Here are the 6 Growth Mentors of December

1. Ashiq Korikkar

Describe yourself

I am a generalist who uses data analysis, programming, and product improvement to solve business problems. Currently, I am trying to expand my knowledge in data science, digital marketing, and team leadership.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I believe in giving back. Over the years, I have had to privilege to be mentored by excellent growth experts, and I think it is time for me to contribute back to this community and help the next generation of growth colleagues.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It is about solving problems to improve the north star metrics in a scientific and scalable manner.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Growth Strategy.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

We were struggling to scale customer acquisition and activation as our metrics were stagnating. We introduced a customer onboarding journey called honeymoon which was implemented across 100 cities.

This involved a lot of analysis to understand customer behavior, experimentation to validate what works best to engage customers, and automation using coding to scale it across all markets.

We saw a massive incremental uptick in all acquisition KPIs and were honored to win the best mobile CRM program award at Mobile Marketing Awards 2019.

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2. Hugo Bernardo

Describe yourself

I’ve worked in tech for more than 20 years, leading revenue growth in several B2B startups, including two of my own. I’ve worked in the US, Europe, and Latin America. I’ve done marketing, sales, some product, but mostly I’ve built great teams with a growth mindset.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I want to help other founders and tech operators and connect with other like-minded growth experts.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is a combination of risk-taking, solid data foundation, and creativity. Ideally, this is coupled with the ability to think both strategically and tactically.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Team building and leadership. Selecting, hiring, and coaching a growth team is one of the hardest challenges I faced in order to unlock growth at scale, and one that has profound long term impact.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Several years back I needed to grow demand with no budget at all. We decided to bundle content we already had and create “content stacks” we then promoted to specialized blogs as a benefit for their readers. Because the bundle looked more professional than each content piece alone, we managed to close several of these partnerships. The results were staggering, and these “content stacks” became our #1 source of inbound traffic.

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3. Itay Forer

Describe yourself

I’m a serial entrepreneur who built a business from day 1 with an initial team of 3 to managing a 300 person workforce. My company was backed by Y combinator. I Raised $20M+ from VCs and angel investors and merged my company. When I started, I had many inspirational mentors who contribute to my success. Now, it is my time to give back.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I’m enjoying mentoring and doing it now. I feel like the Growth Mentor platform will be a way for me to scale what I like doing 🙂

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

The process of creating something completely new and taking it to massive growth. For most people, it is easier to do things from 1 to n than from 0 to 1, so the vast majority of effort is done on 1 to n tasks. This is where I see an opportunity.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Startups in the early stage.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Building an in-house solution from scratch delivery and dispatch system to increase pickups and delivery per hour per driver and lower the cost per delivery, improve customers’ satisfaction, and increase the payout to drivers.

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4. Olya Ryabinina

Describe yourself

Experienced growth marketing leader & demand generation expert. I always say there’s no “static” product-market-fit, you have to continuously pivot your product to adjust to the ever-changing needs & environments of your customers – and that is your biggest avenue for growth.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I myself have gone through a trial and error path with my startup which has cost me time, money & sleepless nights so I’d like others to be able to avoid that.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growth is just like happiness – it is not a destination, it is a journey. It is not about “let’s make XX amount of money” it is about understanding how your product fits into your customer’s life and helps them achieve their goals, and then making that money along the way. You help your customer grow and your product grows with them.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Understanding your customer / finding your product-market fit.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Introducing a new product to a “hostile” market – meal kits in France, where how you cook & eat is as important as how you dress. After an extensive market analysis, we identified that the low hanging fruit customers were actually ex-pats from the markets not just familiar with the product category but already quite friendly to it. After pioneering the product to them we then introduced a customer referral program that helped the product enter the targeted native (vs. ex-pat) households while simultaneously working with hyper-local influencers to continue paving the way. That has helped us over perform the customer acquisition goal by 177%.

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5. Parthiv Patel

Describe yourself

I am currently employed with a Fortune 100 company as a Lead SQA Analyst/Automation Engineer for Finance, HR, Real Estate and Facilities, Risk and Compliance, Retail domains. Also mentoring start-ups for various aspects to become a successful venture with my experience in Management, Software Development, Business Operation, Budgeting, etc.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I like to learn and share my knowledge, by doing this earn some side income that will enable me to learn more about new ideas for current industry trends with new upcoming start-ups.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Continuous learning, implementation, refactoring, and improvement with optimal resource identification. Be stable but do not be stagnant.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Software Testing for a Quality Software Product, Project Management, Budgeting.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

On multiple instances for various software development, management, budgeting processes identified the problem and implement solutions. For example, for lengthy test run developed a documentation tool that improved work quality and reduced stress. It became a cost-efficient in-house tool for the whole team at no purchase cost. Identified an issue of time being wasted on credential management and update. Designed and developed test credential management utility that saves 96% approximate time vs the previous process. Within the company received frequent requests for mentoring on different topics and from external entities. During COVID-19 mentored one more startup on another side of the hemisphere to kick start from scratch.

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6. Shaw Li

Describe yourself

Formerly Head of Product and Product Design at insurtech company. Worked as a PM in B2B, B2B2C, and B2C products for over 7 years.  Have built products and products teams from the ground up.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

To give back and help share the wealth of product knowledge I’ve gained from others.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Two things: Open to new perspectives and willingness to try something that makes you struggle. This is because it’s through our most difficult struggles that we learn the most.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Product management. It’s what I do, it’s what I write about, it’s what I love, and it’s very, very hard to master because it covers a wide set of hard and soft skills. Mentoring others helps me further clarify what’s most important about product management.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Problem: How do you cheaply ship a large, overweight item with UPS or FedEx if you don’t ship frequently and have a negotiated business shipping contract?

Solution: Put your item into large luggage and use a company that ships luggage. Their negotiated rates are 4x better based on their volumes and it’s better than any UPS or FedEx direct billing.

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Interested in becoming a growth mentor?

What we’re looking for:

• Growth marketers, product managers, and designers, with extraordinary track-records of success
• Inspirational founders that have “been there and done that.”
• Friendly people that take joy in helping other people.
• At least 5 years of demonstrable experience working in growth.
• GrowthMentor is a #givefirst platform. You should be cool with mentoring for free until you have three reviews.