Here are the 38 Growth Mentors of February 2022

1. Aleksandra Malomuzh

Describe yourself

Hi everyone! My name is Alexandra, and I’m the head of SEO at Preply, the fast-growing Marketplace for online language learning. During my 7 years of working in the company, I gained experience in scaling up the team and expanding to new markets. I believe in a customer-centric SEO strategy and the initial goal of building up the growth mindset in a team. My main motivators are the challenges, and my life philosophy is thinking out of the box.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I want to share my 7 years of experience working in a Startup and passing through different stages of company growth with people who are keen to develop a growth mindset and ready for the challenges.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growing through experimenting. Constantly challenge yourself and gain learnings through testing. You would never succeed if you didn’t make mistakes. Always listen to your customers. Data – should be your best friend.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Developing and scaling SEO strategy with the ambitious goal of expanding to new markets.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Turning the team’s mindset towards experimenting and developing the SEO framework of split testing. Understanding the synergy between two main sources of acquisition: PPC and SEO to uncover new opportunities for the Organic growth.

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2. Alex Birkett

Describe yourself

I run the experimentation team at Workato and co-founded a content marketing agency. I’ve built startups from the ground up as well as managed multi-disciplinary teams and projects at public companies.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I want to help others learn content strategy.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Through feedback and repeated iterations, I can improve, learn, and grow.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Content marketing

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Built the “surround sound strategy” at HubSpot to branch out from our reliance on content production. We built a partnership / account management program to get on all review sites and lists associated with our products resulting in thousands of signups per month.

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3. Alex Debecker

Describe yourself

I’m a marketer with a passion for growth. In the last few years, I have learned a lot about running lead generation and growth for a successful tech startup. Above all, I’m motivated by challenges and like to expose myself to vastly different problems. This is what keeps me sharp!

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I’d like to give back whilst staying sharp.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Tested before perfect. Growth is about starting, creating a baseline, then improve. Lots of people/businesses struggle with growth because they don’t know where to start or they feel like they don’t have enough data. Trust me, you have enough data. My mindset is get something, anything, running — something that helps your ‘one true goal’ (leads, sales, signups, etc.). Start from there and get the ball rolling.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

CRO

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Launching a blog as an acquisition channel is always a long term play. Ages ago, we struggled to attract early traction, and waiting for SEO to kick in wasn’t really an option.

I noticed that Medium would allow us to repost articles without damaging our canonical articles. So, I started repurposing and reposting our key blog posts and offering them up to active communities in our target audience.

It only took about 5min to repost an article, and it would bring instant traffic. I played a lot with associating offers to each article, which grew traffic even more and brought loads of qualified leads.

Of course, nowadays everyone does this strategy and it’s probably not viable anymore. But back then it was new and worked like a charm to kick off our blog & lead gen!

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4. Allie Dyer Bluemel

Describe yourself

Making complex technical subjects easy to understand is my passion. I love helping inspired leaders and teams find ways to connect with their community through content and democratize tech knowledge. I’m experienced in coaching leading tech companies and startups in holistic technical content marketing, and expanding that out to community building.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

Early in my career, folks shared their knowledge transparently to help me become a better marketer, tech nerd, and writer and I want to return that favor back to the community (particularly to women and those from non-traditional backgrounds) now that I’m a bit more experienced.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset means constantly seeking out the edges of your knowledge to shore up where you’re weakest. To really, truly grow in a humble way that serves yourself and your community, you need to clearly identify what skills you can offer to your peers and what skills your peers can help you build through experimentation, research, and enthusiasm.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Technical content marketing strategy

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Created a content strategy for a new data startup that generated 200%+ new pageviews per month and positioned the blog as the highest source of inbound leads. Helped the new company take over an established keyword from their much-larger competition, ultimately ranking 3 pages of their site on page one of Google.

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5. Anand Safi

Describe yourself

I am a Senior Engineering Manager for Mark43 – a public safety software company. Over the past decade, I have progressed from starting as an aspiring engineer to becoming an engineering leader.

I also serve as a Startup Advisor, Volunteer Board Member and an established tech mentor outside of my role. I love reading about engineering culture, team dynamics and new advancements in tech.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

Sharing my learnings + empowering current and next gen.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Trying to having trending-up incremental progress on wholistic development and not a finite materialistic goal always with an aggressive timeline. Patience and grit is key.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Career Development and Growth Mindset

Skills can be learnt, mindset needs to be fostered.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Getting engineers to form peer connections and delegating technical decisions close to their expertise without trying to influence with executive presence.

