Growth Strategy Formulation

Having a dominating share on e-commerce marketplaces has been one of the pillars of our growth. 10 pointers for founders to keep in mind while scaling e-com: 1. The fundamental equation of e-com is “Sales= Traffic*Conversion”. Not meeting sales numbers is either a traffic problem or a conversion problem. For every SKU, figure out whether it is a traffic problem or a conversion problem. Do not try to solve traffic problems with conversion levers. And vice versa. 2. Like all performance marketing, e-com media also has diminishing returns. Beyond a point, increasing spends will not increase sales at the same speed. Stop at that point 3. If you want to increase profitability, you need to increase your organic discoverability in the platform. Amazon is a search led platform with search contributing to 60-70% views in most categories. For Flipkart, along with search, merch and reco are equally important. But the fundamentals of organic discoverability is same. Both platforms have an algorithm where SKUs with the best reviews, highest listing quality score, lowest time to delivery and highest conversion rates get pushed. Optimize for these parameters and see organic discoverability skyrocket 4. The other way to reduce dependency on platform ads( and hence increase profitability) is to ensure your branded searches increase. This is directly a function of your off platform marketing activities, word of mouth and repeat customers. So, work on those parameters 5. Category Relationships matter a lot. Understand what the number 1 objective of your category manager is for the year. And help them achieve it. Eg: If they are looking to improve ASP, help them with your premium assortment. If you help them achieve their number 1 KPI, they will ensure you do well on the platform 6. Whatever the ads team tell you, take it with a pinch of salt. Most times they are very helpful. But their number 1 KPI is to sell ads. Not your success. So, sometimes what is good for them might not be good for you 7. All SKUs will not do well. All sub-categories won’t do well. If there is no PPCMF, no amount of good execution will cut it. So, important to cut your losses and stop investing more money on losers. Instead, allocate to your winners in the portfolio 8. Have a E-Commerce dashboard which goes beyond the L0 metrics. Look at your L1 and L2 metrics daily and hold teams accountable for these metrics. Ads driven sales, share of search, organic visits, conversion rates etc are all examples of L1 metrics 9. Sometimes there will be irrational competition and they will bid crazily for keywords. Do not compete with them. They are burning cash and because blind venture money is running out quickly in consumer brands, they will fizzle out. 10. Do not overdo discounts. Discounts are like antibiotics. You use it 2-3 times a year, you see huge spikes. Use it every alternate day, and that becomes your market operating price.

The key to growth: connecting purpose, strategy & execution. 👇 Wendy McGuinness created the Strategy Pyramid after attending a short course at Harvard University in 2010. Her goal was simple. ---> To understand strategy better. What did she discover? Most companies miss the link between purpose and execution. That gap is where strategy breaks down—and that’s when the Strategy Pyramid was born. Purpose: ---> Mission – Why do we exist? ---> Values – What’s important to us? ---> Vision – What do we want to be? Strategy: ---> Strategic Intent – How will we get there? ---> Drivers – What will we focus on? ---> Enablers – What frameworks, resources, and skills will we use? Execution: ---> Targets and Initiatives – What will we need to do? ---> Performance Indicators – How will we know we are successful? ---> Strategy Map – How will we test and communicate the strategy? It’s about turning your purpose into actionable strategy, and... ---> Turning your strategy into measurable execution. -- Enjoyed this post? Share it with your audience! ♻️

