How to grow a subscription business | Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Canva, Airtable)

Yuriy Timen was Global Head of Marketing and Growth at Grammarly, and is now a full-time growth advisor, having worked with more than a dozen companies, including Canva, Airtable, Whimsical, Otter.ai, Oyster, Flo Health, and Clay. In today’s episode, Yuriy discusses the ever-changing world of growth, emerging growth tactics, and how to find your growth engine. You’ll learn the most effective strategies for driving user acquisition, how to balance and diversify organic and paid channels, when it’s time to change plans, how to vet new growth channel opportunities, and much more.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and YouTube.

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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-grow-a-subscription-business-yuriy-timen-grammarly-canva-airtable/#transcript

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Where to find Yuriy Timen:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriytimen/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:

• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny

• Modern Treasury: https://www.moderntreasury.com/

• Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/

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Referenced:

• Casey Winters: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywinters/

• Elena Verna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenaverna/

• Lyka Pet Food: https://lyka.com.au/

• Ethan Smith’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls/

• Graphite: https://www.graphitehq.com/

• Recast: https://getrecast.com/

• Measured: https://www.measured.com/

• INCRMNTAL: https://www.incrmntal.com/

• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less: https://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-Disciplined-Pursuit-Greg-McKeown/dp/0804137382/

• Man’s Search for Meaning: https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0807014273/

• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz: https://www.amazon.com/Splendid-Vile-Churchill-Family-Defiance/dp/0385348711/

• The All-In Podcast: https://www.allinpodcast.co/

• Hustle: https://www.netflix.com/title/80242342 • Mark Fiske at H.I.G.: https://higgrowth.com/team/mark-fiske/

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In this episode, we cover:

[03:49] Yuriy’s background

[09:46] Different paths to growth for subscription-based products

[13:21] When to lean into virality

[15:39] What are network effects?

[16:32] SEO strategy and timeline: how long can it take to see results?

[24:22] The shifting landscape of paid media

[28:09] The return of media mix modeling

[32:01] How can you tell if media spending equates to business results?

[33:44] Don’t spread yourself too thin

[36:01] How to tell if you’ve taken a strategy far enough

[38:02] When to lean into a strategy that’s working vs. when to think about diversification

[42:13] Is there a shift from growth to survival?

[46:19] Two reasons to do paid media

[56:45] Why you shouldn’t dismiss TikTok (and other channels you might be overlooking)

[59:36] Lightning round!

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Production and marketing: https://penname.co/