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6. Andrew Hutton

Describe yourself

I have 10 years of experience in paid digital marketing, primarily with Google and Facebook Ads. I currently run a boutique agency called Level Up Digital where we help companies grow with PPC campaigns, optimized landing pages, and ad creative.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I’ve helped a ton of people over my 10 years in PPC and I think I can help and connect with more people through Growth Mentor.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Having a growth mindset is to be constantly seeking the reward of new knowledge and experience gained.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

How they can use paid digital advertising to profitably grow a company/startup.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Joined a company that wanted to crack YouTube Ads as a new acquisition channel. Launched new campaigns based on some in-depth research and experimentation that reduced their CAC on YouTube from over $400 to around $50.

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7. Ben Major

Describe yourself

I am a T-Shaped marketer with a deep specialism in SEO. I’ve worked with hundreds of websites in a range of niches and now head up an agency that specialise in SEO, CRO and Growth for SaaS.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I’d love opportunity to share my knowledge with others, mentoring is something I do a lot in my current role and is an extremely rewarding experience.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Applying a white belt mentality by always accepting that there is more to learn and that everyone you meet has an opportunity to teach you something.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

SEO

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Problem: Client wants to produce a landing page for each product combination on their website (thousands)

Solution: Roll out a programmatic solution that generates landing pages based on faceted navigation combinations, complete with copy enriched by GPT-3.

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8. Beth Carter

Describe yourself

I help founders and teams to figure out which work is the most important, how to position products in crowded spaces, and become category-defining brands.

I geek out about Customer Discovery, building a growth mindset, content marketing, brand and product positioning, customer journey mapping, acquisition funnels, customer experience & engagement, value proposition and messaging.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Meet and understand more founders and businesses to broaden my knowledge (and help out at the same time!).

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is knowing the importance of taking risks, where to take risks, and how to take risks. It’s about learning from a range of data, connecting the dots, and getting your hands dirty.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Using customer insights as the foundation of your marketing and growth strategy.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I built a content marketing framework off JTBD research that I call Questions to be Answered, which stops founders and marketers thinking about old-fashioned content pillars and instead gets them noticed for what really matters: how they understand the customer, and how they solve the right problems.

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9. Blair Morrison

Describe yourself

I am a fractional CFO that works with start ups and small businesses to build budgets, make financial growth decisions and speak to boards. I love working with business owners to improve their understanding and comfort level with their financial information.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I have a skill set I think could help start-up founders and I love working with them.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Sustainable practices that drive growth reliably. A focus on doing more, but also doing more better.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Financial acumen and board communications.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Figuring out what a customers inventory should be (how much they should order for the revenue they are expecting) with no historic record of inventory on the balance sheet. Helping a client realize they shouldn’t hire an employee because the revenue that person would bring in wouldn’t cover their salary – before they hired them.

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10. Bohdan Drozdov

Describe yourself

I am Growth Manager with 6 years of product marketing and growth experience in B2C.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

My goal is to help people grow faster by sharing my knowledge and experience.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It’s all in your hands, create a hypothesis, test it, learn from it, and repeat.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Building scalable and efficient growth engines.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

In truth, everything I’ve achieved has come from execution and system building, rather than some incredible insight.

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11. Bukki Adedapo

Describe yourself

Hi there, I’m Bukki. I’m a data-driven growth marketer with a range of experiences – from founding my own startup to managing growth at fast-growing scaleups and the publicly traded company Fiverr.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I’ve personally gained a lot from my mentors and would love to provide value in the same way to others.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

• Asking the right questions
• Developing hypotheses
• Running small pilots to test those hypotheses
• Iterating hypotheses based on pilot results
• Transitioning from small pilots to scaled roll-outs and institutionalisation

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Data-driven growth strategy

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

In one of my previous roles, we wanted to reactivate inactive customers. However, we weren’t a subscription service so we couldn’t tell exactly when customers had churned. As a result, I built an Excel-based model based on historic customer behaviour (order frequency, typical items ordered) to determine the probability that a customer would use our service again. Using the model, we were able to identify different customers to send reactivation email campaigns to every couple of weeks. With the additional revenue these campaigns generated, we decided it was valuable enough to have our developer create software to automate the process.

