Imperfect, Adam spent 4 years as VP of Product and Growth @ Patreon, driving the company pivot and rebrand and helping the company scale to $1BN GMV and $100M in revenue. Finally, before Patreon, Adam was the Head of Growth @ Lyft, Adam was the first growth and marketing employee hired, grew the team to 18 people, and reported directly to the founders. In Today's Episode with Adam You Will Learn: 1.) Entry into Growth: How Adam first made his way into the world of growth when "growth" did not exist as a function? What were Adam's biggest lessons from leading Lyft's growth team? How did that impact his mindset? What are some of Adam's biggest takeaways from his time at Patreon? What are some of the biggest mistakes he made at Patreon? 2.) The Basics: Growth 101: What and When: How does Adam define "growth" today? What is it? What is it not? When is the right time to hire your first growth hires? Should this first hire be a seasoned growth leader or a more junior growth rep? What characteristics and skill sets should this growth hire have? 3.) The Hiring Process: How should founders structure the hiring process for their first growth hire? What 3 questions should all founders ask in the hiring process for growth? How can founders use data and case studies to really test the skillsets of growth candidates? Why does Adam believe that the hiring process for growth and product is so broken? 4.) The Onboarding Process: What is the right way to structure the onboarding process for new growth hires? How should growth hires create cross-functional relationships and communication with the rest of the team? What has worked for Adam in the past? What has not? What are the signs that are new growth hire is not working? How long should they be given? What are the signs that are a new growth hire is working? What is the sign of "exceptional"? 5.) Adam Fishman: AMA: What growth decision has Adam made without data? How did it go? How does Adam define "viral loops"? What makes one better than another? Where do so many make mistakes with viral loops? Adam led the rebrand for Patreon, what is the secret to a successful rebrand? What are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode with Adam Fishman Adam's Favourite Book: First 90 Days, Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

Adam Fishman

Executive in Residence

ReforgeImperfect Foods

In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users. These, of course, are not normal times. In the fallout from the pandemic, most founders and CEOs are in the process of completely revamping their growth models from the bottom up amid new and unpredictable consumer behavior.  This episode explores how to think about growth in turbulent times, according to two growth experts: a16z general partner Andrew Chen, who previously led the growth team at Uber, and Brian Balfour, formerly the VP of Growth at HubSpot, now the founder and CEO of Reforge, a masterclass in growth strategies (in conversation with host Lauren Murrow). The discussion spans four sections: first, how to reassess your existing growth model, particularly when, as Brian says, the data is "completely messed"; next, we drill down into strategy and tactics for surviving the current crisis and talk about how founders can pursue growth even in the midst of widespread uncertainty and cutbacks. Third, we look ahead to discuss scenario planning and how leaders can forge a path forward. Finally, we zoom out and assess the big picture: how various categories of company may be impacted long-term, how this crisis compares to 2008 (and what that means for early-stage founders), and the industries and business models that are now prime for growth.    Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge

Ever since I came across his blog years ago, Brian Balfour (@bbalfour) has been one of the most influential people for how I think about growing online businesses. Not only is Brian a successful blogger, but he's also served as the VP of Growth at HubSpot and founded four companies. His most recent business, Reforge, generates millions in revenue helping tech professionals boost their skills. In this episode, Brian explains why it's crucial to have a visual model for growth, shares his models for growing Reforge, and discusses why sometimes the best thing you can do is the exact opposite of what everyone else is. Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/155-brian-balfour-of-reforge

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge

Lee Jacobs and Brian Balfour join Ryan at AngelList HQ for this week's episode. Back in the day, Lee was one of the first syndicate leads on AngelList and later went on to join as a Partner. He previously started an education marketplace startup called Campus Dock. Ryan got to know Lee at AngelList a few years ago, when Lee was kind enough to help him craft his deck as he went out to raise his first fund. Lee is now a full-time investor with his own fund, Edelweiss, which he started with Brian Balfour, Elaine Wherry, and Todd Masonis. Brian Balfour invests part-time at Edelweiss and spends the majority of his time as CEO of Reforge, a professional education program for experienced practitioners. We've had some of our teammates here at Product Hunt go through the program. Prior to Reforge, Brian was the VP of Growth at HubSpot, EIR at Trinity Ventures, and the founder of several startups including Boundless Learning, POPSignal, and Viximo. In this episode we talk about: What kinds of questions Lee and Brian ask founders when they first meet them Some of the mistakes that first-time fund managers make and how to avoid them How to think about fund strategy and why the style of your fund should match your personality The importance of cultivating resilience, both as a founder and as an investor Of course, we talk about some of their favorite products as well. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Big thanks to Bubble, Spoka, and Dipsea for their support. 😸 Quotes from This Episode “Investing is actually a very time consuming thing. For any operators out there who are also thinking about investing, I would highly encourage you to consider finding a partner who has a completely opposite superpower than you.” — Brian “The key is figuring out who you are, what your investor-strategy fit is, and designing a strategy and a way that you’re going to get deal flow and what the right check size is going to be, based on who you are uniquely.” — Lee “There are some investors out there who are very thesis-driven and others that are very people-driven. The more I do this, the more I realize that we are not the best at forming and finding the most interesting ideas and markets. With so much interesting stuff going on, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know how it is going to play out. The entrepreneurs and people who have an organic connection are going to be the ones to find the interesting problems.” — Brian Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode Dandelion Chocolate — A bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the Mission District in San Francisco. Five Minute Journal — The simplest, most effective way to be happier every day. Krisp — Mute background noise during calls. TweetDeck — Create a custom Twitter experience. Twttr — Twitter's new prototype app. YouTube TV— YouTube takes on the cable providers.

Lee Jacobs

Partner

Edelweiss

Brian Balfour

Founder and CEO

Reforge