Growth Strategy

Top takeaways from my chat with Grant Lee (CEO of Gamma): 1. The first 30 seconds of using your product should be so good it earns the next 30 seconds. When Gamma wasn’t growing, they stopped everything and spent three months perfecting just the first 30 seconds of using their product. They made it so compelling that new users would immediately tell their friends. This single change transformed their growth trajectory. 2. Focus on one simple promise, not many features. Think of it like throwing eggs to someone: they can catch one, but if you throw five at once, they’ll drop them all. Your users are selfish, vain, and lazy—you have 30 seconds to show value before they leave. Gamma focused on “create a slide in seconds” rather than listing 10 features. 3. Don’t spend on ads until over half your growth comes from word of mouth. If you try to buy growth before your product spreads organically, you’re wasting money filling a leaky bucket. 4. Work with hundreds of small creators instead of a few big influencers. Rather than blowing your budget on five or six well-known influencers who treat it like just another ad read, find thousands of micro-influencers whose audiences genuinely care about tools like yours. Teachers sharing with teachers, consultants with consultants—these tight communities create authentic word of mouth that spreads fast. 5. Spend time personally onboarding each early creator like they’re joining your team. Don’t just send influencers a script. Jump on calls, walk them through the product, help them understand what makes it special, and let them tell your story in their own voice. This investment turns them into genuine advocates who post about you repeatedly instead of treating it like any other sponsorship. 6. Hire painfully slowly and only exceptional people. Gamma serves 50 million users with just 50 people and makes a profit. All 10 original employees are still there five years later. They never set headcount goals because that makes you hire to hit a number instead of hiring only when you find someone exceptional. When someone is exceptional, give them more responsibility, not less—top performers want harder challenges. 7. Test prototypes with 20 people on UserTesting before investing in a big project. Use platforms like Voicepanel or UserTesting to watch real people try your prototype. They’ll show you problems you never see because you’re too close to your product. Gamma goes from idea to results in a single day—morning idea, afternoon testing, evening results. This saves months of building things nobody wants. 8. Choose problems you’ll care about for 10 years. Before worrying about technology or tactics, ask if this problem matters enough to you personally that you’d dedicate a decade to solving it. Founders who are missionaries rather than mercenaries build better products because their authentic commitment shows through to customers and attracts people who want to build alongside you for the long term.

4 months ago we got an impossible brief...gain 500K users in 3 months. I'm proud to say we just hit 2M users in 4 months, and still growing 10% WOW. To do this we didn't send a single email, pay for an ad, or an influencer, instead we used our community and our tech. Here's our Web3 growth playbook👇 The Web3 Growth Playbook: 1 - Build trust in the market: First you have to have people trust that you are worth their time. There are many projects offering quests, so why do yours? We highlighted our team, our tech, and our successes to prove we were a legit project and worth their time. 2 - Open the aperture: Wallet based quests limit you to Web3 natives. Our tech enables anyone with email or Apple/Google wallet to join in. This allowed us to go beyond just Web3 natives, to create a much larger community by making it easy to participate. 3 - Nail The Value Exchange: There needs to be value for people to take action. We used a combination of early community rewards paid out from our upcoming listing, partner rewards, early access to other projects, mentorships, NFT's, and Discord roles. 4 - Design Quests for key goals : We didn't just ask you to follow us on Discord, rather multiple steps; follow us, and then get a specific role. We didn't just ask you to tweet, we created AI prompts ensuring tweets were unique allowing us to create new trending hashtags each week. 5 - Keep up the momentum: We released new quests regularly, and enabled one off ways to earn points so our admins could award points to any member easily for things like answering question in Discord, participating in a emoji contest, or alerting us to a bug. 6 - Create Rewards: We leveraged our NFT technology to create the Smart Cats, an NFT derivative of a Cool Cat we own. Our community minted over 500K of them in a week. 7 - Create Ambassadors: We created an ambassador program and guided them as to what content to create. In exchange we gave them mentorship, status, and points in return. 8 - Activate your Ecosystem: We are now working with our partners to integrate our quests into theirs, have them offer rewards to our community, and to allow them to personalize experiences with our Smart Pass. So now the pass is the key to our ecosystem, not just our project giving it greater value. We built all of this from scratch with our tech because we didn't see what we wanted in the market. It's provided us with the flexibility to go beyond other questing solutions to drive rapid growth. > 4m individual quests completed in 120 days > 2M users in 120 days > 500K NFT minted in 1 week > 200k unique tweets in 2 weeks > Trending multiple #hashtags > 5k average attendance for Twitter Spaces This effort has been so successful we are now offering the playbook and the Growth Tooling to others. DM me if you're interested to see what we could do for your project.