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12. Dani Whitestone

Describe yourself

With three decades of entrepreneurship under my belt, including bootstrapping a 7-figure software company, I’m excited to start giving back to others stepping onto this crazy, wonderful path. I believe entrepreneurship allows someone to live a life true to themselves and I’m grateful to now be a mentor to others as this is truly the only business success shortcut there is.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I want to make the path of entrepreneurship easier for others.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is one where you look for opportunities and to learn from failure or struggle. This is not a perfect process, there will be times when you need to step away because you’ve mentally had enough. However, after that break, you come to the table with an openness to see how the present circumstances will work to your best benefit.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Startup. Because there’s a lot of help that is required at this stage, in particular, encouragement is needed to keep going in the face of huge obstacles.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

It was in the early days of my company and I was selling via in-person appointments with a demo on my laptop. There was immediate tension and resistance anytime I sat down for the demo so I uploaded a photo of my dog meeting my baby chicken on my laptop. When I opened my laptop for the demo, it immediately brought down all walls. My clients figured anyone who had a giant dog meeting a baby chicken in her kitchen was not there to rip them off and they were right.

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13. Div Manickam

Describe yourself

I am Div Manickam from Raleigh NC, a mindful soul and a believer in simplicity. Like an alchemist, I love the magic of bringing two worlds together in work and life.

From combining processes and frameworks in product marketing to mentoring and helping bring the best in each other with GROW and personal OKRs: I enjoy sharing my 10+years experience on authentic leadership, mindfulness, mental health and product marketing.

Recently, I embarked on a journey with stress and anxiety, mindfulness and essentialism, diversity and belonging. I am committed to break the stigma on mental health and be a voice for the unspoken. Taking a leap into the unknown, I self-published her first eBook in Dec 2021 – A broken teacup: Filling the cracks with mindfulness, essentialism and self-care.

I am exploring a portfolio life, one day at a time and learning that not everything needs to be solved at this moment. I appreciate the everyday little things and am grateful for all the kind people in her life, who stood by her in the good, the bad and the ugly.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Mentoring is the most fulfilling role I ever had. I wish I could mentor for life.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

I am a student for life and a lifelong learner. Without a growth mindset, I believe that we limit our true potential and encourage everyone to explore the miracles of the universe. Growth mindset is everything to be successful on our own terms.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Authentic leadership – I am passionate to empower mindful teams and foster a safe environment where everyone’s voice is heard and they feel like they can be their true selves and belong.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Stress and anxiety – most recommend therapy and medication. With the support of my community and bibliotherapy, I was able to turn my life around with mindfulness, essentialism and self-care and share my experiences with the world.

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14. Eleanor Haglund

Describe yourself

I am a driven entrepreneurs with over 7 years of experience building companies, fundraising, and coaching other startups. I’m a firm believer that authentic connections make for good business and love supporting other innovators in any way I can.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I have received an enormous amount of support from mentors willing to spend time with me and I want to give back and support other aspiring entrepreneurs the way that I have been supported.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset to me is truly believing that every situation is a chance to learn something new, and to progress in your understanding of the world or to grow in a skill.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

I love mentoring people on their pitch. Telling your story the right way is so crucial for fundraising and acquiring customers, and it’s great to see the progress they can make with a pitching partner.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I’m proud of my networking strategy, of reaching out to people through recommendations of the people that I meet who I really enjoy.

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15. Giulia Cian Seren

Describe yourself

I’m a hybrid growth, tech and ops consultant and I’m passionate about how technology is changing the way of doing business in every industry. Owning 3 restaurants was a BIG part of my transition to a more practical, no BS growth approach.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I love helping underserved founders skip the years of failure and mistakes.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It means trusting data above personal beliefs and ego.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

CRO! Everyone thinks they need more traffic. They don’t, they just need to convert it at a higher rate.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I once saved a client $75,000 in custom software development by using Zapier and an existing tool they were already proficient in. Score!

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16. Gustavo Pelogia

Describe yourself

I hope to connect and help like-minded people to grow in their careers. A lot of what I know in marketing, specially in SEO, came from talking to people, connecting personally and talking in one-on-one environments. I expect to support and also learn from someone’s experience, background, challenges, etc.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Help like-minded to growth in their careers and companies.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It’s about growing sustainably and breaking large goals into smaller ones, making them feel more achievable and keep chasing the next one.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

SEO

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I developed a dashboard to automate data collection on Google My Business. They usually only give the last three months of data but my solution solved this problem – All profiles / businesses in one place, with historical data!

