Podcast
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May 17, 2021

Growth Hacking Secrets with Angel Investor and Growth Expert Alexej Habinski

Michel Gagnon
CEO of Stun&Awe

Growth advisor and angel investor, Alexej Habinski develops growth systems and teams for VC-backed startups, like TIER Mobility & Sharpist.

Today’s guest is Alexej Habinski, a multifaceted growth expert who has developed his growth hacking craft at Rocket Internet and later at foodora (later acquired by Delivery Hero). Alexej was Global Director of Performance Marketing & Rider Growth there and scaled annual GMV turnover from close to €0 to >€500M.

Growth advisor and angel investor, he now develops growth systems and teams for venture backed startups, including TIER Mobility, Sharpist, Weezy.co.uk, vation.io., and Jodel.com.

In this episode, Alexej shares his personal philosophy and outlook on growth. He talks about the importance of making your product social and speaks on the fortune he has had in working with diverse business models.

What you will learn:

  1. Background to his career and the businesses he is involved in
  2. The biggest growth hack he has discovered and implemented
  3. Common mistakes startups make and the still relevant 4Ps of marketing
  4. The value of talking to your customers
  5. Simple growth tactics startups can use to approach potential customers
  6. Typical mistakes startup founders make
  7. His advice on channel strategy why he believes you need to crack marketing on TikTok

If you tend to overthink and procrastinate, Alexej has a few solutions for you that you can implement in your business. He favors focused actions, values customer feedback, and has a unique perspective on marketing and why he recommends not using paid advertising early in your startup development.

He shares simple tactics to approaching customers that are often overlooked, common mistakes founders make such as being unfocused, and how to strategically prioritize your to-dos.

Enjoy the show and happy listening!

🌱#growthleaptakeaways

This is what people really underestimate. If you have this proprietary channel, no one can take it away, and it’s usually hard to copy, and it’s a huge value driver.”

You can subscribe to Growth Leap Podcast on Spotify or Apple.

Show Notes

  • Alexej’s current focus and personal flywheel – [02:00]
  • Some of the companies that Alexej is helping including one that recently raised $250 million – [02:45]
  • The guiding principles behind his approach to growth – [03:32]
  • The biggest growth hack he discovered through Foodora [06:00]
  • His insights into the mistakes startups make using the 4Ps of marketing [09:23]
  • Paid marketing vs. sustainable growth, science and art [11:13]
  • Tactics he suggests to reaching out to potential customers [13:52]
  • Using big data and thick data to improve the user journey [16:08]
  • Lack of focus and other mistakes startup founders make [17:06]
  • Framework on how founders can prioritize to-dos [18:35]
  • Key elements Alexej looks for before investing in a startup [22:00]
  • Resilience, determination vs. stubbornness and tunnel vision [24:31]
  • His opinion and advice on channel strategy [25:40]
  • How to organise and how to focus [29:49]

Selected Links

Alexej on LinkedIn

3 Things Most Berlin Startups Don’t Understand About Growth

TIER Mobility

VATION

Jodel