korrents

What Elena Verna thinks about startups

@elena-verna · 26 positions · 0 changes of mind

Growth advisor and operator who has led growth at Miro, Amplitude, Dropbox and SurveyMonkey.

Elena Verna did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Elena Verna has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingA startup does not need a growth team to start growing, because the first wave of growth has to be founder-led.

    Their wordsI really believe that the founder led growth is not being popularized enough that you do not need growth teams until you actually can start running experiments on your user base

    ↗10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey)youtube.com 1st of 26 in this recording

  3. Our readingA company with ten customers has no data, and a growth team cannot function without data.

    Their wordsif you have 10 users or 10 customers, that's not data. That's a G sheet with your customers and you don't need a growth team for that.

    ↗10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey)youtube.com 2nd of 26 in this recording

  5. Our readingA growth team's ceiling is a ten to fifteen percent lift, which is never enough to reverse a company that is already sliding.

    Their wordsGrowth team can optimize. Growth can maybe lift it by 10, 15% maybe that's enough for you even that like is on the upper end of what growth team would be able to do if there is a slow down trajectory

    ↗10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey)youtube.com 5th of 26 in this recording

  7. Our readingAs search turns into an AI interface, a company with no earned acquisition channel on its roadmap is in serious trouble within one to two years.

    Their wordsFocusing on these earned channels that you own becomes the utmost priority. And if you don't have them on your growth road map, you're going to be in some really big trouble over the next year to two years because your cost of acquisition is only going to go up.

    ↗10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey)youtube.com 15th of 26 in this recording

  9. Our readingA growth model that works today still has to be evolved by overlaying other growth models on top of it.

    Their wordsIf you have a growth model that works for you, that's wonderful. Good for you. Optimize it, grow it, scale it, create a team that will be nurturing it and that will be amplifying it. But you're going to need to evolve it. And that evolution needs to come through overlaying other growth models on top of it.

    ↗10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna (Amplitude, Miro, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey)youtube.com 17th of 26 in this recording