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17. Guy Chiswick

Describe yourself

Scaling business and establishing revenue leadership is a critical skill. My aptitude across multiple sectors including tech, digital, data, subscription, and SaaS business models, means I am comfortable with the complexity of businesses of all types. Tricky challenges in uncharted waters are my speciality. My instincts are naturally drawn to the business of maximising revenue, intuitively understanding the right questions to ask that lead to growth. I am calm, focused, optimistic, provocative with purpose, and fun.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I have 20+ years experience delivering business growth and am launching a growth advisory business to support individuals and organisations succeed in their growth goals – Guy Chiswick Growth

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Attitude + Application + Focus + Collaboration

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Revenue and Sales Growth

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Redesigned the commission deals for our publisher partners, so that they were incentivised to trial new marketing initiatives and were rewarded for high performing campaigns = improved conversion levels + ad budget protection + happy publishers.

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18. Joanna Rutter

Describe yourself

I coach big dreamers on how to tap in to the power of authentic and consistent marketing strategy so they can grow their audiences on their terms. I’ve worked on brands like Calm and Verizon, led content marketing efforts at SaaS startups like Propel PLM and Dor, and written for top tech companies such as Webflow and Zapier. I’m anti-hustle, anti-exploitative-marketing, anti-traditional-playbook, and enjoy trying fresh tactics that run in the opposite direction of the crowd. I enjoy the scrappy in-between moments in building something worthwhile, and I can’t wait to join you there.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Working with people at the moment of their great need is deeply interesting and meaningful to me, especially when I have skills and tactics that can unlock or unblock things for them.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It’s about service and tenacity. You grow only when you meet a real need, and meet it well. And in nature, tenacious plants root deep in pavement cracks to stretch toward the sun despite all the odds against them. The founders I most respect don’t cut down forests to put down new grass — that’s not growth, that’s destruction — they instead look for the cracks where they can root down deep.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Strategy. Most founders consciously or subconsciously repurpose their investor deck as their marketing strategy (or worse, website copy). But your investors are not your customers and have completely different interests in what you sell. If I could, I’d work with each of my mentees on pivoting from pitch-mode into customer-service mode, because it’s a difficult transition, especially for folks to whom marketing does not come naturally. Here to help.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

The time I pulled together a case study in time for it to come in handy closing an important deal — was difficult to put together but that one piece of content ended up turning the page in a $500k pilot, and that felt pretty nice 🙂

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19. John Howard

Describe yourself

Founder/CEO generalist with a technical background. 2x B2B SaaS edtech and 1x solar in rural India. I love helping early-stage founders & their team get off the ground.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I’m on a break between startups and have enjoyed mentoring others; I’d love to do more.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Choosing what not to do (= focus), running smart experiments, looking for unconventional opportunities to move the needle.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Early stage business direction / strategy

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

A startup CEO I advised was having trouble working with the leader of an international subsidiary. There were many complex people issues at play. I suggested creating a local (in-country) board of directors with at least two respected independent directors to help break the standstill. It worked well.

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20. John Kiskipelis

Describe yourself

Data driven Marketer focused on Revenue Growth, E-commerce Consultant, Performance & Growth Hacking Marketer.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I want to help others achieve their goals, as I was helped when I started my career.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growth mindset is the state where you stop finding excuses and start finding solutions. Maybe not the best ones, yet you get the job done in a fast and efficient way.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Growth Markeating

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Inserting facebook pixel on an email and do remarketing to everyone that opened it.

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21. Kuba Nowak

Describe yourself

Hey I’m Kuba, my special power is using strategic experimentation to fuel growth. I’m in love with double-sided marketplaces and I’m fascinated by how you lift them off the ground and scale leveraging network effects.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Grow network of people working on interesting problems and help them leverage strategic growth frameworks.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It’s a constant journey – you continuously want to learn something new – and you’re open to the fact you don’t have all the answers (yet).

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Double-sided marketplaces – the business model is so complicated to initially solve and there are so many nuances that can make or break your growth.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I’ve built the data pipeline/engine for one product with an attribution model that helped us not buy yet another tool.

