Here are the 15 new Growth Mentors of October
- 1.We're introducing a batch system for onboarding new growth mentors
- 2.Here are the 25 new Growth Mentors of August
- 3.Here are the 15 new Growth Mentors of September
- 4.Here are the 15 new Growth Mentors of October
- 5.Here are the 8 new Growth Mentors of November
- 6.Here are the 6 new Growth Mentors of December
1. Alex Lambropoulos
Describe yourself
I’m a former founder and all-around marketer with a passion for data & cross-funnel CRO, having worked with dozens of tech companies (from early stage to growth stage) on implementing best-in-class scalable & data-driven growth strategies. Super strong believer in product-led growth and good design!
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Having a north-star metric (or qualitative goal), that every day a given team or individual works towards ruthlessly with resilience. Failures are even more important than successes, and love of learning is essential.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Likely CRO and optimizing all aspects of the user journey, as this is one aspect I’m very interested in and have focused on recently.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
There was a huge internal debate with one of my past clients, between founder, employees, investors and us. It was all about how (and if) they should monetize their app. While seemingly intuitive to me, I proposed to literally just create 4 different user journeys for the top 4 hypotheses based on potential impact and effort – and test it over a month-long period where we’d measure our key metrics to define common success (engagement, retention, and $$). I worked directly on creating these journeys based on each hypothesis, and in the end it was great – everyone was surprised by the data and was on board with the final outcome.
2. Andy Mura
Describe yourself
Inbound marketer, speaker, SaaS enthusiast, startup mentor (in cooperation with UNWomen, SAP NextGen, MediaLab…) I’m the the Head of Marketing at Userlane. I’ve been working in tech for almost ten years in roles such as a consultant, initiator, mentor, founder/co-founder, or CMO. I joined Userlane from the very beginning and have been researching and analyzing SaaS product management and customer success trends, tactics, and strategies for the past three years primarily focussing on onboarding, UX, leadgen, and customer retention. Passionate about digital transformation, technology, marketing, business and corporate strategy, content, SaaS, and CX.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Proactively look for new solutions, listen to, absorb and process every new piece of information, don’t hold on to what you know, test new ideas, fail, learn, optimize, repeat cycle.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Marketing Strategy.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Automate a Tinder-like campaign on Twitter for new brand launch and influencer outreach. I developed an internal tool to automate interface creation + photo/name scraping/ message automation/auto-tagging (epic story to hear…it also involves clickbots, pizza, and a GoPro).
3. Bozena Pieniazek
Describe yourself
B2B SaaS Marketer with experience in high-growth startups. Experience in: Product Marketing, Partner Marketing, PR, Content and Social Media. Currently Head of Product Marketing at Typeform, Barcelona Ambassador for Product Marketing Alliance, Writer & Editor at ‘We are Product Marketing’, Content Marketing Instructor at TBS 3rd culture kid, world nomad, foodie and proud mom of an 8-month old and 2 dogs.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
For me the growth mindset is about continuous improvement—it’s about experimentation, analysis and optimization of really anything, e.g. product development, marketing activities, personal growth.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Product Marketing because I believe that setting the foundations for a solid product marketing function early on can have a huge impact on success.
4. Brian Guidry
Describe yourself
Hi! I’m Brian – a California native with long-term work/live stints in Europe and Asia. 20+ years of experience spanning e-commerce, global sourcing, revenue operations, business development, inbound marketing and growth hacking! I love a good adventure, dreaming up new product ideas, and building efficient systems. I also make award-winning organic olive oil with my father-in-law on the mediterranean island of Mallorca (we’ll save that story for another time!).
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Constant curiosity, voracious learning, never-ending improvement… with a smile on your face 😉
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Revenue Operations. Let’s make your marketing and sales systems sing!
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
I love learning what makes customers tick and identifying unique buying triggers that break down barriers to the marketing and sales process… I have used unique triggers in a variety of situations to significantly improve lead gen.
5. Craig Zingerline
Describe yourself
I’m a serial entrepreneur currently working as Chief Product Officer at Sandboxx. I’ve been a co-founder of 6 companies (4 startups & 2 agencies) and has advised or consulted for close to 100 others. I’m an active startup coach who is well versed in all aspects of startup strategy – including product, marketing, and growth. I’ve got deep experience helping high growth B2C companies grow, have worked with some of the fastest-growing B2B companies, and have deep experience in E-commerce as well. Work I’ve done has won over 60 web awards, including 3 Webby awards.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
I’m as comfortable bootstrapping as I am running marketing teams with over $1M in weekly spend. My deep startup experience enables me to look at the big picture holistically and outline core strategies that drive more growth for my companies.
My core specialties within growth are retention based growth, activation (driving more people through the funnel), experimentation, and email marketing, but I’m well versed in all aspects of growth.
