Here are the 7 Growth Mentors of June 2022

1. Alena Povarova

Describe yourself

The red line of my career path is B2B focus – for the last 17 years, I’ve been leading marketing for fast-growing B2B tech businesses – mostly SaaS and marketplaces.

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

I’d like to exchange my extensive growth B2B SaaS experience for the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of various markets and industries.

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

To be open-minded and use a feedback loop as the main growth tool.

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

Growth marketing at B2B SaaS

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

I suggested using a text recognition system instead of manual ‘tagging’ – this is how we automated the back-office routine and saved 200 hours of work per month.

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2. Aliya Grig

Describe yourself

I have a 14-year background as an entrepreneur in hardware tech and AI. I successfully launched and sold three startups, raising $22m for these projects. My main competences are product development and growth for startups at the international market. I enjoy building disruptive technologies and create products that can help people.

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

I want to share my experience in building tech startups and products and to help to create great products.

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

A growth mindset is to understand users’ behaviour, needs, to understand potential areas of growth inside the product and in marketing funnel and to validate various product and marketing hypothesis with the market. It’s also about building an efficient work inside the team.

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

It will be on how to build a disruptive product understanding deeply users’ behaviour. I think it’s the most important part in creating a startup.

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

I managed to test 8 product hypothesis per month with my team and found a successful product idea and started to scale it. This was great because we managed to reduce costs on building the product and found efficient way.

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3. Jack Gierlich

Describe yourself

I am a growth hacker by trade with over 10 years of experience developing advanced user journeys that have redefined the healthcare space.
Nothing excites me more than solving problems and helping companies make a major impact- even on shoestring budgets.

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

I’m a growth hacker by trade- I love solving problems in creative ways and working to better companies.

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

Growth is never linear. Growth scales and evolves based on the container it’s put in. To have a growth mindset is to be playing the game of growth tetris, evolving your knowledge, pushing yourself to limits physically and mentally, and making major impacts even when it doesn’t look like the shapes are going to fit.

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

Breaking down complex problems into simple direct solutions.

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

I developed a personalization campaign for oncology patients that took the current location + time of the end user and dynamically changed the user flow language, media, etc to account for the emotions being felt at the current time, whether it’s fear, sadness, etc. The campaign generated thousands of user registrations at costs on average 60% below average CPA.

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4. Jan Alvin Pabellon

Describe yourself

I am currently Head of Product and part of the founding team a Smile API, a service to allow employees to easily share their employment and income data with parties they trust. At Smile, I am responsible for product and marketing strategy, product development, and user experience. Prior to Smile, I was a Chief Technologist at DXC, a global Systems Integrator. Previously I was also Director for Product Management at Oracle NetSuite where I led product strategy for the Asia Pacific region. I have consulted for and have also held senior management positions at several technology startups, software and systems integration and technology consulting companies. I am also a Certified Public Accountant.

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

I want to help folks just starting out in their career or their entrepreneurial journey. Also interested in learning from others as well and listening stories of other people’s journeys.

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

Having a growth mindset for me is being always hungry for learning and self improvement, always being open to new ideas and new experiences. Growth mindset for me means believing one can always strive to be the best version of themselves everyday.

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

Product Management as I have a lot of experience in this and have mentored others in this area.

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

There was one time when we were trying to figure out how to show a product concept without necessarily building things out, just to get early interest and traction. I figured out a way to do that, without doing costly development and a bit of growth hacking techniques to accomplish that.

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5. Kane Lewandowski

Describe yourself

I am super focused on introducing TikTok ads into companies marketing mix. My goal is to decrease cost per acquisition whilst targeting the Gen-Z audience and building a long-lasting brand. With a background in Facebook, Google, and Youtube ads, I have a good idea of what gets results.

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

Share my knowledge of TikTok organic & paid ads.

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

A growth mindset means that you are focused on growing as a person, intellectually or in any other way which will benefit your life.

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

TikTok Paid ads because so many e-commerce brands I have worked with have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars by approaching TikTok the same way they approach Facebook ads.

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

I realized that my client had run TikTok ads in the past and lost money. After reviewing their performance I realized it was due to many factors. First of all their Facebook ads manager was responsible for creating the TikTok ads, all they did was use the same creative for a $179 product. They also didn’t have strong targeting which resulted in high cost per click and low clickthrough rate. My solution was to implement creatives with small influencers and create a multi-prong approach with TikTok ads. I set up ads to convert impulse buyers to the cheaper products which were priced from $12 to $50. I ran a unique campaign that took traffic to a hair care quiz. Once on the quiz, visitors will fill out the information to get access to a 10% discount in exchange for their email address. This strategy was able to build an email list, decrease cost per acquisition and convert impulse buyers which increase the size of the brand!

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6. Radu Ionescu

Describe yourself

Entrepreneur since 2002 turned angel investor in 2015 (35+ investments).

Currently I am investing in tech startups in the US and help some of them as advisor.

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

To meet amazing founders and help them unlock growth.

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

Attention to details and determination to test and measure.

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

Growth strategy setup (team, tech stack etc) – since it’s fundamental for any startup.

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

Doubling revenue without additional spend on media – through CRM tactics.

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7. Uri Einav

Describe yourself

I’m Uri, happily married with 2 beautiful children and I have 12 years of experience in all aspects of Mobile Growth, I’ve been part of 3 successful exits (including my own company) and my ultimate passion is to bring value to the people/companies I work with.

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

I’ve been mentoring app developers for a few years and I absolutely love it! 🙂

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

Growth mindset to me is to have a good long term strategy in place and constantly keep testing new media channels and audiences to find the most relevant and engaged users. It’s all about being agile and looking at significant data to make the right decisions in order to reach the business KPIs.

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

Mobile UA, that’s what I know best and have been doing for the longest time.

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

Using a gaming ad format (playable ads) for a dating app. The results were incredible.

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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.