€800 billion a year. That's the price tag Mario Draghi says Europe must meet to stay competitive with the US and China. As an investor and sustainability entrepreneur, reading the Future of European Competitiveness report was eye-opening. It's clear that Europe has to close the innovation gap and invest boldly in clean energy and digitalisation, but this is only part of the challenge. Draghi emphasises that radical change is necessary to prevent the EU from becoming less competitive on the global stage. Here are a few key points from the report that resonate with me, both positively and with concerns: 👉🏻Scaling EU Companies: Draghi highlights that Europe is failing to scale its companies, which limits our global competitiveness. We have incredible innovation happening here, but the lack of support to take these companies to the next level is a major issue. 👉🏻Investment in R&D: The report points to underinvestment in research and development. If we want to remain at the forefront of sectors like clean tech and mobility, we need much more capital flowing into R&D, especially in emerging technologies like AI and renewables. 👉🏻Venture Capital: Draghi's report underscores the urgent need for more venture capital across Europe, a core message I strongly support. We need greater acceptance of venture capital as an asset class, especially in Germany, where the market remains risk-averse. This lack of funding pushes our most innovative companies to scale up elsewhere, particularly in the US. Europe needs to step up to provide the environment needed for startups to thrive and grow right here at home. 👉🏻Common Debt: The idea of joint EU borrowing for green and digital projects is essential to remain competitive, especially in areas like clean tech and mobility. This is a necessary step to unleash the full potential of the sector. 👉🏻The China Challenge: Europe's reliance on China, particularly in clean tech, needs to be rethought. I've seen firsthand how fierce the competition is in the electric vehicle space. While Draghi stresses reducing dependencies, I do think we must be cautious of the economic disruptions a rapid decoupling could cause. 👉🏻Streamlining Policy: Entrepreneurs are struggling with the slow pace of European decision-making, especially in green tech. We risk losing our competitive edge if we don't accelerate policy change. Europe has an incredible opportunity, but it requires bold action. Do you think Europe is ready to rise to the challenge, or will bureaucracy stand in the way? Let's discuss in the comments... #Draghi #Innovation #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #VentureCapital #Investment

We grew Gamma to $50M ARR in under 2 years, profitably. Cost us over $5M to learn these tactics. Here's what actually worked: influencer marketing, performance marketing, user testing, and dogfooding: 1. Go broad with influencer marketing, then double down on what works Most startups get three things wrong: too small a budget, overly selective on creators, and giving up too early. Start with $10-20k/month and commit to 6 months minimum. - List every creator persona with audiences that care about your product - Offer base + viral bonus. For TikTok, have creators start new accounts - Once you have 20-30 winning formats, hire your top creators as consultants to train others Never write scripts. They become ads no one watches. 2. Invest in brand before performance marketing Most startups aren't prepared to scale spend because their brand and creative sucks. We went through an expensive rebrand, but skipping it would have been more expensive. Test creatives relentlessly. Whatever number you're thinking of testing, 10x it. Once you see a use case resonating, build a whole funnel around it with symmetric messaging. Don't confuse visitors by showing them an ad with one value prop and dropping them on a landing page with a different message. 3. Get users to test prototypes before you ship This saves you from the worst startup mistake: misdirected product development. We ran user testing on voicepanel and usertesting: - Recruited random people who make slide decks for work - Showed them prototypes with minimal instructions - Asked them to think out loud. The words they use, where they get confused, is gold Did this for landing pages, onboarding, new features, and moonshot concepts. Ship once you have proof that ordinary people find it easy and useful. 4. Dogfood the hell out of your product Either you build something 100x better than alternatives, or you build something else. Dogfooding makes it painfully obvious if your product isn't 100x better. Use your product daily for real work, not demos. Force yourself to choose it over the alternative. If you keep reaching for the competitor, you don't have PMF yet. When we started Gamma, we had two competing ideas: a virtual office and reimagining PowerPoint. After 6 months of dogfooding both, we had a clear winner. With the virtual office, we kept wanting to just meet in person. With the reimagined PowerPoint, we never wanted to go back. That's the test. If you're not viscerally feeling the 100x difference, your customers won't either. — $0-$10M was nearly 100% word of mouth. $10M-$50M was still over 50% word of mouth, but influencer and referral made up the rest. That foundation let us blaze past $50M. Most startups skip the experimentation. They guess, ship, and hope for the best. We spent $5M learning what works. Now, you don't have to.