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22. Maeva Cifuentes

Describe yourself

Hi, I’m Maeva. I run Flying Cat Marketing, an SEO agency for fast-growth B2B SaaS companies like Hotjar, ActiveCampaign, Mixmax and Stonly. As a former translator and copywriter, I built Flying Cat in late 2019 and grew from $0 to $1.8M ARR in 2 years. We’ve helped our clients quadruple revenue through process-driven, content-led SEO strategies. Hit me up for anything related to SEO, content, or team building.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

To contribute to the community and find another way to use my skills and experience.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Know that there’s always a way to get something done, and know that there’s always a different way than what you’re currently doing.

With a growth mindset, you’re constantly trying to test new ways of doing things to see if they can be better than what you currently have.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

This is hard…but I’d have to say organic content strategy.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Found some original keyword angles that no other competitor was going for (search volume deemed “too low”) and ranked #1 for over 500 keywords on even just one page…directly contributing to 4xing revenue in 12 months.

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23. Marta Marrucco

Describe yourself

Hey, I am Marta and I am currently Chief Growth at Sooneat, a startup in the food tech. I am a startup enthusiast and I am excited to help you find ways to grow and succeed! I have a degree in Strategic Innovation Management and, over the past years, I have gained experience in the Startup field, from founding one to working with a successful one ($50m round). The sectors I have experience in are sustainability, circular economy, recycling, food tech, SaaS, and eCommerce. I have worked with both B2B (and B2B2C) and B2C startups. To date, I have worked on strategic partnerships with corporations (+10m in revenue); sales/post-sales strategy; internal operations; brand creation and positioning; BPR; business strategy, and investment seeking (both VCs and business angels) (+€500K round). Feel free to hit me up!

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I am very passionate about working in the startup field and would love to use my experience to help others grow.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

You never fail. You either win or learn.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Increase sales & close strategic partnerships

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

At Sooneat they were struggling to find their market segment and dive 100% into it. I helped them shape a new brand identity, focus on the highest revenue product and close fewer, larger deals. Often founders are too emotionally attached to something that’s simply not working and a fresh objective perspective is necessary to succeed.

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24. Mike Greene

Describe yourself

I am a serial investor, business mentor and have successfully built and sold several businesses. I have invested in multiple start-ups and growth businesses and have ran my own investment platform. I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in education for my contributions to schools, universities and business. I starred in UK’s Channel 4 Secret Millionaire programme documenting my story from poverty to multi-millionaire business owner. I have been entrepreneur in Residence in 2 business hubs mentoring early stage and growth businesses. I have also advised multi-billion £/$ businesses in change management and strategic planning.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I have successfully built & sold businesses in UK, USA & NZ advising/mentoring fortune 500 directors/businesses and I’ve also invested in over 30 start-up/growth business so feel like I have a lot of experience to offer mentees.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

In my view a growth mindset is an understanding that an individual recognises that they can improve with guidance and teaching matched by their own effort.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Strategic business planning for business scaling and growth

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

The market research consultancy I grew over 20x and successfully sold at 18x EBITDA stood out from, and outperformed leading industry consultancies like Nielsen because we differentiated between Insight and data/analytics (ie using the data to get to the ‘so what’… its about the interpretation and execution of the data) whereas others in the industry just presented the data. This led to me being asked to be main board strategic advisor to Nielsen after I had sold my business because our data commanded much greater £value than theirs.

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25. Mustafa Bohra

Describe yourself

Hey There, I’m Mustafa, currently leading key growth initiatives at Careem (Uber Subsidiary in MENA). I have strong grounding in Data Science and Analytics and a verifiable track record of helping businesses grow using data-driven engagement initiatives.

Hit me up for conversations on B2C Growth Strategies and leveraging data to drive growth.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

To share my expertise and experiences with the community and to learn back from them.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

For me Growth Mindset is:

• Ability to identify and focus on North Star metric which can channelize growth efforts across organization in one direction
• Skillset to identify the right focus areas which which can help leverage hockey stick growth in North Star metric
• Leverage customer insights to identify ideas and initiatives that can generate significant impact in the focus area
• Conceptual understanding of technology stack and data science required for execution and evaluation of growth experiment/ideas

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

I will love to engage in discussions around ideation, setup and evaluation for Growth Experiment across the customer funnel.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

A brand I was working on was having multiple services it was offering to Customers. They were having a tough time in figuring out customer journeys as customers were in different point of their lifecycle in each of theses services and there was no way to prioritise these opportunity.

