Get Lighthouse

MAY 7, 2022

I was an Electrical Engineer that wanted to jump into product. years, *then* I got my first job with “product” in the title. I started a side project website and launched it as a business, which forced me to learn some sales, marketing, product management, and a lot more. That all took 2.5 A story of high potential.

Engineering 129

Engineering Manager Marketing Compensation 129

Andrew Chen

DECEMBER 20, 2016

[Andrew: Paid marketing remains an integral part of many products’ acquisition channels, and one of the key metrics is Cost of Customer Acquisition, which is a nuanced calculation with lots of gotchas. Since Dropbox is a freemium product, CAC would be the cost to acquire a paying user on either their pro or their team plan.

SaaS 111

SaaS Sales Sales Marketing 111

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

Let me set it up in a few bullets: Many of tech industry’s most valuable products — Slack, Zoom, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, and others — are at their core products that connect people to each other. These frameworks are targeted at teams building new products, first and foremost. The Cold Start Problem.

Scaling 63

Scaling Operations Revenue Metrics 63

Andrew Chen

JANUARY 9, 2020

In the interim, I’ve stayed pretty active on Twitter, writing tweetstorms that sometimes turn themselves into essays on here. For a quick summary of the essays that did make it onto here, including a couple guest collaborations, here’s an easy set of links: The Passion Economy (guest essay by Li Jin, a16z).

Marketing 52

Marketing Retention B2B Scaling 52

Andrew Chen

OCTOBER 31, 2016

They pulled together a great essay below!]. Guest Essay by Susan Su, Reforge. If you’re looking for your next job in growth, or you’re trying to fill one at your company, consider this a peek into how a few other growth marketing experts are structuring their growth interviews. Growth Interview Questions. Growth Resources.

Metrics 92

Metrics Revenue Marketing Education 92

Andrew Chen

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

In the podcast, we cover a broad overview of growth/marketing topics, including: The natural “gravity” that slows down high-growth businesses. Organic, paid marketing, and LTV/CAC. Why offline products are so compelling for acquiring customers. High frequency versus episodic usage products. Hope you enjoy it!

Marketing 75

Marketing Metrics Retention eCommerce 75

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Aside from the historically tight labor market for these skills, it’s also tricky to have a simple answer to the question. In this essay, I’ll aim to answer this critical question — how do you hire a Head of Growth — using parts of framework from my upcoming first book, The Cold Start Problem.

Scaling 82

Scaling Marketing Recruitment B2B 82

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Hello readers, Viral growth — specifically the type baked into product features, in the form of invites, sharing, and collaboration — is a topic I’ve been endlessly fascinated by. It’s the central force that has propelled many of the world’s most popular products to billions of users. thanks, Andrew.

Retention 72

Retention Marketing Metrics Media 72

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

The same skills needed to grow new products can be used both to evaluate new startups to invest in, and once we’ve invested; to help them grow. My previous background up to that point was in user acquisition and ad tech, and I was making the pivot to consumer products. There was a lot to learn.

Metrics 111

Metrics Scaling Marketing Media 111

Andrew Chen

JUNE 25, 2019

I’ve had folks over to 1455 Market St, the headquarters of Uber, and I’ve reciprocated with visits to the Airbnb offices too. Importantly, both companies are tremendous growth stories, and have needed to grow both demand but especially supply in all of their markets globally. It’s fantastic, and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks, Andrew.

User Experience 111

User Experience Retention Marketing Travel 111

Andrew Chen

JUNE 25, 2019

I’ve had folks over to 1455 Market St, the headquarters of Uber, and I’ve reciprocated with visits to the Airbnb offices too. Importantly, both companies are tremendous growth stories, and have needed to grow both demand but especially supply in all of their markets globally. It’s fantastic, and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks, Andrew.

User Experience 48

User Experience Retention Marketing Travel 48

Andrew Chen

MAY 14, 2018

Collaborative tools like Dropbox and Slack benefit from built-in virality , where teams adopt them together – and they represent a tidal wave of software products that truly understand the relationships between people. Listen to the podcast here ». tldr; Here’s 5 quick takeaways. Full Interview with Adam Risman (Intercom).

SaaS 71

SaaS Retention B2B eCommerce 71

Andrew Chen

DECEMBER 13, 2018

I recently did a podcast with Ryan Hoover, co-founder of Product Hunt and my sister Ada Chen Rekhi, previously SVP Marketing at Survey Monkey – here’s what we talk about: The network effects that makes Silicon Valley what it is. Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode. Bose — Noise-cancelling earbuds.

Engineering 79

Engineering Scaling Marketing Manager 79

Andrew Chen

DECEMBER 13, 2018

I recently did a podcast with Ryan Hoover, co-founder of Product Hunt and my sister Ada Chen Rekhi, previously SVP Marketing at Survey Monkey – here’s what we talk about: The network effects that makes Silicon Valley what it is. Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode. Bose — Noise-cancelling earbuds.

Engineering 40

Engineering Scaling Marketing Manager 40

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

You have to figure out the macro organizational issues – how it fits in with marketing, product, and other functions – as well as the micro, like how to measure the success of these teams. What’s the difference between growth and marketing/product/whatever? Where should growth teams focus?

A/B Testing 110

A/B Testing Engineering Marketing User Experience 110

Andrew Chen

JANUARY 31, 2018

Essays from 2017. To grow to beyond an initial vertical, startups have to think about expanding geos, adding new products and price points, decrease friction, and grow demand+supply stickiness. Expanding on a tweetstorm, this essay breaks down the key lessons I’ve learned from running a professional blog over the last 10 years.

Marketing 67

Marketing Metrics Scaling 67

Andrew Chen

MAY 28, 2019

No wonder the consumer investment team ended up digging into this trend by doing a market map report — the analysis led by Li Jin and including work from myself, Connie Chan, and others. And in fact, the combined revenue of Headspace and Calm are more than half of the entire podcasting market.

Advertising 93

Advertising Revenue Media Marketing 93

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Startups like Uber, Airbnb, Instacart, and others have been able to find product/market fit and scale their businesses. The essay below argues: “ The Passion Economy.” And quick plug, if you want to read more about the market like this, subscribe to the a16z newsletter here ). Thanks, Andrew.

SaaS 90

SaaS Software Revenue Marketing 90

Andrew Chen

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Startups like Uber, Airbnb, Instacart, and others have been able to find product/market fit and scale their businesses. The essay below argues: “ The Passion Economy.” That shift is already evident in marketplaces for physical products; it’s now extending into services. But what’s the next?

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SaaS Software Revenue Advertising 40