6. Jess Petrella
Describe yourself
I live and breathe growth marketing paired with thoughtful, expressive design. I have 9+ years of professional experience in marketing and design. In that time I’ve collaborated with over 60 companies and organizations including Panasonic, The Royal, Agriculture Canada, Microsoft, and Knak.
7. Marcus Svensson
Describe yourself
Currently working as Head of Growth at Albacross, started as the only person in our growth team to manage 5 people, from few users to over 20.000+ today. Know my fair share of growth marketing in SaaS, especially for SME.
8. Marta Olszewska
Describe yourself
I’m a marketer with over 10 years of experience in building strategies for b2b and b2c companies. My favorite type of marketing is the one that doesn’t feel like one at all. That’s why I love inbound marketing the most and I thrive when I can help people create valuable and educational content experiences. Genuine relationships are at the center of any business to me, and I’m passionate about guiding people and bringing out the best of them. I’m passionate about reducing plastic waste in my life and I’m working on my startup to address the issue of plastic pollution.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Growth mindset is often going outside of what you’ve learned and previously had experience in. It’s to experiment with different channels, message, and combination of tactics. It’s to fail often, learn from your mistakes, and scale what works.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Although I managed the overall marketing strategy (at Piktochart, for instance), content marketing strategy (including SEO and distribution) is something I feel particularly strong at. I consider content to be a solid foundation other areas of marketing are often based on. Without it, there’s no educational value and it’s difficult to earn trust.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Since I’m currently trying to reduce plastic waste from my life, I struggle with replacing cleaning products for a more sustainable alternative. You can of course use one of a (very few) zero waste stores but those are not always convenient and are often out of my way. I thought of an online store where you can buy a reusable bottle one time and then subscribe to refill it with shampoo, body lotion, washing detergent, or any kind of liquid you use in your household. Refill packaging would have to be produced sustainably. I still hope to work on this idea in the close future! (although I’m sure someone has already done it and I’m not being quite original).
9. Mick Griffin
Describe yourself
Hi! I’m Mick. My passion is communication, both 1-1 and at scale. My day job is helping my Customer Success team provide value to our Brand24 users by better understanding who our users are. Then taking practices that work, and applying them to a scalable automation funnel.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
To move fast and break things. It is very rarely the big growth strategy that moves a company forward. But 100 small growth ideas in which 10 of them work. Try, test, if it works do it more, if it doesn’t, throw it away.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
The topic I mentor on the most is aligning your product and communication to your target audience. It’s so common these things are not connected because most companies are trying to sell to everyone, and end up not really connecting to anyone.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Like most mentors, I always had a craving for new knowledge, so I could move my business and skills forward. But I didn’t want rocket science, I didn’t want motivations, Gary Vee, I wanted 3 quick ideas that worked for other companies that I could try myself. I didn’t have easy access to this information, so I create a conference and invited growth professionals from around the world to come and share 3 things you can do tomorrow. Creating the value I needed myself, and an avenue for my fellow colleagues to learn the same. 70 speakers and 5 editions later, I’m happy 🙂
10. Monica Maria
Describe yourself
I’ve been in the marketing space for a decade. I am a product marketer and content strategist. I have worked with quite a few companies. I’ve now switched to a consultative role that allows me to explore newer markets more frequently, expanding my area of expertise. Nailing the brand messaging and cracking the market strategy for a new industry or market is what excites me the most. When I am not working, I enjoy long strolls around Gothenburg or reading a non-business book.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
A growth mindset is one that embraces challenges, is persistent, and is open to criticism and leads from it.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Content marketing and product marketing in that order. These are my two biggest strengths within my marketing skills.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
There was a huge drop in the open rates of the email newsletter and nobody figured why that was happening because the content that we put out was great. When I took over, against a lot of disapproval, I changed the look of the newsletter from a design-heavy HTML format to a text-based format. I did away with the impersonal sign-off and swapped it with the editor’s name. I even changed the tone of the newsletter to a friendly one and began sharing nuggets of my (relevant) experience to the subscribers in each newsletter. I experimented with creative subject lines. And the new style was an instant hit. We saw an approximately 3o% increase in the open rate. I became the newsletter lady. 😉
11. Rob Turlinckx
Describe yourself
I’m a B2B SaaS product design consultant committed to delivering stellar product experiences that drive growth. I’m ambitious and result-driven with more than a decade of professional experience helping B2B tech companies build more sustainable businesses.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
An analytical mindset through research, measurement, and experimentation. Research customer behavior and desires to create testable ideas that are more likely to ensure a positive outcome. Measure the impact of your work to determine if you’ve met the business’s goals. Test your ideas to see what’s working. Analyze. Implement. Scale.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Product Design (UI/UX) for B2B SaaS. How to deliver a frictionless, focused user experience that delight users to increase retention and decrease customer churn.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Doubled activation rate by discarding the password creation during the signup process.
