Phil Carter

So the growth leader and growth team that you would go build at a company like Quizlet, that's 95% plus organic acquisition through SEO and word of mouth, would look extremely different then the growth team you might go hire if you were, say, at a company like Masterclass with a higher price point and where a lot of the acquisition is coming from paid advertising.

So the growth leader and growth team that you would go build at a company like Quizlet, that's 95% plus organic acquisition through SEO and word of mouth, would look extremely different then the growth team you might go hire if you were, say, at a company like Masterclass with a higher price point and where a lot of the acquisition is coming from paid advertising.

And so it really just depends on the fundamental dynamics of how your business grows. You need to know that first before you know who to hire and what sort of team to build.

And so it really just depends on the fundamental dynamics of how your business grows. You need to know that first before you know who to hire and what sort of team to build.

And so it really just depends on the fundamental dynamics of how your business grows. You need to know that first before you know who to hire and what sort of team to build.

Yeah, I generally disagree with that position. And I don't want to say that it can't be the right answer in certain cases. But in my opinion, before you have product market fit, you don't even really know if you're building the right product.

Yeah, I generally disagree with that position. And I don't want to say that it can't be the right answer in certain cases. But in my opinion, before you have product market fit, you don't even really know if you're building the right product.

Yeah, I generally disagree with that position. And I don't want to say that it can't be the right answer in certain cases. But in my opinion, before you have product market fit, you don't even really know if you're building the right product.

And then even once you have product market fit, you then need to figure out how do I get this product to scale within the right channel so that my unit economics remain healthy as I push beyond my highest intent early adopters. And it gets harder and harder to cost efficiently scale my business.

And then even once you have product market fit, you then need to figure out how do I get this product to scale within the right channel so that my unit economics remain healthy as I push beyond my highest intent early adopters. And it gets harder and harder to cost efficiently scale my business.

And then even once you have product market fit, you then need to figure out how do I get this product to scale within the right channel so that my unit economics remain healthy as I push beyond my highest intent early adopters. And it gets harder and harder to cost efficiently scale my business.

And so I think typically, it's like right around the time where you first demonstrate you have strong product market fit that you want to bring in your first growth leader because you'll have a much better understanding of who that person needs to be. and what sort of team they need to build.

And so I think typically, it's like right around the time where you first demonstrate you have strong product market fit that you want to bring in your first growth leader because you'll have a much better understanding of who that person needs to be. and what sort of team they need to build.

And so I think typically, it's like right around the time where you first demonstrate you have strong product market fit that you want to bring in your first growth leader because you'll have a much better understanding of who that person needs to be. and what sort of team they need to build.

Having said that, I will say the one caveat to this is oftentimes the best growth leaders come out of functions like engineering, analytics, or product. And so what that means is I've seen cases where you have pre-product market fit companies where there's... It's often somebody who's a little bit earlier in their career, but they're just really bright, they're really hungry.

Having said that, I will say the one caveat to this is oftentimes the best growth leaders come out of functions like engineering, analytics, or product. And so what that means is I've seen cases where you have pre-product market fit companies where there's... It's often somebody who's a little bit earlier in their career, but they're just really bright, they're really hungry.

Having said that, I will say the one caveat to this is oftentimes the best growth leaders come out of functions like engineering, analytics, or product. And so what that means is I've seen cases where you have pre-product market fit companies where there's... It's often somebody who's a little bit earlier in their career, but they're just really bright, they're really hungry.

And they have the natural skill set of the intellectual curiosity and the drive to just understand, why are we seeing growth in this area? Why is this target customer demographic taking off? Or why is this channel seeing a spike in acquisition? And so often, those people will then become growth leaders.

And they have the natural skill set of the intellectual curiosity and the drive to just understand, why are we seeing growth in this area? Why is this target customer demographic taking off? Or why is this channel seeing a spike in acquisition? And so often, those people will then become growth leaders.

And they have the natural skill set of the intellectual curiosity and the drive to just understand, why are we seeing growth in this area? Why is this target customer demographic taking off? Or why is this channel seeing a spike in acquisition? And so often, those people will then become growth leaders.