A product launch should NEVER be the end goal for product teams. It should just be the first milestone of executing a go-to-market plan. Many B2B SaaS teams make the mistake of over-indexing on the launch. Let me know if this sounds familiar: → Product rolls out a feature. → PM hands it off to product marketing. → PMM rushes to craft messaging & launch plans. → PMM coordinates the launch with the marketing team. → PMs & PMMs move on to the next thing on the roadmap. 📛Customers rarely hear about the feature again. A launch is a time-boxed activity phase. It creates awareness to only those audiences who chose to pay attention at that time. Segments like future prospects, busy customers during the launch days, end users on vacation, etc., are missed out. A better model > → PM & PMM align on feature & how it aligns with the strategy → As the feature is developed, PMMs carefully figure out launch & GTM → When the feature hits production, the launch activities are initiated → After the launch, the feature is weaved into the marketing narrative → This means updates to landing pages, emails, sales narratives, creatives, etc. → The feature is periodically re-promoted e.g. when a related roadmap item is released ✅ "Suitable" new prospects & customers are continually made aware of the feature. Common objection: "How is it sustainable to keep promoting every feature when the product footprint is large?" 1- Every feature carries a different weight. Features that are auxiliary functions and table stakes don't need to occupy promo bandwidth. You want to focus on the finite set of critical differentiators and innovations you've launched. 2- Even if you lack the bandwidth to promote, embedding new features into the marketing fabric by updating collateral can still deliver the intended impact. So, what happens after the launch? Where are the features re-promoted? The "where" depends on the go-to-market motions that were "chosen" when crafting the GTM strategy. As a refresher, here's the sequence PMMs follow: → GTM Strategy: Plan to bring a product to market. Ex: target market, value prop, pricing model, offer, GTM motion, channels etc. → GTM Motion: Approaches to execute the GTM strategy Ex: marketing-led, outbound, paid media, marketplace, founder-led etc. → Channels: Mediums used to reach customers Ex: LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube, Email etc. → Tactics: Specific actions within channels Ex: Blog, podcast, how-to guide, e-book, infographic, webinar etc. One doesn't need to be omnipresent across all GTM motions. That's not practical. Most products start with one solid motion and expand to two or three over time. For example, 👉🏻 Loom got traction from a Product Hunt campaign. 👉🏻 Hubspot started with inbound marketing 👉🏻 Figma started with cold outbound. 👉🏻 Canva initially got press. --- What does your go-to-market model look like?

Here's why your proposal got ghosted. You nailed the pitch. Your contact loved it. But weeks pass. Silence. Then comes the rejection: “We’ve decided to go another way.” What happened? You wrote the proposal for one person. But decisions aren’t made by one. They’re made by a room full of stakeholders: → The CFO worried about ROI. → The CTO thinking about integration. → The Support Manager concerned about adoption. You didn’t address their concerns. And that’s why you lost. The fix? ↳ Write proposals that speak to every decision-maker. Here’s how: 1/ Identify all key stakeholders. 2/ Anticipate their priorities and objections. 3/ Create proposal sections tailored to each role. It’s called the Stakeholder-Centric Proposal Approach. And it turns “Let me check with my team” into “Proposal accepted.” Because the secret to winning? Make everyone feel like the proposal was written for them. Found this valuable? ♻️ Repost to your network 🔔 Follow Surabhi Shenoy for more CEO insights -- Want to become the CEO your growing business deserves? 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 —my Free Weekly Newsletter trusted by 1200+ Founders and CEOs. Every Thursday, I share 1 actionable tip to grow your business, increase its valuation, and have fun doing it. 🎁 𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗦: Get instant access to my 'Rapid Growth Playbook' (27 exclusive growth cheatsheets) Click "𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" link at the top of this post👆

🌱 “I don’t force them to grow. I remove what stops them.” . In today’s workplaces, we often expect people to grow faster, deliver more, and perform better — but growth doesn’t happen by pressure. Growth happens when we remove the obstacles that silently hold people back. As leaders, managers, and even teammates, our role is not to push people to grow. Our real role is to create the environment where growth becomes natural. Here’s how this applies to the current work culture: ✅ 1. Remove blockers, don’t add pressure Instead of asking “Why aren’t you performing better?”, ask: “What’s stopping you? What can I remove from your way?” Sometimes it’s unclear processes, unrealistic deadlines, lack of clarity, or unnecessary approvals. Fixing these enables people to shine. ✅ 2. Build trust, not fear When people fear mistakes, they freeze. When people trust their environment, they innovate. Psychological safety isn’t a luxury — it’s a growth driver. ✅ 3. Provide clarity Most employees don’t fail due to lack of skill. They fail due to lack of direction. A clear goal is like sunlight — it guides growth naturally. ✅ 4. Encourage learning over judging Learning cultures grow. Blame cultures shrink. Give people space to try, reflect, and improve. ✅ 5. Support well-being Burnout kills growth faster than anything else. A balanced mind is a productive mind. 🌿 The best leaders are gardeners. They don’t force growth — they enable it. When we remove blocks, simplify work, improve communication, and support people… Teams don’t just perform. They flourish. Let’s build workplaces where growth is not demanded — but designed. #Leadership #WorkCulture #GrowthMindset #PeopleFirst #TeamDevelopment #EmployeeExperience #Productivity #Management #CareerGrowth #BetterWorkplaces #Inspiration #LinkedInCommunity

