Growing Forward: Lead like the top 1% in growth, marketing, & product

Annie Katrina Lee, Co-Founder and Principal of Penknife Collective, opens up about the moments that challenged her identity and reshaped her perspective on success. From bold career moves at Microsoft to walking away from high-profile CMO roles, Annie shares how she navigated rejection, imposter syndrome, and the evolving priorities of motherhood. Annie opens up about: Landing her first tech role...

Brian Balfour, Founder & CEO of Reforge, shares raw insights from his entrepreneurial journey. From navigating burnout and sleep disorders to rebuilding trust after tough feedback, Brian reflects on the challenges that shaped his leadership philosophy and personal growth. Brian opens up about: Feeling “broken” during a burnout moment that forced him to step back and reset Struggling with impos...

Erika Warren, Co-Founder & CEO of Insightful, reflects on the pivotal moments that tested her confidence and redefined her career. From being blindsided by a job change at Grubhub to walking away from a role she couldn’t fix, Erika shares how she navigated self-doubt, burnout, and the pressure of being the primary earner for her family. Erika opens up about: Crying in a meeting after being han...

Anthony Scarpaci - Former VP of Growth at Acorns and Founder of TUNOMATIC, shares the toughest moments in his career that shaped his leadership philosophy. From navigating high-stakes mistakes to balancing empathy with assertiveness, Anthony opens up about the defining experiences that molded him into the leader he is today. He reflects on his journey across growth roles at companies like Betterme...

Tara Goldman, Co-Founder of GoldHue, reflects on her journey from VP of Product to executive coach. She shares vulnerable stories about the mask she had to wear in certain environments, maneuvering the pressures of high-stakes board meetings filled with “bro” executives, and striking a balance between personal values and professional expectations. Tara opens up about: Practicing 20+ hours to prepa...

Gaurav Vohra—a founding team member at Superhuman—reflects on pivotal moments that shaped his career in tech. He shares the highs and lows of scaling teams, stepping back when necessary, and dealing with imposter syndrome. Gaurav opens up about: 1. His transition from management consulting to the tech world 2. The challenges of leading a large team and recognizing when someone else might be better...

Irina Scarlat is the VP of Growth at ICEO (a venture builder) and has built marketing and growth teams at Uber, Revolut, Bitpanda, and Pearson along the way. In this conversation, she reflects on pivotal moments in her career, sharing how they shaped her leadership style and personal development. Irina talks about the emotional challenges of going through corporate restructuring, the importance of...

Meredith Rosenbloom - VP of Growth Marketing at Zola, reflects on some challenging moments in her career that molded her into the leader she is today. She recounts her journey from sports marketing to growth roles at companies like Grubhub and Parsley Health while opening up about the challenges she’s faced along the way. Meredith shares the impact of critical feedback, managing career transitions...

Diana Stepner shares three pivotal lessons from her journey transitioning from Product Manager to Leadership Coach. She discusses the importance of making your manager shine, navigating team dynamics, and why building trust is essential for career growth. Diana also reflects on why the characteristics that earned her praise early on in a company consistently turned into points of negative feedback...

Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth at Navattic, takes us in for a behind-the-scenes look into the process of launching their freemium motion. Going through the strategic reasons behind the shift and how it fits into their overall growth strategy, she reflects on the challenges of aligning the sales team, navigating risk, and measuring success in both the short and long term. Natalie also shares h...

In this episode, Sarah Stockdale, founder of Growclass, shares her journey of overcoming burnout while leading growth teams at tech startups, addressing gender bias in the workplace, and building a thriving community for marketers. She reflects on how these experiences shaped her leadership style, approach to mental health, and entrepreneurship. Sarah opens up about: Witnessing a mass layoff and f...

In this episode, Aakash Gupta shares his journey from a tech-savvy kid in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to a successful product manager and creator in the Product Growth space. He shares his tough feedback experiences, how he’s been able to overcome imposter syndrome, and how building a failed startup impacted his career. Aakash emphasizes the importance of self-care, emotional intelligence, and supportive...

