Matt Lerner is the Founder and CEO at SYSTM, a startup coaching consultancy that helps high-potential companies grow their business. Matt also authored the book “Growth Levers”, which shares his framework that's helped over 200 seed-stage startups grow as much as 100x. Previously, Matt was on the early growth team at PayPal, a partner at 500 Startups, and a guest lecturer at Stanford Business School.

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In today’s episode, we discuss:

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Referenced:

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Where to find Matt Lerner:

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Where to find Brett Berson:

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Where to find First Round Capital:

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(03:11) The hidden truth about startup success

(05:10) Popsa's journey: A case study in growth

(07:31) Breaking down the growth lever framework

(11:30) Understanding the customer's journey

(14:14) The art of customer interviews

(18:07) Unlocking growth through customer insights

(24:23) The triple threat: Founder failure modes

(27:32) The power of founder-led growth strategies

(32:42) Unlocking growth bottlenecks

(36:40) Timing and implementation of growth strategies

(39:43) Founder red flags

(41:32) Crafting effective growth experiments

(43:14) Why customer mindset is the ultimate growth driver

(46:19) The power law of business

(48:59) Why startups don’t need paid marketing

(50:47) Growth levers for sales-driven companies

(53:43) Matt's own application of growth principles

(55:39) Growth levers in B2B sales

(57:05) Finding customer "locksmith moments"

(64:08) The mentor who shaped Matt's thinking