In 66 months, I helped grow Gong from $200k ARR to $7.2B in valuation and worked alongside some of the planet's best sales leaders. Here's the 6 biggest lessons I learned: 1. Overinvest in great marketing early on. I’m still shocked at how few startups do this. Sales with no (effective) marketing early on to pave demand and provide air-cover is a brute-force way to build. 2. Measure twice, cut once when hiring leaders. Your first leadership hires will have cascading effects on your company that ripple through many years. Their fingerprints will weigh heavy on everything from your sales motion, to company culture, to the people they hire, whether you want it to or not. Even after they’re gone. Recruit and hire accordingly. 3. Beat the hell out of what’s working. Finding what works in growing a startup is like drilling for oil. You’re going to drill a number of "wells" and come up dry. But soon, you’ll find one to go DEEP with. Drill it for all it’s worth. Don’t screw around trying to find too many other oil wells when you haven’t even maxed out your best one. 4. Hire salespeople who thrive on ambiguity. Not just those who CAN do that, but those who LOVE to do it (because they'll be doing this for a while as your market evolves). Do this, and you’ll accelerate your learning curve to a repeatable sales motion. Hire entrepreneurial reps. 5. Inject risk into the business as you scale. As you scale, your “portfolio” of growth initiatives should contain more and more risk. It's as if you're a fund manager. Early on, find what works and cling to it. But as you grow and you’re able to rely on several well-established growth vectors, start to introduce risk into your portfolio. Examples: Experimenting with channel partnerships, international, new segments of the market or use cases. 6. Realize the "growth at scale" playbook is different than the "scale up" and "startup" playbooks. What got you to $50M or $100M will not get you to the next level by itself. The path to $100M, and going beyond that (“growth-at-scale”) are two very different situations demanding different means of growing. Early on, nothing matters but (the right) customer acquisition, controlling churn, and making your product absolutely amazing. But if you’re going to continue growing at a fast rate, several other methods have to start firing: high net dollar retention (NDR), multi-product and multiple streams of ARR, going hard and fast on international expansion, and crossing the chasm into “low tech” industries. This list is non-exhaustive. For those of you who have ridden that tornado, what would you add? P.S. Turn "open opps" into paying customers at any phase of growth with these 10 closing motion scripts: https://lnkd.in/gtxYd9Vs

Constant change is the new normal—making rigid 10-year career plans a thing of the past. Mark Murphy's latest Forbes article reveals that the professionals who succeed today aren’t those who stick to linear schedules, but those who cultivate key habits (like learning fast and growing networks), challenge themselves before feeling “ready,” and consistently review their trajectory to remain adaptable. My Perspective: "Strategic Flexibility" I'm honored to have Mark feature my insights on strategic flexibility as a critical pillar for modern career success. Instead of betting on a single path: build a portfolio of skills, relationships, and options—what I call “optionality.” It’s about conducting regular assessments: ➤ Are my skills transferable across industries? ➤ Do my connections span diverse fields? ➤ What new opportunities might be unlocked by expanding my scope and perspectives? FACT: Traditional planning is outdated because the world—and each career—changes quickly. The new advantage isn’t predicting the future perfectly but thriving through flexibility: investing in skills, embracing side projects, and seeing every shift as a source of growth. Thanks again to Mark Murphy for including me in this critical conversation and for continuing to surface the mindsets that help leaders and teams grow. Link to the full article: https://rb.gy/dzqq23 Coaching can help; let's chat. Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Joshua Miller for more tips on coaching, leadership, career + mindset. #Leadership #Change #CareerAdvice #ExecutiveCoaching #ProfessionalDevelopment #Strategy

