20Growth: The Inside Story to Uber's Hypergrowth Scaling; What Worked, What Did Not? | Spending a $1BN Budget at Uber and Why China was the Wild West for Uber | Why You Do Not Need a Growth Team with Adam Grenier
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?
When and how to invest in new acquisition channels | Adam Grenier (Uber, MasterClass)
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.
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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-to-invest-in-new-acquisition
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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.
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