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👓 Leveraged Learning Velocity
Ben Williams
October 8th, 2024
Hey folks! 👋
It’s an exciting week here at Geek HQ.
We’re only a couple of days away from my Product Drive talk this Wednesday, 9th October (7pm BST / 2pm ET / 11am PT)
I can’t wait to share something exciting with you there. Until then, today’s post is a sneak peek.
Shortcuts:
Total reading time: 3 minutes
Let’s go!
TOGETHER WITH DOVETAIL
Dovetail’s biggest launch is coming in October - and you’re invited!
Get ready for the next generation of customer insights. Dovetail is launching tons of new features and THREE new products that each leverage AI to its cutting-edge capacity. To celebrate this momentous milestone, you’re invited to:
Exclusive in-person and online launch events
Sneak peeks and early access to the new products
Q&As with our product team and founder
Plus special promotions and premium content. If you want to know what the future of AI-powered customer insights looks like - sign up to our waitlist and we’ll keep you in the loop for our events and more!
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GEEK LINKS
5 bookmark-worthy links:
GEEK OUT
Today, I want to introduce a concept that's transformed how I think about and approach growth from first principles: Leveraged Learning Velocity.
What is Leveraged Learning Velocity?
Let me start with a potentially eyebrow-raising statement:
The biggest predictor of growth isn't funding, team size, or even your product.
It's the speed at which your organisation can learn, and apply those learnings.
Sure, you need to have a good product. But the world is full of good products.
A good product isn’t enough.
Let's dissect this.
Think about Darwin's theory of evolution – survival of the fittest.
In startup growth, being the 'fittest' isn't about being the biggest, oldest, or highest funded.
It's about being the fastest to learn and adapt.
Some companies embody this principle beautifully.
They're constantly evolving, sprouting new ideas, products, and strategies based on what they learn from their users, customers, and the market.
They're like chameleons, rapidly changing colours to suit their environment.
Conversely, companies with a long history or current market dominance are vulnerable because of their resistance to learning and inability to adapt.
Put simply:
Slow learning velocity increases the likelihood of startup failure.
High learning velocity boosts the odds of exponential growth.
Why Learning Matters in Product-Led Growth
In the PLG world, your product is your primary growth engine.
It's responsible for acquiring, activating, retaining, and expanding your user and customer base.
It's the Swiss Army knife of your business strategy.
But here's the catch – you're not operating in a static market.
Far from it.
To do all of that effectively, your product needs to continuously evolve and improve.
And that improvement is driven by learning.
Your ability to learn and adapt rapidly becomes a key differentiator in your growth journey.
The faster you learn about your users, their needs, and how they interact with your product, the faster you can improve and grow.
Think about it this way:
Every user interaction with your product is a learning opportunity.
Every signup, feature use, and churn – they're all data points.
How quickly can you turn those data points into insights and those insights into improvements?
That's what separates the wheat from the chaff in startup growth.
Two Precursors to Fast Growth
There are two critical elements underpinning high-velocity growth:
LEARNING: The ability to learn quickly and consistently from data, experiments, and customer insights.
LEVERAGE: The ability to quickly translate those learnings into action across the organisation to fuel growth.
It's not just about learning fast.
It's about what you do with those learnings.
Successful growth teams master both dimensions - they're constantly generating valuable insights AND putting those insights to work across the organisation.
For example, consider the following
Learning
How often does your team test new ideas?
What's your strategy for uncovering deep user insights?
What happens next in your team after an experiment fails?
Leverage
How long does it take for a valuable insight to change your product?
What systems ensure learnings aren't lost?
How involved are your leaders in discussing and acting on new learnings?
There’s much more to it, but if I shared it all now, you might skip my talk, and that would suck.
Coming Soon: The Product-Led Geek Learning Velocity Index
At Product Drive, I'll be launching something I'm really excited about: The Product-Led Geek Learning Velocity Index.
It's a simple, practical, actionable tool designed to assess and improve your team's ability to learn and leverage those learnings for growth.
Based on my experience with high-performing growth teams in B2B SaaS companies, this index will show you where your team stands in terms of learning and leverage capabilities.
It's designed to help you:
Identify your strengths and areas for improvement.
Benchmark your team against industry standards.
Create a plan to boost your Leveraged Learning Velocity.
The index covers key areas such as:
Experimentation cadence and rigour.
Data collection and analysis capabilities.
Cross-functional collaboration.
Implementation speed.
Cultural factors that support or hinder learning and adaptation.
By the end of the assessment, you'll have a clear score and actionable insights to start boosting your Leveraged Learning Velocity right away.
Join Me at Product Drive
If you're intrigued by Leveraged Learning Velocity and want to learn how to apply it to your own org, join me at Product Drive on Wednesday, 9th October, 7PM BST (2pm ET / 11am PT).
I'll be exploring:
The 12 key characteristics of high-performing growth teams
How to assess your team's learning and leverage capabilities
Practical strategies to increase your Leveraged Learning Velocity
Plus, you'll be among the first to get access to the Product-Led Geek Learning Velocity Index!
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GEEK OF THE WEEK
What's one unconventional growth tactic that worked surprisingly well for you?
One unconventional growth tactic that worked surprisingly well for us was cracking the code for Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales as a SaaS/social media management tool.
The game-changer was a simple but powerful shift in how we communicated our discounts. Instead of the usual ‘Save 40%’ or ‘40% Off’ messaging, which is ubiquitous and often overlooked, we switched to displaying the actual dollar value customers would save, like ‘Save $120!’
This small tweak created a tangible sense of value and urgency that resonated more with our audience. It was easier for them to visualize the real savings and understand the deal’s impact on their wallets.
Over the last two years, this approach has driven some of our highest conversion rates during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period.
Sometimes, a simple change in perspective—like showing actual savings instead of percentages—can make all the difference in cutting through the noise and capturing attention.
I want to share YOUR stories.
Favourite metrics, unconventional growth tactics, failures and learnings, surprising insights and more.
If you want to be featured in Geek Of The Week, fill in this short form.
THAT’S A WRAP
Before you go, here are 2 ways I can help:
Book a free 1:1 consultation call with me - I keep a handful of slots open each week for founders and product growth leaders to explore working together and get some free advice along the way. Book a call.
Sponsor this newsletter - Reach over 7000 founders, leaders and operators working in product and growth at some of the world’s best tech companies including Paypal, Adobe, Canva, Miro, Amplitude, Google, Meta, Tailscale, Twilio and Salesforce.
That’s all for today,
If there are any product, growth or leadership topics that you’d like me to write about, just hit reply to this email or leave a comment and let me know!
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Until next time!
— Ben
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PS: Thanks again to our sponsor: Dovetail
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