DeepSummary
Matt Lerner, a growth expert with experience at PayPal and 500 Startups, discusses his journey into the world of growth, sharing lessons from his 11 years at PayPal. He emphasizes the importance of influence, highlighting that 90% of growth came from 10% of their efforts. Lerner stresses that growth is about figuring things out quickly, rather than following playbooks.
Lerner explains what growth means - finding customers, helping them understand a product's value, and getting them to use it. He argues growth is more science than art, as data-driven approaches yield better results than pure creativity. Lerner believes there are only six main growth channels and advises focusing on a few promising ones rather than diversifying too early.
On hiring for growth roles, Lerner recommends seeking bright generalists over experienced specialists, as growth requires constant learning and adaptation. He shares his interview process, onboarding steps, and insights on setting the right North Star metric. Lerner also discusses how AI can enhance growth efforts through better creative outputs, automation, and customer data analysis.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Focus on mastering a few core growth channels rather than spreading resources too thin across many channels.
- Hire for curiosity and a growth mindset over specific experience when building a growth team.
- Continuously test assumptions through rapid experimentation rather than relying on set playbooks.
- Leverage AI to enhance creative outputs, automate processes, and derive insights from customer data.
- Set the right North Star metric that aligns all teams and incentivizes delivering customer value.
- Growth requires relentless prioritization - 90% of results often come from 10% of efforts.
- Effective influence across teams is as important as having the right technical answers for growth leaders.
- Be wary of preventable startup mistakes like premature optimization, lack of rigor in hiring, and mismatch between efforts and strategy.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I'll say categorically, the best growth people I hired and managed in my time at PayPal had no marketing experience, had no product experience at all.“ by Matt Lerner
- “So much of growth is just trying to figure stuff out as quickly as possible.“ by Matt Lerner
- “So first hires for me, once you understand roughly how your business is going to grow, maybe it's content and inbound, maybe it's paid, whatever I say, hire people who can do 50% of the hard things you need and figure out the other 90%.“ by Matt Lerner
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Episode Information
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Harry Stebbings
5/31/24
Matt Lerner is one of the OGs of growth having spent 11 years leading growth teams at PayPal. Post PayPal, Matt led the growth marketing program at 500 Startups. He is also the bestselling author of Growth Levers and How to Find Them. Today, Matt is the Co-Founder and CEO of SYSTM, an accelerator program helping startups find their growth drivers.
In Today’s Episode with Matt Lerner We Discuss:
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From Philosophy Student to PayPal Growth Leader:
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How did Matt make his way into the world of growth?
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What were Matt’s biggest lessons from 11 years at PayPal?
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What did Matt know now that he wished he’d known when he entered the world of growth?
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How to Master Growth in a World of AI:
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What is growth to Matt? What is it not?
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Why does Matt think growth is more science than art?
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Does Matt Agee with Adam Gross @ Vimeo that paid acquisition below $100M ARR isn’t PLG?
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How does Matt think AI will change the world of growth today?
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What does Matt think are the most common growth mistakes founders make?
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Optimizing Growth Channels: Dos & Don’ts
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Why does Matt believe there are only six types of growth channels?
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What is the “locksmith moment" & how do startups find channels that work for them?
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How does Matt pick a Northstar metric?
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What are the most common mistakes founders make when picking North Star metrics? When is the right time to change them?
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How does Matt approach horizontal product messaging? What works? What doesn’t work?
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How to Hire & Manage Growth Teams
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What does Matt look for in the first head of growth hire?
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What questions does Matt ask when interviewing?
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What were Matt’s biggest hiring mistakes? What did he learn?
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Why does Matt think the best growth hires have no marketing experience?
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What are Matt’s two steps to master onboarding?
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What are the 3 most common patterns in leaders according to Matt?