20Growth: How to Use Influencers to Scale Growth Insanely Fast | How to Optimise User Onboaring for Growth | How the Best Growth Teams Create Organic Growth and Community | Why LTV/CAC Models are BS with Ketty Slonimsky
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features Keti Slunimsky, Chief Growth Officer at Palta, the venture builder behind category-leading apps like Flo (77 million MAU), Simple, and Zing.ai. Keti shares insights from building centralized growth functions across Palta's $550 million revenue portfolio and her experience scaling multiple health tech mobile subscription businesses. (02:18)
- Main Theme: Building scalable growth engines through the intersection of user acquisition, product-led growth, and data-driven optimization in mature B2C subscription markets
Speakers
Keti Slunimsky
Chief Growth Officer at Palta, the venture builder behind category-leading apps like Flo, Simple, and Zing.ai, where she leads centralized growth functions across a portfolio generating $550 million in revenue. Previously served as the first VP of Product and Growth at HelloSX, a £900 million ARR bootstrapped B2C health tech business, and has advised companies including SonderMind, Runner, Guardio, and Cheddar.
Harry Stebbings
Host of 20VC and 20 Growth podcasts, analyzing how top growth leaders build teams, run experiments, and execute at the highest levels in venture capital and growth marketing.
Key Takeaways
Growth is Multi-Disciplinary, Not Just Marketing
True growth encompasses user acquisition, product-led growth (activation, onboarding, monetization, pricing), and analytics as one integrated discipline. (02:38) Many people claim to be in growth but are actually just doing marketing. Successful growth leaders need to be both analytical and "salesy" - understanding that web onboardings are essentially long sales funnels that warm up cold leads before they download and engage with the product.
Start with One Channel, Test Unit Economics, Then Scale
Begin with paid user acquisition through one channel (typically Meta), scale to 3-5k daily spend where algorithms start optimizing, and only then expand to additional channels and use cases. (13:29) Early-stage founders should aim for 3-month payback periods with 140-180% ROAS when running paid acquisition, but need to build toward organic growth through shareable loops and community-driven mechanics to achieve true scalability.
Web Onboardings Dramatically Improve Unit Economics
80% of net new subscribers at Palta companies (except Flo) come through web onboardings rather than in-app purchases. (24:26) This approach avoids the 30% Apple fee, provides better attribution for user acquisition efficiency, drives higher retention through credit card payments, and allows for higher pricing since consumers perceive web pricing differently than mobile.
Multiple Revenue Streams Are Essential for Profitability
In today's high-CPM environment, businesses cannot survive on a single subscription. Successful companies introduce second and third subscriptions, upsells, and additional revenue streams embedded within the product. (21:31) These additional revenue streams add approximately 20% to lifetime value, with the first subscription covering payback and subsequent subscriptions driving pure profit.
Creative Volume and Velocity Beat Creative Quality
Success on platforms like TikTok requires launching around 1,000 creatives per week, with 70% being permutations of successful concepts and 30% entirely new formats. (34:00) Modern growth teams need AI-native team members who can leverage tools like Midjourney and VD to scale creative production, focusing on diversity, velocity, and volume rather than perfecting individual pieces of content.
Statistics & Facts
- Palta is projected to hit $550 million in revenue this year while growing 50%+ annually, with Flo boasting 77 million MAU, 6 million active subscribers, and 80%+ second-year retention. (08:42)
- 80% of net new subscribers across Palta's portfolio (except Flo) come through web onboardings rather than in-app purchases, helping avoid Apple's 30% fee. (24:26)
- TikTok requires 3x more creatives than Meta to be successful, with Palta launching around 1,000 creatives per week when scaling on the platform. (34:00)