Ramli John - Founder of Delight Path, shares core memories from his teenage years that inspired his entrepreneurial journey. Explores how attaching his worth to his achievements was making him act like a jerk. Shares stories from the worst boss he ever had. And discusses the toughest feedback that he’s received (and what he’s doing about it). Ramli opens up about: 1. Seeing his dad get laid off af...

Emma Stratton is the founder of Punchy and author of Make it Punchy. In this conversation, Emma shares her journey from being a creative writer to successful entrepreneur. She discusses the challenges she faced in finding her passion and starting her own business. How she overcame money mindset issues. And the significance of following your heart and finding your purpose in order to unlock true su...

In this conversation, Georgiana Laudi, co-founder of Forget the Funnel, shares her background and journey into B2B SaaS. From working in her family’s retail florist business, to becoming the VP of Marketing at Unbounce, and advising a bunch of impressive companies. We explore some of the speed bumps and challenging moments in Gia’s journey along the way. Gia opens up about: Returning from maternit...

In this conversation, Wes Bush, the founder and CEO of ProductLed, talks about his background and journey in the product-led growth space. We start by exploring his childhood, entrepreneurial drive, and transition into the tech world. Then, Wes reflects on being fired from his job at Vidyard, how that experience fueled him to start his own business, and how he navigates being a leader today. Along...

In this episode, Talia Wolf, CEO and Founder of GetUplift, shares her experiences growing up in a family that valued hard work, her early jobs as a waitress and skydiver, her transition into the tech, marketing, and CRO world - and many of challenging moments along the way, including balancing her career and motherhood, the need to ask for help from your support system, and navigating critical fee...

In this episode, Yuriy Timen, SaaS advisor and solopreneur, discusses career mistakes and growth, his experiences at Grammarly, including intense work ethic and empathetic leadership, and the importance of radical candor and strategic thinking in professional relationships. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 1. How Yuriy's upbringing during the collapse of the Soviet Union shaped his values and w...

In this episode, Kate Syuma, growth advisor and creator of Growth Mates, reflects on the low points in her career, the challenges she faced in her transition to leadership at Miro, and her journey toward embracing uncertainty and authenticity as a solopreneur. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 1. Adjusting her leadership style after receiving feedback about being too reactive 2. Having an open c...

In this episode, Samantha Leal, Growth Advisor, discusses her journey and experiences in the SaaS PLG marketing world, the importance of understanding and practicing critical thinking and effective communication in leadership roles, and the blend of art and science in marketing. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 1. When Samantha knew she needed a radical shift in her approach and decided to hold...

In this episode, Joe Wilkinson, Founder and CEO at Artisan Strategies, discusses some of the challenges he’s faced in his career, his personal journey into handling workplace stress, and the lessons learned from handling transparency during company changes. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 1. The time when Joe trained an individual to take over the team he was leading, just for him to transfer...

In this episode, Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro, talks about some of the low points in her career, the toughest feedback she’s ever received, how she navigates burnout, and how she’s been able to find her authentic voice as a leader. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 1. When Amanda was told ““Wow. Rand opened up a lot of doors for you!” 2. Amanda’s boss said it was obvious when s...

Hey I’m Andrew Capland 👋. For the past 15 years, I’ve been working in B2B SaaS. The first half, as a marketer. And the second half, I’ve been leading growth teams and product-led growth efforts. Now, I run my own business, Delivering Value where I coach other growth leaders and advise product-led growth teams. During my career, I kept coming back to the same realization… Blindly copying someone e...

In this third episode of the Behind the Scenes Miniseries with the Navattic growth team, you’ll learn: 1. What the Navattic growth team is focused on right now, why those things, and how they get buy-in. 2. How they make sure they’re solving the right problems, and get aligned with execs. 3. How they manage the tension between staying agile and being laser focused. Things to listen for: [00:33] Wh...

We kick-off the miniseries by exploring the background and scale of the Navattic business to contextualize many of the growth challenges they’re facing and systems they use (which we’ll explore in upcoming episodes) In this first episode of the Behind the Scenes Miniseries with the Navattic growth team, you’ll learn: 1. How Navattic got started and settled on building interactive demos for the PLG...