logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2022
1h 3m

How to scrappily hire for, measure, and ...

Lenny Rachitsky
About this episode

You don’t need lots of employees to achieve impressive growth—but you do need a unique approach to hiring and structuring your team, and accurately measuring your growth efforts. Crystal Widjaja has used scrappy tactics to unlock massive success for Gojek (a wildly successful ride-share app in South East Asia) and is currently the Chief Product Officer at Kumu. In this episode, she shares the exact strategies she’s used as a product leader to hack growth, hire the best, and perfect data collection. Join us.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-scrappily-hire-for-measure-and-unlock-growth-crystal-widjaja-gojek-and-kumu/#transcript

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

• Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/

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

• Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/

Where to find Crystal:

• Website: https://www.crissyw.com/

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

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

Where to find Lenny:

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

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

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

Referenced:

• Generation Girl: https://www.generationgirl.org/

• Experiment Design Question Example: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tSrEGpvg19OMKrRg45HGvsZBGz8BkeVc/edit#gid=1841057518

In this episode, we cover:

[00:00] Crystal’s path to product

[09:40] How Crystal decided to join a risky startup 

[11:31] Why haven't super apps emerged in the U.S.? 

[13:15] What startups in the U.S. can learn from companies in Asia

[16:35] How to get intentionally scrappier in your organization

[18:28] How to get and utilize scrappy and small data sets 

[21:26] How to increase retention

[22:28] What does and doesn't work in growth?

[25:01] The conversion rates Crytsal looks for to determine viability and success

[28:03] How founders should think about approaching growth

[32:44] Figuring out how to grow and the resources you have at your disposal

[34:53] Optimizing the funnel to make growth happen faster

[37:40] Crystal's biggest lessons on unlocking growth

[40:07] Why most analytics efforts fail and how to avoid failure

[44:24] Signs your organization is getting analytics wrong

[46:17] The best resources for figuring out how to do analytics right

[47:05] Crystal's recommendations for metric tracking stacks.

[48:37] How you should set up your growth team originally

[51:38] Integrating growth teams or separating them?

[52:43] Who should be the first growth hire?

[53:55] How to hire a great growth person for your organization

[56:55] How to help women and young girls get into STEM (a non-profit that you started)

[1:02:07] Where to reach Crystal 



Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Up next
Yesterday
First interview with Scale AI’s CEO: $14B Meta deal, what’s working in enterprise AI, and what frontier labs are building next | Jason Droege
Jason Droege is the CEO of Scale AI, a company that provides foundational training data to every major AI lab. He previously co-founded Scour with Travis Kalanick and built Uber Eats from idea to $20 billion in revenue. In this conversation, Jason shares lessons from getting sued ... Show More
1h 24m
Oct 5
How to find hidden growth opportunities in your product | Albert Cheng (Duolingo, Grammarly, Chess.com)
Albert Cheng has led growth at three of the world’s most successful consumer subscription companies: Duolingo, Grammarly, and Chess.com. A former Google product manager (and serious pianist!), Albert developed a unique approach to finding and scaling growth opportunities through ... Show More
1h 25m
Sep 28
A 4-step framework for building delightful products | Nesrine Changuel (Spotify, Google, Skype)
Nesrine Changuel helped build Spotify, Google Chrome, and Google Meet. Her work has helped her discover the importance of emotional connection in building successful products. At Google, she served as a dedicated “delight PM,” a role specifically focused on making products more d ... Show More
1h 24m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
Growth vs Efficiency: Can You Have Both?
Despite the ease of product building, sustainable growth has become increasingly challenging as many traditional channels no longer deliver the same results.In these challenging times, we explore the remaining growth opportunities. How can we achieve a balance between efficiency, ... Show More
46m 15s
Dec 2021
20Growth: The Biggest Growth Lessons from Leading Teams at Instagram & Instacart, How To Structure The Hiring Process for Growth Teams, How To Onboard Growth Reps Efficiently and The Relationship Betw
Bangaly Kaba is the Head of Platform Growth @ Popshop Live, a live streaming mobile marketplace that combines commerce, entertainment, and social. Prior to Popshop, Bangaly led the product growth and consumer product orgs at Instacart and before Instacart was Head of Growth @ Ins ... Show More
38m 33s
Apr 2024
Redpoint Ventures and Stepstone Group on VC Deployment, M&A, and Google's AI Strategy | E1934
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Hubspot for Podcast Network. Looking to up your marketing game? Check out HubSpot's Chatbot Builder:  https://clickhubspot.com/s0u Hubspot YouTube Channel is available on all your favorite podcast apps. Chatbot Tutorial here: https: ... Show More
1h 11m
Apr 2024
Growth Hacks for Startups from Elliot Shmukler of InstaCart, LinkedIn and now Anomalo | E1926
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… NetSuite. The number one cloud financial system, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR, into ONE platform. Giving you ONE source of truth. Now through April 15th, NetSuite is offering a one-of-a-kind flexible fina ... Show More
50m 20s
Feb 2024
Ultra-Niche Positioning: How to Find Success By Going SUPER Narrow
I’m so f*cking happy to announce that ​my book, Stand The F*ck Out, is officially available for PURCHASE​! To buy the book—and more!—DIRECTLY from us and support our small business, go to: https://book.stfo.ioFree Shipping Worldwide • Ripped Apart by 70+ Marketers • Money-Back Gu ... Show More
57m 59s
Feb 2024
E167: Nvidia smashes earnings (again), Google's Woke AI disaster, Groq's LPU breakthrough & more
(0:00) Bestie intros: Banana boat! (2:34) Nvidia smashes expectations again: understanding its terminal value and bull/bear cases in the context of the history of the internet (27:26) Groq's big week, training vs. inference, LPUs vs. GPUs, how to succeed in deep tech (49:37) Goog ... Show More
1h 20m
Feb 2024
Reddit’s IPO, Consumer vs. Enterprise AI, and Sam Altman’s New Fund and more! | E1903
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Northwest Registered Agent. When starting your business, it's important to use a service that will actually help you. Northwest Registered Agent is that service. They'll form your company fast, give you the documents you need to ... Show More
1h 12m
Feb 2024
Multi-Billionaire’s Journey In India - Leadership, Culture, and Opportunity | Odoo | TRS 386
Check out BeerBiceps SkillHouse's Video Editing Course - https://bbsh.in/bb-launch-yt Use my referral code OFF40 to get a 40% Discount on a standard membership subscription. Follow BeerBiceps SkillHouse's Social Media Handles: YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-Y36TqZ5 ... Show More
1h 57m