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Ian Lenny

Co-Founder @ ATTN Labs | DTC Growth

Ian Lenny is an accomplished entrepreneur and marketing strategist who holds an advisory role at Health Via Modern Nutrition (HVMN).1 He is currently the Founder of ATTN Labs, a position he has held since December 2018, where he focuses on scaling e-commerce and digital products through data-driven marketing strategies.1

Ian's educational background includes:

  • MS/MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, with a concentration in marketing analytics
  • B.S. in Mandarin with a minor in Nuclear Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point1

Prior to his business career, Ian served in the United States Department of Defense, including roles as:

  • Fire Support Officer in Afghanistan
  • Operations Officer for a training organization1

In addition to his advisory role at HVMN, Ian contributes to OPUS in marketing and strategy for at-home wellness technology.1 His diverse experience also includes being an investor at Botanic.

Highlights

Jun 7 · linkedin

The 5 questions to create repeat customers...

Tested in 1000s of campaigns for multiple brands.

If you're surveying customers just start with these,

  1. How did you first hear about {{our brand}}?

Why it works   ↳ this question give your an understanding of which channels / promotional materials that are part of your customer journey stand out to new customers.

  1. Why do you use/buy {{our brand}}{{product}}? What outcome are you most interested in?

Why it works   ↳ this questions prevents against mistaken assumptions about product use cases... this can prevent years of heartache caused by competing for the wrong customer / use case.

  1. What is your #1 reason for choosing {{our brand}} over another product or brand? (𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦).

Why it works   ↳ this question checks assumptions about the most important feature/benefit from the customer's POV... this is another area product designers / founders have mistaken assumptions about.

  1. What are your favorite hobbies or activities? (𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺/𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵)     Why it matters   ↳ this question gets at the heart of a peron's community and vocational identifications.  Purchases associated with enhancement of identity drive price insensitivity.

  2. Which aspects of your overall {{aspect of themselves your products/services improve}} do you want to improve? (𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘤...)     Why it matters   ↳ this question is a more direct version of the above group association question... it gets to the heart of the aspect of self identity a person hopes to enhance.

...

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘛𝘊 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

What do you ask new customers?

The 5 questions to create repeat customers...

Tested in 1000s of campaigns for multiple brands. 

I
May 31 · linkedin

If you're close to $10,000,000 ARR?

You can't afford the AVG 700k/yr growth team...

Here's what to do instead.

(BACKGROUND)

For this example we're talking about DTC growth,

for a CPG or retail brand.

Your minimum viable growth team,

looks like: • 1 x head of growth 120-220k/yr • 2 x directors of media buying 80-180k/yr • 1 x retention specialist 80-120k/yr • 1x head of creative strategy 80-120k/yr • 1x partnerships director 80-120k/yr

Conservatively this costs 600k/year,

or about 50k/month.

This doesn't include hiring or training.

for people on the lower end of the price range...

you better plan on training. (so not cheap)

If you are using "outsourced" talent, like an agency etc...

You need to ask yourself these two things:

𝟭) 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣-𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙?

𝟮) 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣-𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚?

The answer to #1 should be pretty clear.

You can get that by talking to peers who've recently built in-house.

Ask them about hiring costs, training that was required and timelines to be up and running.

If you don't have "peers" in your category ask founders in the same business model at a similar size.

The answer to #2 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 and how fast you need to grow.

If you need to grow DTC channels this year, the right partner is critical.

They can get you through growth bottle necks that would be nearly impossible

for a new growth team.

So, priority of strategic initiatives is the crux of the decision.

If you have strategic initiatives that are more valuable then bringing DTC growth in-house,

partnering is probably the right answer.

Taking "building the DTC growth team in-house"

off the list of this year's strategic priorities can allow you to leapfrog your competition,

by focusing on other strategic initiatives

Things like: • retail expansion • revamping supplier pipeline • integrating supply chain • expanding product development • etc...

So in addition to the cold math of growth team costs,

there is the art of sequencing strategic priorities that drives this decision...

Anyway, if you liked this, make sure to repost for your DTC network.

and...

When should you build a growth team?

If you're close to $10,000,000 ARR?

You can't afford the AVG 700k/yr growth team...

Here's what to

Related Questions

What are Ian Lenny's main responsibilities at Health Via Modern Nutrition?
How did Ian Lenny transition from the military to his current roles in marketing and strategy?
What is the focus of ATTN Labs, and how does it relate to Ian Lenny's other ventures?
Can you provide more details about Ian Lenny's educational background and its impact on his career?
How does Ian Lenny contribute to OPUS in the field of at-home wellness technology?
Ian Lenny
Ian Lenny, photo 1
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