12. Satwik Govindarajula
Describe yourself
As Head of Growth at Seedstars, I manage the organisation’s growth internally, while also mentoring Seed to Series B startups from our portfolio on implementing Growth Methodologies in their organisations. Nothing gives me as much pleasure as someone who starts their sentence with, “My hypothesis is…”. I like to learn as much from the startups that I mentor as they learn from me.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
For me, a growth mindset is the willingness to fail as many times as required, and subsequently, the ability to capture impactful and actionable learnings from each failure.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Implementing Scalable Growth Processes. Having mentored many startups specifically on this particular topic for the past two years, I have excelled at ways to sell the value of a growth process and how it can radically boost the way startups function and grow.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Having delivered multiple workshops to startups on Experimentation Process, one of the issues I identified was that most startups were still not diligent with their Experiment Documentation. So I set out to find the Aha! Moment for this particular part of the process and see what would actually drive the value of documentation home for them. One of the biggest values of the Experiment Doc that I see is that, if well designed, it helps literally anyone in the company to execute the experiment, and essentially free up management time for more strategic decisions.
So in my last workshop, I made a group exercise where every startup has to upload their experiment doc to a shared spreadsheet with others in the cohort, and asked a different startup to review one Exp. doc with a simple instruction: “Can you execute this experiment without having to ask the author for more details?” After a tough feedback session between the startups, each founder was now quick to realise how important proper documentation is and how it can help them drive the value of experimentation within their organisation.
Result: We have 90% of the cohort doing excellent documentation of every experiment.
13. Scott Cowley
Describe yourself
I’m a sales guy at heart. I enjoy everything sales from strategy, execution, operations, management and beyond. I’m motivated by building systems that win, turning sales blockages into consistent, reoccurring revenue.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Building an organisation from the ground up to create growth. Its about using growth as the basis for decision making. Growth means you can serve more people and solve more problems.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Revenue generation from sales, including the full sales cycle from lead generation through to customer onboarding and re-signing at the end of the contract period (if it isn’t a month-to-month agreement).
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Most early sales conversations are about the company rep (MD, Sales rep, BDR, whoever) trying to prove to the prospect they should take the meeting. Subtly flipping this on its head and making the prospect earn the meeting changes the entire dynamic and provides a much faster sales cycle. Took me a long time to work that out and even longer to work out how to implement it within a sales process.
14. Sergi Garcia
Describe yourself
I help companies align around their customer so that product, message, and go-to-market flow from there. When I’m not Product-Marketing, I’m mentoring or guest-lecturing. To me, knowledge is a public good, and the best ideas come from more that one mind!
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Always looking for new wheels to push: those that will keep rolling after I go look for the next one.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Customer needs, and broader market research and validation. How to ask the market the right questions to get back competitive advantages.
Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?
Problem: Trial-driven SaaS couldn’t determine why a big chunk of valid registered users was not adopting. Several UX refreshes had proven unsuccessful.
Solution: Looked back at the registration page. Added two extra fields that allowed to segment the user base in 5 categories, detect funnel differences, and build specific on-boarding and nurture programs. The conversion rate doubled in five weeks.
15. Vineet Sinha
Describe yourself
I love growing companies by leveraging emerging technologies and trends. These days that usually include Voice Apps (Alexa, Google and Smartphone based), Chatbots (Slack, Facebook), and Data-as-Marketing. I have founded two marketplace startups in the past and am working on my third one right now. I advise multiple startups, have worked in labs initiatives for many larger companies, have raised money from investors and have bootstrapped to 10 employees.
In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?
Having a growth mindset means trying to do as ‘tightly’ as possible: – Understanding the current challenge by talking to customers, using your own software, looking at competitors, or learning from technique leaders in other industries. – Mapping the learnings to understand the opportunity, the approach, and the metrics to focus on. – Building a checklist of activities to do the above. – Making the activities happen while keeping an eye on the metrics. The goal is to maximize results per hour of effort, and then repeating the whole thing again.
If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?
Voice Apps – there are huge opportunities for VoiceFirst startups.
Apply for the November Batch!
In pursuit of demand/supply balance, November’s batch will be capped at just 8 growth mentors.
What we’re looking for in the next batch:
- Founders/marketers with experience working with AI/VR/Gaming startups
- E-commerce founders running high volume e-ships
- People who have successfully built profitable side hustles alongside their “normal” job
- Growth people working inside of VC firms and/or startup accelerators
- Pricing experts
- Wildcards: Applicants that may not fit the above criteria but possess an extraordinary ethos fit
