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Lauryn Isford is a product growth leader and practitioner, who most recently led Growth at Airtable, and is about to start something new \U0001f92b. In today\u2019s episode, we get into the many tactics Lauryn has learned about optimizing onboarding flows. Lauryn describes how overhauling Airtable\u2019s onboarding led to a 20% increase in activation rate, the company\u2019s unique segmentation process, and why North Star metrics are so vital. Lauryn also shares her framework for a PLG growth funnel, and how to use a reverse trial to leverage the benefits of both freemium products and trials. If you\u2019re looking to find growth opportunities within your funnel, this episode is for you.

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/mastering-onboarding-lauryn-isford

Where to find Lauryn Isford:

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurynisford

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurynisford/

Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

\u2022 Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/1442397683

\u2022 Blue Bottle coffee: https://bluebottlecoffee.com/

\u2022 Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/

\u2022 How to determine your activation metric: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-determine-your-activation

\u2022 Elena Verna on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/elena-verna-on-how-b2b-growth-is-changing-product-led-growth-product-led-sales-why-you-should-go-freemium-not-trial-what-features-to-make-free-and-much-more/

\u2022 The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company: https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-Company/dp/0399592091/

\u2022 Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man\u2019s First Journey to the Moon: https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Men-Odyssey-Astronauts-Journey/dp/081298871X

\u2022 Fifth & Mission podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fifth-mission/id1457274965

\u2022 The White Lotus on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-white-lotus

\u2022 Belfast: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12789558/

\u2022 Figma: https://www.figma.com/

\u2022 Miro: https://miro.com/

\u2022 Zoelle Egner on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/what-pr-is-and-isnt-good-for-according-to-zoelle-egner-head-of-marketing-and-growth-at-box/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Lauryn\u2019s background

(03:48) Lauryn\u2019s spicy take on experimentation

(06:44) Why doing the right thing for customers should be the ultimate goal

(08:54) How Airtable rolled out Airtable Forms with A/B testing

(11:38) The importance of onboarding

(13:15) Airtable\u2019s onboarding revamp and how it increased activation by 20%

(16:57) How Airtable\u2019s guided onboarding wizard improved the user experience

(18:00) Why reducing reliance on tooltips can be a good idea for complicated products

(20:06) The importance of meeting users where they are

(22:52) How Airtable segmented users by learning styles

(24:10) Airtable\u2019s activation metrics

(27:22) How the week-four multi-user collaboration metric was operationalized

(30:45) Other metrics Airtable used

(34:34) When Airtable changed their North Star metric\xa0

(36:26) How much time to give a North Star metric before pivoting

(38:05) Trials vs. freemium and what a reverse trial is

(42:51) How to have self-serve options when you\u2019re not fully self-serve

(46:04) Onboarding experiences that aren\u2019t very helpful

(47:31) How to help users understand features

(48:42) Why user education is more important than pushing premium features

(50:03) The role of guardrail metrics\xa0

(51:40) Lauryn\u2019s PLG growth funnel framework

(54:26) How Lauryn\u2019s framework helps teams communicate more clearly

(55:57) How Lauryn structured the growth team

(57:53) B2B growth as an emerging space\xa0

(1:00:18) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.