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Expert
MenuGalen Ward Mentor at 500 Startups
Co-Founder / CEO of @Estately. Mentor at 500 Startups and Techstars Seattle. I love user experience and customer acquisition (SEO and viral). Raised over $1m from angel investors.
19
Calls |
13
Reviews |

- Reviews 13
- Answers 1
It is great to get insight from someone who has experience of being on the other side of the fence. I was given some simple yet effective tips which are pretty much eye openers. And he is super friendly. Will surely talk again when at a more advanced stage.
Source: Clarity John Mallia Oct 28, 2016Galen was extremely open and helpful. Can't recommend him highly enough...
Source: Clarity Sean Maher Oct 18, 2016Galen was very helpful in helping me with my pitch and the next steps that I should be taking with investors. I will definitely be scheduling more calls with him.
Source: Clarity Marius Ciocirlan May 21, 2015Galen was humble and easy to talk to. He provided insight and advice on user experience and acquisition based on his experience that I can easily apply to my own business.
Source: Clarity Chantelle Buffie Jul 25, 2014Excellent call, Galen was able to focus me on what is the important part of my business at this time, he is able to quickly grasp what you are trying to solve with your call. I would definitely ask his advice again.
Source: Clarity Nick Konev Jun 24, 2014Had a quick call with Galen, it was extremely useful and really helped clarify some specific questions I had. Very helpful and candid, exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Thanks Galen!
Source: Clarity Ankur Kalra Jan 8, 2014He's a super nice-guy, down to earth, and gives advice you can use right away. I'd definitely recommend him.
Source: Clarity Dwight Follick Jul 26, 2013

Retention.
Retention means you've built something valuable and differentiated. Of the AARRRs, it is the closest approximation to Product Market fit.
Once you've nailed Retention:
- Acquisition is easier: you have a product people want)
- Activation is easier: tell people what it is that others like about the product
- Referral is easier: every time users come back, you have another chance to get them to refer you
- Revenue is easier: you have something consumers value and want to use. Either scale and sell ads or sell premium features.
Retention obviously isn't perfect: you could have found the only 100 people who care about your product or maybe it takes 15 minutes to convince people to even try it, but having fantastic retention is certainly a great foundation for building a huge company and a brand.
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