I was responsible for developing centralized growth engine to map customers with the right opportunity and trigger omnichannel communications using python scripts that leveraged Data Science and Segmentation.

This not only helped the brand in completely automating their growth journeys but in that process also helped them in generating higher incremental revenue at better ROIs.

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26. Melissa Unsell-Smith

Describe yourself

I am an efficiency expert who loves to analyze complex systems. I’m an innovator, rule-breaker and strategist that likes to challenge assumptions.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I am a catalytic supporter of entrepreneurs and am passionate about helping founders identify the most efficient path to success.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Learning, iterating, documenting constantly with theoretical vigor without fear of defying convention.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Early stage ideation, defining ICP, crafting and testing hypothesis.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Over my tenure as an entrepreneur, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of how to leverage your influence to effectively lead teams, increase business revenue as well as personal earning potential. I’m passionate about giving founders the tools they need for personal well-being/growth that in turn leads to better business productivity and success.

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27. Nicholas Jordan

Describe yourself

Grew an A16 backed startup from 0 to 1.5m organics/month and a $210m valuation. Built a bunch of stuff in the process.

• 45 person content agency
• SEO SaaS with 3,000+ users & $100k in 1st year rev
• 3,500+ marketing community on FB
• 1m views on LinkedIn

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Create value for founders & marketers with high leverage on my time.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Careers are measured in decades, not months or years. Every opportunity you give your attention to should build the skills and the relationships that enable you to do something even higher impact next.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

SEO & community

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Everybody said you needed backlinks to win at SEO. I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how backlinks work so I found a path that didn’t require them.

Enabling me to take 4 projects from 0 to 100,000+ organics/month.

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28. Nontas Karavias

Describe yourself

For years I was a proud marketing generalist, having worked across the entire digital funnel. That, combined with my MSc in Marketing has given me the ability to understand the broad picture of marketing. And then I met ActiveCampaign. Shortly after, I fell in love with Marketing Automation and all the cool things you can do with it. So, now let’s just say that I am no longer a “generalist”.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Because I enjoy sharing my expertise, because it seems to focus on the quality of relationships (which is something that I am aiming for) and because I’ve heard only good things about the platform.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

It is the idea of continuous improvement and belief that any business goal is possible. It is the idea of not quitting and being consistent with right actions, because you know that eventually they will incrementally pay off.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Anything relating to Marketing Automation: Either the technical or strategic side of it. Especially if we’re talking about ActiveCampaign, I don’t think you can find many people that have my expertise.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Creating hyper-targeted email sequences that had to be peronalized in multiple levels within ActiveCamapaign and in multiple software (Typeform, Zapier, Calendly). After a lot of trial and error, and various failed setups, I somehow connected the pieces together and it worked!

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29. Punit Bhansali

Describe yourself

I am working as a Product Manager for almost 7 years.

Currently working as a Senior Product Manager at Atlassian and helping in building the ITOPs Automation Tools. I had worked with Ariba Technologies (a SAP Enterprise) and responsible for building the central Analytics platform for Ariba Applications.

Previously, I worked in Samsung for 2 years and was handling Samsung Pay app for India market. Also, build the complete UPI module for Samsung Pay and was responsible for driving its growth and engagement.

I started my Product management journey with an e-commerce start-up called Voonik. I was responsible for handling Voonik website (both Desktop and Mobile) and revamped it from scratch. Introduced features like Stylometer (Personalized tool), Subcategory Discovery, Seller coupon, Retention for Signed-in non cohort users, One-step checkout and single screen Product Description Page. Worked with Technologies like React, Angular JS, PWA, AMP etc.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

While growing in my career I haven’t got any opportunity of someone guiding me about Product Management. I don’t want someone else too miss on that.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growth to me, means an ability to build a concrete relationship with the other party and create a win-win situation where each benefits from other for an favourable outcome.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Product Management & Analytics. Its something I am good at and have an experience of building products across verticals.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

While building the mobile website for Voonik, we went to the market against the market norm of putting up a mirrored website as Desktop’s and achieved 70% more conversion as previous solution.

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30. Sakshi Gupta

Describe yourself

Currently based in San Francisco Bay Area leading growth marketing for a healthtech startup. Previously, I’ve led strategy and execution for a unique and exciting portfolio of startups ranging from D2C, B2B SaaS, Healthcare and Tech across 5 different cities and 3 countries.

