Despite the ease of product building, sustainable growth has become increasingly challenging as many traditional channels no longer deliver the same results. How can we achieve a balance between efficiency, profitability, and growth? Which channels are still relevant and how can they be effectively mastered in 2023? We discuss these questions and more with Gina Gotthilf, Cofounder of Latitud; Kieran Flanagan, CMO at Zapier and a long-time SVP of Marketing at HubSpot; and Bryan Kim, Partner at a16z. Topics Covered: 00:00 – What growth opportunities exist in 2023? 03:00 – What still works in growth? 05:02 – The fundamentals and framework of growth 07:02 – Assessing growth potential and product lead growth 09:33 – Distribution 11:15 – Your moat and growth 14:00 – Integrating AI for product lead growth 16:23 –Trust as a moat 17:23 – B2C growth - discovery and breaking through 18:51 – Can you get ahead of the incumbents? 22:03 – Examples of companies and products 24:59 – How do you foster a growth culture? 28:38 – Experimentation 34:20 – How companies using AI in distribution 44:43 – Growth challenge: What would you do with $10K? Resources: Check out Latitud: https://go.latitud.com/ Check out Zapier: https://zapier.com/ Find Bryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kirbyman01 Find Kieran on Twitter :https://twitter.com/searchbrat Find Gina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginag Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Gina Gotthilf is a co-founder and the COO of Latitud, a startup platform supporting the next generation of iconic tech startups in Latin America. Previously, Gina led growth and marketing at Duolingo, which she helped grow from 3 million to 200 million users. She was recently named one of the 500 most influential people in all of Latin America by Bloomberg. In today’s episode, we discuss: • Behind the scenes of Duolingo’s early growth • How to balance the “A and B sides” of life • Stories from Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign • Lessons from Duolingo’s international expansion • Tactical tips for driving organic growth • How to use PR, brand love, and community as growth levers • Why Gina is passionate about investing in Latin America — Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams: https://atlassian.com/lenny/?utm_source=lennypodcast&utm_medium=paid-audio&utm_campaign=fy24q1-jpd-imc | Hex— Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together: https://www.hex.tech/lenny | Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank: https://mercury.com/ Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/scaling-duolingo-embracing-failure-and-insight-into-latin-americas-tech-scene-gina-gotthilf-la/#transcript Where to find Gina Gotthilf: • X: https://twitter.com/ginag • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginafrombrazil/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Gina’s background (04:34) The Vamos Latam Summit (07:22) Gina’s “A and B sides” framework (09:34) Her B side (16:27) Lessons from working on Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign (20:40) How Gina was able to 3x the conversion rate on a campaign site in one day (24:34) 4 areas Duolingo leaned into to have success in the difficult world of B2C subscriptions (36:39) B-side lessons from Duolingo (42:05) The importance of trusting your gut (44:54) Organic growth tactics and the importance of branding (48:01) What makes for remarkable branding (52:01) Duolingo’s process for keeping copy on-brand (52:45) How Duo’s passive-aggressive messages led to a movement (55:19) How Latitud uses niche humor as part of their branding (56:31) Duolingo’s TikTok (59:02) Lessons from internationalizing Duolingo (1:03:51) Why Gina was drawn to the tech industry in Latin America (1:09:26) What Latitud does (1:17:20) Opportunities in emerging markets (1:20:45) Lightning round Referenced: • The Vamos Latam Summit 2023: https://www.latitud.com/vamoslatamsummit • Ben Horowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behorowitz/ • Rappi: https://about.rappi.com/ • Reed College: https://www.reed.edu/ • Marcus Aurelius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius • Mike Bloomberg’s website: https://www.mikebloomberg.com/ • How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth • Burr Settles on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/burrsettles/ • Nubank: https://nubank.com.br/en/ • Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng-meservey-substack-activision-blizzard/ • 47 Duolingo Memes That Are Equal Parts Funny and Extremely Concerning: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/duolingo-memes-jokes • Latitud: https://www.latitud.com/ • Brian Requarth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrequarth/ • On Deck: https://www.beondeck.com/ • Leadsales: https://leadsales.io/en/crm-for-whatsapp/ • Pomelo: https://pomelo.la/latam/ • The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654 • Man’s Search for Meaning: https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/1663607982/ • Succession on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/succession • The Rehearsal on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-rehearsal • The White Lotus: https://www.hbo.com/the-white-lotus • Bo Burnham: Inside: https://www.netflix.com/title/81289483 • “How is the best-case scenario Joe Biden?” song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltg9ohuh0KM • How to with John Wilson on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-wilson • Viome: https://www.viome.com/ • Levels: https://www.levelshealth.com/ • Andrew Chen’s blog: https://andrewchen.com/ • The ship of Theseus: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/enquiries/view/the-ship-of-theseus • Gina Gotthilf on 20VC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M7XsTicrY0 Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.