A roadmap is not a strategy! Yet, most strategy docs are roadmaps + frameworks. This isn't because teams are dumb. It's because they lack predictable steps to follow. This is where I refer them to Ed Biden's 7-step process: — 1. Objective → What problem are we solving? Your objective sets the foundation. If you can’t define this clearly, nothing else matters. A real strategy starts with: → What challenge are we responding to? → Why does this problem matter? → What happens if we don’t solve it? — 2. Users → Who are we serving? Not all users are created equal. A strong strategy answers: · What do they need most? · Who exactly are we solving for? · What problems are they already solving on their own? A strategy without sharp user focus leads to feature bloat. — 3. Superpowers → What makes us different? If you’re competing on the same playing field as everyone else, you’ve already lost. Your strategy must define: · What can we do 10x better than anyone else? · Where can we persistently win? · What should we not do? This is where strategy meets competitive advantage. — 4. Vision → Where are we going? A roadmap tells you what’s next. A vision tells you why it matters. Most PMs confuse vision with strategy. But a vision is long-term. It’s a north star. Your strategy answers: How do we get there? — 5. Pillars → What are our focus areas? If everything is a priority, nothing really is. In my 15 years of experience, great strategy always come with a trade-offs: → What are our big bets? → What do we need to execute to move towards our vision? → What are we intentionally not doing? — 6. Impact → How do we measure success? Most teams obsess over vanity metrics. A great strategy tracks what actually drives business success. What outcomes matter? → How will we track progress? → What signals tell us we’re on the right path? — 7. Roadmap → How do we execute? A roadmap should never be a list of everything you could do. It should be a focus list of what truly matters. Problems and outcomes are the currency here. Not dates and timelines. — For personal examples of how I do this, check out my post: https://lnkd.in/e5F2J6pB — Hate to break it to you, but you might be operating without a strategy. You might have a nicely formatted strategy doc in front of you, but it’s just a… A roadmap? a feature list? a wishlist? If it doesn’t connect vision to execution, prioritize trade-offs, and define competitive edge… It’s not strategy. It’s just noise.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 Enterprise Architecture abhors a vacuum—it thrives on stakeholder engagement. Often, architects jump into collaboration without first assessing one critical factor: • 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐄𝐀? Before strategy, frameworks, or roadmaps, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. This will shape how you approach, gain buy-in, and drive outcomes. Here are 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 for aligning EA with stakeholders: 𝟏 | 𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐀 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 EA means different things to people, how can you align? Approach: * 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞. What do leaders think EA does? What experiences shape their view? * 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞. If a product saw EA as 'overhead,’ shift the conversation to ‘rapid decision-making.’ * 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Finance, operations, and IT leaders have different concerns. Meet them on their terms. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: When you shape EA’s role based on their reality, it becomes relevant, not theoretical. 𝟐 | 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐄𝐀 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 EA isn’t all architecture, it’s solving business problems. Approach: * 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐏𝐈𝐬. Growth? Efficiency? Risk? Align EA contributions to what leadership interests. * 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭. Show architecture driving go-to-market, savings, or agility—over compliance. * 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞/𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬. If EA was a bottleneck, demonstrate accelerated decision-making instead. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: EA is a strategic enabler, not afterthought. 𝟑 | 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐀 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 EA works best in collaboration, not isolation. Approach: * 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Decision-making improves when EA is a proactive presence. * 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 ‘𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐀’ 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐜𝐨-𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.’ Stakeholders engage when architecture is a tool for their success. * 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐨𝐟𝐟. EA isn’t a pitch—it’s a dialog evolving with business. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: EA shaping decisions early rather than reacting later. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. Before pushing frameworks or models, assess 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐀 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲—and how to reshape that narrative to unlock its full potential. How do align EA stakeholders? Let’s discuss.👇 --- ➕ 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 Kevin Donovan 🔔    👍 Like | ♻️ Repost | 💬 Comment    🚀 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬’ 𝐇𝐮𝐛 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgmQqfu2

The most overlooked startup growth strategy isn't the latest AI ads platform or improved funnel optimization. It's actually hiding in plain sight: how your product naturally spreads from one user to another. Teams that understand their product's inherent distribution mechanics outperform those relying solely on paid acquisition. This is less about forcing virality, and more about recognizing your product's natural sharing dynamics: - For communication tools, it's inviting collaborators - For design software, it's exporting and presenting work - For consumer apps, it's sharing results or achievements - For B2B platforms, it's onboarding team members At Gamma, we discovered our growth accelerator was reducing friction in how users share their presentations. And while that lever was specific to our product, the principle still applies universally: Identify where your product naturally creates opportunities for exposure, then systematically optimize that pathway. To this end, there are two questions worth asking: 1. When users get value from your product, how do others naturally see that value? 2. What's preventing that moment of visibility from happening more often? Every product category has different answers, but the approach is consistent: - Map out your product's natural exposure points - Measure how often those moments occur - Remove friction from that process - Build features that amplify visibility This thinking transformed our product roadmap. Features aren't just about utility; they're about enabling natural discovery. Your growth strategy might look completely different from ours, but the mindset remains the same: The best acquisition strategy is built into how your product is naturally experienced and shared.