Passionate about leading growth strategies in startup companies by leveraging Marketing-Tech stack to collect, enrich and report on customer data with solid understanding of digital advertising & data collection ecosystems.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

To meaningfully give back to startup ecosystem which has taught me to be a great growth marketer by not just mentoring but also guiding founders and marketers in true scrappy way.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

For me, a growth mindset is the one with curiosity – to learn, test and improve along with the ability to unlearn when necessary.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Scaling Customer Acquisition & Optimizing CAC

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Automation! I’ve automated optimization (ad) processes to save $$$ for various startups.

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31. Sam Hurley

Describe yourself

Previously SEO lead at made.com. Now running specialised eCom SEO agency working with fast-growth companies like Bloom + Wild, Patch, Lick, NIO, Thread and many more. Our team is over 40 people now so you won’t get better insights into DTC SEO growth anywhere else.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I know I can add a tonne of value to your community as I’ve helped grow some of LDNs most well-known DTC brands through SEO: Made.com, Patch, Bloom & Wild, Thread, Lick (Also a Virgin Start-up mentor)

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Setting yourself ambitious goals to achieve in the long + short term and having the self-motivation and drive to achieve them without anyone else pushing you or managing you.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

SEO eCommerce. It’s my passion + speciality.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Finding a gap in the SEO market, quit my job at Made.com to capitalise on it. 3 years later we work with all the types of brands I dreamed of with a team of 40.

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32. Sam Grover

Describe yourself

I help businesses find quick wins in their content strategy, messaging and copywriting. Book me to talk through your home page!

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

Help businesses identify easy, low hanging fruit they can quickly fix before they waste time and money on expensive consultants.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Ability to try things, fail and learn from them – then try again.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Home page messaging

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Honestly – not really. I’ve helped tons of companies with their home pages, and usually the best approach is to be LESS out of the box, less “creative” and more clear and factual in messaging. I think the fixation on being out of the box and different can lead to a lot of muddled messaging.

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33. Sunny Zhu

Describe yourself

8-yr analytical experience across industries, from advertising consulting, online gaming, fintech to eCommerce (luxury brands/ furniture). She is currently at a kids eCommerce marketplace and wants to implement the latest digital / product/ data science technology to help new generations parenting. She is well versed in marketing/ strategy/ product analytics and familiar with all trending BI tools/ AB testing platforms. Furthermore, she is a statistics geek and used to build marketing mix modelling, personalization algo, time-series budgeting module and users cluster model for various companies. She leads the rapid experimentation program at a top eCommerce company and brought $52M incremental annual revenue for DTC business through rigorous deep-dives/ ab testing. Extensive hiring and management experience for high growth data team.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I’m passionate about fuel growth with data insights and want to join the community to share and grow.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

In a growth mindset, we believe our talents can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and input from others. Be open to unknowns, solve problems step by step, there is always more solutions than problems.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Data Analytics

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

The problem I tried to solve is how to cultivate a test & learn culture at the company, no one did rapid experimentation in the company. I set up the testing process, organized testing training, created a testing communication loop and designed testing ideas rewarding systems.

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34. Thibaut Briere

Describe yourself

Hi! I’m Thibaut.

As a developer and got frustrated to sometimes talk tech before thinking usage.

So I decided to move to the dark side of things: marketing. B2B marketing.

I’ve been obsessed since then, working for companies big and small trying to get better at it and having different roles.

It’s been an exciting journey of learning, success, failures and passion, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon!

From small startups to bigger ones to companies like Nokia or Cisco, I’ve was lucky to market products in many markets and would love to share what I know.

Oh, it’s totally irrelevant for you but I’m a big fan of heavy-metal.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I’m looking to connecting with sharp founders, help as much as I can and grow together.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

To me the growth mindset is a combination of 4 approaches:

• The detective, to understand what happened and get to the root cause.
• The journalist, to document in a neutral way what I see.
• The psychologist, to constantly dive into people’s mind.
• The scientist, to approach everything methodically

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Product Marketing, because it’s underrated.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Building a community of learners in super low income countries (like the Philippines) so that they can learn together. The idea is simple but risky and results and the feedback have been great.

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35. Tomasz ‘TK’ Kropiewnicki

Describe yourself

Tomasz (TK) is an experienced Professional Coach, change agent, facilitator and systems thinker focusing on objective results and Servant Leadership.