This summer, in 45 days, I shopped in supermarkets in 12 different countries. I said "𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨". Now this article from MIT Sloan Management Review supports my argument. Grocery retailers are investing in in-store experiences, 3rd party delivery apps, and subscription programs to enhance customer engagement, drive omnichannel growth. While experiential tactics like adding bars boost foot traffic and sales by over 5%, partnerships with third-party apps often reduce impulse purchases and loyalty, and subscriptions risk profitability due to high service costs. The study revealed that customer behavior changes in unexpected ways, making it essential for retailers to align innovations with operational strategy, data insights, and profitability goals. 📍In-Store experiences still drive incrementality, sure. Stores that added cafes or bars saw: +6.82% increase in total spend +5.76% more transactions +15.49% increase in time spent in store My two cents: Food & beverage brands should co-invest in experience zones (like dessert pairings, beverage sampling). This fuels cross-department spend and impulse purchases. 📍Surprise, surprise; impulse purchases decline with delivery apps Partnering with last-mile delivery partners results in -21.2% drop in impulse purchases (esp. snacks, bakery) -6.6% drop in sales volume Relying on 3rd party delivery suppresses #FMCG impulse-driven categories. Brands must rethink digital shelf storytelling and premium placement. 📍No brainer here, of course, subscriptions fuel bigger baskets, but at a cost. For subscribed customers: +55.5% increase in items per order +113.4% increase in order frequency +30% increase in product sales But, approx. 50% of subscribers caused -108.4% profitability loss To resolve this, #CPG brands must help retailers optimize for SKU mix and basket value in subscriptions to avoid profitability erosion. 📍 Consumers shift behavior based on convenience, not loyalty. Shoppers using delivery apps make fewer, smaller trips, buying fewer SKUs, but higher-priced ones. Premium, limited-edition, or DTC-exclusive launches perform better in digital delivery environments. Core SKUs risk de-prioritization. ++ I expect to see more across retailers in 2026 & 2027 ++ 1. AI-based inventory will be mandatory. 2. Delivery platforms will morph into retail and media ecosystems 3. Offline experience zones will serve as sampling hubs (I talked about this at the MIT Platform Strategy Summit in 2022) 👍 4. Shelf-level loyalty programs will emerge, using in-store smart carts or mobile apps, and brands will push on-shelf loyalty triggers like instant coupons. I believe #retail innovation is no longer about features — it's about behavioral precision. Every new tactic must be measured by how it changes the why, what, and where behind each consumer’s purchase. That’s where real ROI begins. Article link 👇

Europe has a great opportunity to advance towards a genuinely Single Market. According to a European Parliament study, further integration at the regional level could generate over €2.8 trillion per year by 2032, more than the 'Next Generation EU' recovery package.   For example, completing the Banking and Capital Markets Union would significantly increase Europe's financial firepower and help channel capital into much-needed investment. One possible start would be boosting the EU securitization market and exploring ways to enable banks to free up capital and liquidity to provide additional funding to EU businesses. That was one of the messages from José Antonio Álvarez at last week's #Eurofi high-level conference in Ghent.   Another crucial step would be harmonizing the regulatory framework to take full advantage of economies of scale and unlock new sources of growth -one of Europe's most urgent challenges. As a great champion of the EU, I believe in the need for simple, robust, and fair regulation, but it must strike the right balance between supporting growth and ensuring financial stability while focusing on the challenges of today. We are taking steps in the right direction, but there is still room to do more.

𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥&𝗗: 𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 ‼️ Last week the International Monetary Fund published a very interesting and comprehensive paper about the need for more venture capital in Europe to tackle our continents challenges. To name a few: ✔️productivity per hour worked is app 30% lower in 🇪🇺compared to the 🇺🇸 ✔️R&D investments are still way below the target of 3% per annum ✔️Within the top 100 tech companies worldwide merely a handful are European Is it all about 💶 I here you say? No it is about keeping up our welfare for future generations. And about a liveable planet. And increasing our innovation and competitiveness are crucial to do so. Which is also the key message of Mr. Draghi’s report I hope. The IMF report takes a deeper dive into the underlying issues: ✔️ VC investments are only 0,4% of GDP. In the US it is 3x as much ✔️Europeans park their savings in bank accounts. And banks are very risk aversie when it comes to financing hightech startups. ✔️Long term savings go primarily via pension funds, who hardly invest in VC in Europe (despite some positive signs recently) ✔️The EU has fewer and smaller VC funds leading to smaller rounds, less opportunities for scale-up financing and limited exit options ✔️ European scale-ups end up listing in the US instead of Europe itself ✔️ National fragmentation within the EU leads to a lot of barriers for scaling What has to be done? ✅ Increase efforts on a real single European market, for example by consolidating stock market exchanges and diminishing cross border red tape ✅ Make it more attractive for pension funds and insurers to step into VC ✅ Enhance the capacity of European Investment Bank (EIB), European Investment Fund (EIF) and national promotional institutes, like Invest-NL ✅ Implement preferential tax treatments for equity investments in startups and VC funds ✅ Encourage more funds-of-funds And I would like to ad to the findings in the report two things: 1️⃣ We need a cultural mind shift, more urgency and embracing true entrepreneurship 2️⃣ We have to step up our game when it comes to tech transfer. Transforming our high quality academic knowledge into economic and societal impact via startups.

🚨 US Tariff Shock: Time for India to Diversify Agri Exports!! From today (August 27, 2025), the United States will impose an additional 25% tariff taking total tariff to a steep 50% on nearly all of Indian agricultural exports. This punitive move, linked to India’s energy ties with Russia, puts at risk nearly $5.7 billion in agri-food exports—11% of India’s total agricultural export basket. 🩹The expected damage? A 30% drop in exports to the US—especially in marine products ($2.71B), rice ($380M), cashews ($356M), spices, tea, and coffee ($434M), fresh and processed fruits and vegetables ($891M), and food ingredients and plant extracts ($306M). This is a wake-up call. India cannot afford to be overly dependent on a single export destination. 👉 Diversification is now a strategic imperative, not a choice. Africa, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East present huge untapped demand for Indian food and agri-products. From Indian mangoes to basmati rice, from turmeric to tea—these markets crave quality, reliability, and value that India can deliver. 🛡️ APEDA's Crucial Role APEDA has been instrumental in propelling Indian agri-exports from $23.2 billion in 2014-15 to $53.1 billion in 2024-25, nearly doubling in a decade. However, this progress is under threat. Unless we rapidly recalibrate our market strategies and explore new geographies, the great gains of the last 10 years could be undone. Under the able leadership of Abhishek Dev, Chairman and Dr. Sudhanshu, Secretary, for The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) the way forward is clear. 📌 Action Plan Forward is to create a task force of experts to: ⚡Rapidly map affected commodities and match with alternative markets ⚡Fast-track bilateral discussions with ASEAN, Europe, Africa & Latin America ⚡Promote ‘Brand India’ in high-potential markets ⚡Enable product-specific export missions for perishables, spices, seafood ⚡Enhance trade intelligence and buyer-seller linkages ⚡De-risk MSMEs and cooperatives from geopolitical trade shocks ⚡Resolve regulatory bottlenecks to resolve SPS/TBT issues ⚡Streamline certifications, quality standards, and port access for new markets ⚡Build localized playbooks for 10–12 new priority countries Let’s not let a single decision in another capital dismantle a decade of India’s hard work in agri exports. Let’s respond not with panic, but with purpose. 🌍 The world is wide—and Indian agriculture deserves a global footprint beyond one country.

When going global, picking the right market is critical. Yet, 85% of exporters get it wrong. Why? They rely on: ❌ Random overseas orders ❌ Gut feelings ❌ Recommendations from friends ❌ Falling in love with a vacation spot (I kid you not!) These shortsighted decisions will bleed your business dry. So, what should you do instead? ✅ Conduct proper market research: Dive deep into the economic, political, and cultural factors of your target market. Talk to people who’ve been there and learn from their experience. ✅ Assess market potential: How big is the market? Is there demand for your product? Study your competitors and figure out how to stand out. ✅ Identify entry barriers: Research the tariffs, regulations, and other obstacles that could hold you back. ✅ Understand your audience: Don’t assume what worked at home will work abroad. Get a clear picture of your new customer’s needs, pain points, and desires. ✅ Build a strategic plan: Create a time-based plan that maps out your marketing, sales, and distribution strategies, customized for the new market. You’ve worked hard to build your business. Don’t throw it away on a rash decision. Need help choosing the right market? Let’s connect and talk about how to make smarter, more strategic decisions for your global growth. #InternationalBusiness #MarketSelection #Expansion #Strategy #GlobalGrowth #MarketResearch