Recently, I sat down with three of the smartest measurement people I know.
Rich Cousins (Director of Growth, Thriva), Franky Atill (CMO, Jack and Jill) and Sameer Modha (ex-Head of Applied Data Science at Google, now ITV).
I love measurement. But I also love measurement from the perspective of a growth person. And so hearing Sameer discuss things from the inside, Franky discuss it from a servicing side, and Rich from client all grew that knowledge.
A few things that genuinely changed how I think about this stuff:
Franky framed it brilliant, that it’s about going from playing roulette to playing poker. You’re still placing bets. You’re just stacking the odds.
That by itself is a complete reframing of how to think through growth and reminds us that data doesn’t give us answers, it just helps inform them.
Sameer spoke through his experiences at Google, and his new work at ITV. He rightly described the auction mechanics are “beautiful and terrible at the same time.” They’re designed to extract as much value as possible whilst leaving you slightly better off than you would’ve been otherwise.
Just enough for them to say their hands are clean.
Which raises a philosophical question I can’t stop thinking about:
Who actually deserves the lion’s share of margin your business creates?
You — the one seeking product market fit, up at 5am dealing with the operational chaos — or an ad platform?
Hugely thankful to Rich, Franky and Sameer for being so generous with their time and thinking. And to everyone who came along.
Watch or listen along now. If you want to be first to be invited to these events, then make sure you are subscribed:
Josh Lachkovic is the founder of Ballpoint, a growth marketing agency that helps brands scale from £1-20M ARR. Visit Ballpoint to learn more, or subscribe to Early Stage Growth for weekly insights on profitable scaling.
Note: Ballpoint works with brands looking to grow their spend from £30k per month to £300k per month.