TK is a certified Leadership Circle™ Coach and an ICF PCC helping organisations develop and scale their Agile Leadership.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I love helping people be their best as a professional coach and mentor.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset lets us live more fulfilling lives with no regrets.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

How to be an excellent leader and build great relationships. Helping leaders is my passion.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

I was working with two founders that couldn’t get along. I helped them using my relationship coaching tools and they are now able to excel with their company.

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36. Trevor Ewen

Describe yourself

I am a software engineer by training, business thinker by birth. I specialize in standard operating procedures and making software development less painful for all stakeholders. More than a few great mentors put me in this position and they are still invaluable to my perspective.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I enjoy learning from and working with younger technologists and entrepreneurs.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growth mindset is two things.

1. The opportunity pie is not fixed, it can and should grow for everyone involved in a good operation.
2. Failure is not a reason to give up, it is an opportunity for course correction.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Standard operating procedures for technical teams.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

My company recently was in charge of the migration for an application that had come close to 10 years of age. The framework and library versions were long expired, and it was going to be a behemoth. We ran initial cost estimates for the remediation, they were high.

I went back to the customer with this estimate and an alternate proposal: The alternate proposal was to rebuild the application with the minimal set of features they still required (about 20% of the legacy application). On top of that, we would kickstart the migration by pushing the most critical “jobs” from the existing database over to our new application.

This allowed the customer to see defect fixes far before the application migration completed. Along the way, we were able to improve the customer’s data solution to utilize Quickbase, which had been their emerging organizational standard. This would not have been possible without the understanding of opportunity cost and what the customer was really trying to build. Because we had gathered insight, we already knew they centered their business around Quickbase. This was a win-win all around.

The final “rebuild” estimate was lower than the migration, by a considerable sum.

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37. Volker Ballueder

Describe yourself

I am a sales and leadership coach, interim and fractional CRO. I love working with start- and scale-ups to help them succeed. As a best selling author of a book on success, there is a lot of things I can share with you.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I like to give back and help others to succeed.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is about curiosity and constantly improving yourself. Pushing yourself and striving for more. Always.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Productivity. I am about to write a book on it. It affects all areas of our lives.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Storytelling, it’s all about the right story and how to tell it across different media. From inbound marketing, to thought leadership – and just the right spark for the value proposition.

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38. Will Scott

Describe yourself

Hi! My experience has always lied in customer facing, GTM roles at high-growth tech businesses such as LinkedIn and SafetyCulture.

Over the last 10-12 years I’ve developed an understanding of how to grow sales organisations, build a go-to-market strategy, and focus on customer retention and engagement as a core part of growing a business.

I’ve also mentored and coached individuals both internally through roles, and externally outside of work on practices such as sales strategy, presentation skills and employee/er branding.

In just one sentence, please tell us why you want to become a growth mentor?

I’ve always found mentoring and outside advice incredibly valuable, and I wanted to pass on some of my learnings and experience onto others to provide value and help people and teams grow.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset for me is being open to learning and development, and not getting too hung up on where you are now. It’s recognising that you may not currently have all the answers to get to where you want to, but with the right approach and learning you can grow and get to where you want to be.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

How to ask questions and listen. I believe this is such an under valued skill, and can be applied to so many disciplines. It is crucial in becoming a trusted advisor to customers, but also in having a good growth mindset as in order to learn and develop you need ask what you need to work on and really listen to the answer to get a rounded picture on how you can progress.

Describe an out of the box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself?

Changing the way in which customers bought from us. At times, (prospective) customers had to jump through a number of hoops to sign up and buy a certain product, speaking to multiple people in the process.

Simplifying this for them by giving them relevant content along the journey in the form of async video/written content before passing them directly to the person who could help them make the best purchase decision for them at the right time not only led to a better journey and experience for customers, but also gave internal teams more time to focus on the most relevant things and ruthlessly prioritise their time.

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Interested in becoming a growth mentor?

What we’re looking for:

• Growth marketers, product managers, and designers, with extraordinary track-records of success
• Inspirational founders that have “been there and done that.”
• Friendly people that take joy in helping other people.
• At least 5 years of demonstrable experience working in growth.
• GrowthMentor is a #givefirst platform. You should be cool with mentoring for free until you have three reviews.