the startups.com platform about startups.comCheck out the new Startups.com - A Comprehensive Startup University
Education
Planning
Mentors
Funding
Customers
Assistants
Clarity
Categories
Business
Sales & Marketing
Funding
Product & Design
Technology
Skills & Management
Industries
Other
Business
Career Advice
Branding
Financial Consulting
Customer Engagement
Strategy
Sectors
Getting Started
Human Resources
Business Development
Legal
Other
Sales & Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Public Relations
Branding
Publishing
Inbound Marketing
Email Marketing
Copywriting
Growth Strategy
Search Engine Marketing
Sales & Lead Generation
Advertising
Other
Funding
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter
Venture Capital
Finance
Bootstrapping
Nonprofit
Other
Product & Design
Identity
User Experience
Lean Startup
Product Management
Metrics & Analytics
Other
Technology
WordPress
Software Development
Mobile
Ruby
CRM
Innovation
Cloud
Other
Skills & Management
Productivity
Entrepreneurship
Public Speaking
Leadership
Coaching
Other
Industries
SaaS
E-commerce
Education
Real Estate
Restaurant & Retail
Marketplaces
Nonprofit
Other
Dashboard
Browse Search
Answers
Calls
Inbox
Sign Up Log In

Loading...

Share Answer

Menu
Growth Hacking: What does your growth team look like? I'm starting to think through our strategy and would love to hear from other fast growing startups.
JS
JS
Jordan Skole, I love travel, dogs, coffee & bikes - in no order answered:

I'm the director of customer acquisition at Ambassador, one of the top (if not the top) referral marketing automation SaaS. Our sales team relies entirely on inbound leads, so it is up to me to bring them in. Furthermore as a SaaS, it's important to mentally shift the conversion funnel as far down as possible. I'm not just satisfied with leads. Quality leads close more, and integrating product reduces churn. It costs way less to keep a customer for a month than to get a new one.

1) At Ambassador we stay pretty nimble, I am the only dedicated "growth hacker," however I can't do my job without the sales team's amazing job of nurturing the leads and closing deals, customer service's incredible support, and of course our product team creating a product that is a joy to use and serves its purpose. "Growth" is a mentality that everyone needs to own, and its my job to make sure that growth is constantly top of mind.

2) I use a variety of tools, but analytics are the most important. What is the cost to acquire a new customer, what about cost by channel? Do customers acquired by SEO have a higher CLTV than CPC customers? Inside CPC do certain keywords generate higher quality leads? If customers stay in the top of the funnel are they less likely to churn later on?

3) - A/B testing tools are great for usability and testing, I recommend optimizely.
- Providing help at the moment of hurt is important too. Tools like intercom.io and mixpanel can help send emails if some event doesnt happen.
- You need to measure those events and keep all your tools syncronized and organized. Segment.io is invaluable.
- You need to understand how your customers interact with your site. Google Analytics is invaluable for this. Get below the surface and measure conversion events. Build funnels. Add custom dimensions and segment your visitors. Learn their demographics, what else are they interested in?
- Once you start collecting data you need to manipulate it in a meaningful way. Use the advanced features of Google Analytics to slurp in data from multiple sources.
- You will need to prototype things before bringing them to product to integrate. Zapier is vital for this. (new leads --> spreadsheet row)

4) I am not sure that I understand the question?

If you'd like to schedule a time to chat and discuss the best way to optimize your SaaS for growth let me know. I'd be happy to help you strip away metrics that dont matter so that you can focus on the key indicators that will help you sculpt your product into a work of art that people will love to engage with and wont stop talking about.

Talk to Jordan Upvote • Share
•••
Share Report

Answer URL

Share Question

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Google+
  • Share by email
About
  • How it Works
  • Success Stories
Experts
  • Become an Expert
  • Find an Expert
Answers
  • Ask a Question
  • Recent Answers
Support
  • Help
  • Terms of Service
Follow

the startups.com platform

Startups Education
Startup Planning
Access Mentors
Secure Funding
Reach Customers
Virtual Assistants

Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.