Elena's Growth Scoop

Elena's Growth Scoop is a Substack focused on providing insights into business and career growth, with emphasis on strategies for solopreneurs, growth marketing, leadership, product-led growth, and efficient monetization methods. It covers topics ranging from personal narratives of leaving full-time roles to tactical advice on product development, pricing, and team-building.

Business Growth Strategies Career Development Solopreneurship Growth Marketing Product-Led Growth Leadership and Management Monetization and Pricing Strategy Workplace Culture Data-Driven Decision Making Personal Branding

The hottest Substack posts of Elena's Growth Scoop

And their main takeaways

You are too aggressive. You should smile more.

1336 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Gender Equality Workplace Challenges Leadership
  1. Words like 'You're too aggressive, smile more' reflect biases that are diminishing and unfair to women.
  2. Societal norms pressure women to conform to outdated ideas of femininity, hindering their career advancement.
  3. The distinction between assertiveness and aggression in women is a perpetual challenge, but breaking through can lead to assertiveness being celebrated as a positive trait in leadership roles.

There's a whole lot of ugly out there when it comes to growth teams.

904 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
💼 Business Marketing Management Growth Finance Leadership
  1. The growth teams face systematic failures in the industry due to various issues like unclear growth fundamentals and bad strategic decisions from executives.
  2. Symptoms of a bad growth team include not focusing on monetization, neglecting retention, and obsessing over 'hacks' instead of building sustainable growth engines.
  3. To build a successful growth team, companies need to prioritize monetization, retention, and data-driven decision-making, and ensure alignment between departments for optimal results.
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Unpacking what it means to be an interim leader.

766 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
💼 Business Career growth Compensation
  1. Interim roles offer flexibility for both employers and employees in fast-changing industries like tech.
  2. Finding an interim role may not be as straightforward as finding a full-time position, but it can be converted from existing opportunities with a specific focus or through a contract-to-hire approach.
  3. Compensation for interim roles should consider benefits, be a mix of cash and equity, and aim to match or exceed full-time market rates for specialized expertise.

B2B Product-Led Sales Guide

3301 implied HN points • 14 Apr 23
💼 Business Sales Marketing Organization Growth Team Structure
  1. Acquisition channels are saturated and overloaded, making it hard to get noticed by buyers.
  2. Cost of acquisition is increasing due to heightened channel accessibility and competition.
  3. Product-led sales strategy focuses on enabling end-users to discover the product's value, leading to enterprise-level upgrades.

To PLG or not PLG?

1218 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
💼 Business Product Management Sales Courses Growth
  1. The post discusses whether to focus on PLG (Product-Led Growth)
  2. There is a new B2B Product-Led Growth & Product-Led Sales course available for enrollment
  3. Readers can access a 7-day free trial for Elena's Growth Scoop to view the full post and archives

Is Solopreneurship Right For You?

2063 implied HN points • 21 Apr 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Product-Market Fit Monetization Career growth
  1. Starting as a solopreneur is like starting any other business, using skills from your job to help grow yourself.
  2. For solopreneurs, differentiation comes from specificity in knowledge, focusing on specific industries or business models.
  3. As a solopreneur, build a portfolio of monetizable services and explore advising opportunities for a flexible and potentially more rewarding path.

What The Freemium!?

1061 implied HN points • 17 Aug 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Economics Strategy Sales
  1. Freemium is an intentional business strategy that must be carefully constructed.
  2. Freemium is about offering a limited version of a product for free while charging for additional features.
  3. The goal of freemium is to attract users and build an engaged base that can convert to paid customers.

Five Mistakes to Avoid as an Advisor

1257 implied HN points • 28 Apr 23
💼 Business Career growth Advising Compensation
  1. Being an advisor can help you gain exposure to various industries and companies.
  2. It's important to be selective with clients and focus on a specific niche to avoid context switching and enhance expertise.
  3. Focusing on a single strategic initiative as an advisor allows for more impactful guidance and value creation.

The path to your first advising contract.

1139 implied HN points • 26 May 23
💼 Business Career growth Advising Entrepreneurship
  1. Don't quit your full-time job to start advising, aim to close your first advising contract while still working full-time.
  2. Shift the narrative by creating your first advising opportunity instead of waiting for one to come to you.
  3. Focus on learning and experience in your first advisory contract, not just money. Iterate and analyze patterns to decide your future in advising.

Cost of Acquisition (CAC) trap.

1022 implied HN points • 12 May 23
💼 Business Marketing Metrics ROI Customer Acquisition Product Development
  1. Focus on optimizing payback period instead of just reducing CAC to improve ROI.
  2. Consider the profitability and long-term value of different acquisition channels before shutting them down based solely on CAC.
  3. The payback period is a superior metric for acquisition that focuses on reinvesting returns and optimizing various aspects like CAC, conversion rate, ARPU, and conversion time.

Too Good to Be True?: Why B2B's Should Offer a Startup Discount Program

471 implied HN points • 29 Aug 23
💼 Business B2B Startup Growth Strategy
  1. Offering a startup discount program can convert customers to paid plans, land enterprise contracts, and build your brand.
  2. A startup discount program provides an opportunity for companies to offer their product at a reduced cost to new startups.
  3. The program acts like a reverse trial, allowing young companies to experience a product's benefits before transitioning to regular pricing.