From Startup Growth to Leading Growth at Scale
Background:
When Matt Levine moved into a Director of Growth Marketing role at Veeam, he was stepping into a very different environment from the startups where he had spent most of his career leading growth.
Growth Marketing was also a relatively new and undefined function at Veeam. He was figuring out both what Growth should look like and how to drive it effectively within a much larger organization.
What challenges were you facing when we met?
I had a lot of experience with growth and PLG, but this was my first time trying to do it inside a company the size of Veeam. The pace, number of stakeholders, and amount of cross-functional coordination were very different from a startup.
I realized I could benefit from someone who understood Growth but could also help me navigate the organizational side of the role.
What was the experience like?
A lot of our work has actually been less about PLG tactics and more about how to successfully drive Growth inside a large organization.
We've worked through SaaS trial planning, defining the Growth Marketing function and roadmap, building a cross-functional growth pod, navigating stakeholder disagreements, website strategy and messaging, structuring proposals, and becoming more effective at leading complex meetings and projects.
I've become much more intentional about how I approach projects and stakeholder conversations. Andrew has a way of drilling into something and making me think through angles I hadn't considered.
Before a big meeting, for example, he'll ask:
What outcome do you actually want?
What does a successful meeting look like?
What could get in the way?
What questions are people going to ask?
Who could be a challenging stakeholder and what can you do ahead of time to address that?
That kind of preparation has helped me become much better at navigating complex projects rather than just focusing on the work itself.
The biggest result has been becoming more effective at operating and leading Growth in a large organization. We've put much more structure around our Growth roadmap, how we connect our priorities to company goals, and how I approach large cross-functional initiatives.
Any message to someone on the fence about working with Andrew?
It's like having an experienced Growth leader in your corner who understands both the work itself and the realities of trying to drive change inside an organization.
He's part sounding board, part advisor, and part leadership coach.
One thing that probably says it best: my former boss joined one of my sessions with Andrew where we talked through what Growth Marketing at Veeam should look like, where we could improve, and what we should focus on moving forward.
He found the conversation so valuable that when he later left Veeam, one of his pieces of advice to me was to have my new boss join a session with Andrew as well to get an outside perspective on Growth Marketing.