It’s always fun to reconnect with past guests and early success stories from our Ripple Community, and today’s guest is both, Emily Lonetto was a Tank Talks guest back when it was a small in-person event at our co-working space, The Tank. Back then she was the first leadership hire at our portfolio-company Voiceflow, now she’s the Director of Community at Webflow as well as a Venture Partner with us at Ripple Ventures. Emily has amazing perspectives on growth and community, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.
About Emily Lonetto:
Emily Lonetto is the Director of Community at Webflow. She is an expert marketer and growth expert that started her career at Carnivore Club, a subscription food box, and moved onto to Tilt, which was acquired by AirBnB, and then to Voiceflow. She did her undergrad at Western University.
In this episode we discuss:
(01:34) Emily’s journey to becoming a growth hacker and community expert
(04:15) Common challenges to growth for early-stage startups
(05:25) Differences between standard marketing and growth
(07:04) Her experience helping grow Voiceflow
(10:12) The importance of community feedback
(10:56) What growth means in a startup context
(14:00) How startups should think about growth marketing
(15:41) Growth Marketing tactics
(18:10) Emily’s Growth Marketing tech stack
(21:27) Analytics and testing that you should use to track growth
(23:06) Using negative feedback to help hone your offering
(24:12) How Emily has evolved as a community builder across her career
(27:10) Factors that can hamper a community
(30:11) How the Webflow community guided her even before working there
(31:55) Positives of having a strong community
(34:14) Misconceptions around community for early stage founders
(37:27) How growth in community is defined at Webflow
(39:51) Emily’s strong contribution to the Ripple ecosystem
Fast Favorites
🎙- Favorite Podcast: Reply All
📰- Favorite Newsletter/Blog: Lenny Rachitsky
📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: iPhone 14
📈- Favorite New Trend: The comeback of emo and alternative music
📚- Favorite Book: Moonwalking with Einstein
🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Change is made up of dozens of small iterations
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Community Building and Growth Hacks, Emily Lonetto of Webflow