Maven

Building & Scaling Startup Culture

Marc Randolph

Co-founder of Netflix

Gagan Biyani

Co-founder of Maven

Dive into lessons learned from building Netflix's culture and what Marc would do differently today.

How to build a startup culture from scratch

Discuss the cultural and operational trade-offs you'll make as your startup grows.

How culture evolves as you scale

Learn what to do when your early high-performers don't quite scale with your company.

How to manage great people who no longer fit

COURSE CONTENT:8 Hours over one weekend, and 2 bonus hours before and after, combining presentations and case studies, interactive exercises in small groups and self reflection time. OVERVIEW: You are already comfortable managing others, but to get to the next level of leading large teams, you are aware that you need to be able to identify and drive transformative opportunities for the business, assess and lean into the risks associated with them, overcome your own fears of putting your ideas on the line, and inspire followership from others. You also know that this level of leadership can be exhausting - and require resilience in the face of push back or results taking longer to achieve than you hoped. Its tempting to "put off" the time it takes to work on these topics, but if you can invest the time now, it will make your leadership impact, visibility and effectiveness significantly stronger, by not having your own fears, or perceived weaknesses getting in your way. KEY TOPICS INCLUDED: 1. Establish your leadership advantage.- How to stop comparing yourself to others and instead lean into your own unique strengths as a leader- How to overcome imposter syndrome and tap into your courage to be confident leading at a higher level- How to get comfortable admitting what you don't know - and inviting others in to help as your support system to grow your confidence- How to get comfortable leading others on a larger team who's functional skills are outside your own knowledge and/or who have more age/experience than you- How to inspire and influence others to come along with ideas you are championing 2. See the opportunities that others won't. - Finding the gap - how to leverage foresight instead of hindsight in the pursuit of breakthrough strategies- How and when to tap into your instincts, when data isn't available for decision making- How to understand when a breakthrough opportunity is achievable with your team and your resources 3. Overcome your fears.- How to understand what holds you back from making bold moves- How to understand your tolerance for risk in relation to others to get confident to make more transformative moves- How to bounce back and recalibrate when things do not go as you expect 4. Navigating the politics. - How to get the confidence to invite dissent and assess the input and feedback from others who do not support your bold moves- How to go from trying to "convince" others, to "co-creating the future" with others.- How to read the room and ensure peer and team discussion is transparent and constructive- How to react when you know colleagues are not supporting your plans- How to make decisions when your team are disagreeing with each other and need you to break the tie 5. Fuel your endurance. - How to understand your unique energy needs to ensure that you prevent burnout during times of great stress- How to understand the different energy needs of others on your team so that you can work together to meet the collective team's needs 6. Build a culture of high performance fun.- How to leverage your own unique style to inspire others and build authentic followership- How to set your team "house rules" to establish a culture of high expectations and high results- How to build an inclusive team that is comfortable with dissent This is a course that is designed to get you out of your comfort zone. To get to the senior levels, it is not enough to deliver on your own existing KPIs, it requires you signaling that you are the kind of leader that is proactive and has courage, conviction and the ability to influence. This course will get you out of the text book and in to real life examples to "road test" how you would react. Course material and advice is based on real life case studies from Sarah's business experience moving from a manager of a small team of 5 individual contributors at one company, and then moving her way up to leading the complete transformation and turnaround of the $5Bn global Gatorade business less than 10 years later. Sarah is a proven coach and developer of talent, having managed teams as small as 5 and as large as 15,000. She led the reinvention and turnaround of the $5Bn Gatorade business as its global president, before leading the digital transformation of Equinox Fitness Clubs as president. Sarah has also taught workshops to over 500 young professionals, with an average NPS rating in the 60s. TESTIMONIALS FROM STUDENTS WHO HAVE TAKEN SARAH'S IN PERSON WORKSHOPS "It was a really fun two days taking the time to reflect on really important "stuff" that I normally don't make time for. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day grind of work without pausing to take that time to check in with yourself. I'm also rarely surrounded by such an inspirational group of people who have relevant complementary skillsets and experiences to my own. I find that hearing others' goals pushed me to think bigger and take on even more. Thank you!Head of Client Services for an Innovation Agency "Loved this! Will definitely recommend to friends. Loved the interactive exercises - especially the debate one and the compliment one. The discussion about my blind spots (figure out weaknesses and the anti-you) was SO helpful. The group made me think about things I never would have realized. Exercise about pain training was so helpful and almost therapeutic to hear others fears and commiserate."Product Leader "I loved it. Great format with lots of variety. I came away feeling motivated to make change, supported by those around me, and inspired by everyone in the room. I would be most likely to recommend this to someone who has been considering a leap, or who has tangible goals in mind."Director of Strategy "This was a great experience. It flew by, which doesn’t happen with these types of workshops. I really liked the layout of content and the perfect combination of case studies and larger group talk. You created a safe space for everyone to be vulnerable, supportive, encouraging and excited."Director Programming and Operations "Very challenging, ahead of the game and awe-inspiring workshop."IT Strategy Consultant

An interactive weekend immersive, that  uses real situations to teach students.


Course syllabus

Pre course meet n greet session for students

Friday July 11th

<ul><li>All sessions are recorded</li><li>Students have lifetime access</li></ul>

Saturday July 12th and Sunday July 13th

Post course office hours for students

Friday July 18th

Course schedule

You have 8-10 years of experience and aspire to, or have landed your first leadership role with a large team and want to assert your vision

You are shifting from managing individual contributors to leading through managers and you want to create a culture of high performance fun

You need to step onto a bigger leadership stage and want to know how to establish your vision to make transformative high impact moves

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

By reviewing insights from personality inventories and peers, you'll establish a clear framework that you can turn back to that articulates your most confident leadership style so that you can cultivate courage to lead others with skills and experiences beyond your own.

Confidence and strength to lead. Identify your competitive advantage as a leader to leverage your strengths and support your weaknesses.


Through an interactive exercise, you will explore the differences in your unique style for thinking and sharing your ideas, so you can develop your plan to create a culture of high performance with others, to help you drive high impact results.

Insights on building a high performing team. Understand how your style best plays, to improve your ability to get results through others.


Through an interactive case study based game, you will learn how to hone your instincts, and when to use them to see opportunities that others can't so that you are able to break through and add value to the business that others may not.

Strategies for identifying opportunities for growth. How to find the gap - and see opportunities for yourself, your team and your company.


Through a framework for group discussion, you will develop an understanding of your tolerance for risk in relation to others, and you will develop a personal strategy for overcoming your fears of making mistakes, which is critical when leading at the senior level.

Methods for facing your fears. Analyze what holds you back and establish strategies for risk taking, that enable you to drive change.


Through real life case studies you will learn how to navigate politics, influence others, turn to team mates for support when your fears kick in, and develop a willingness to admit that you don't have all the answers - a requirement for creating followership of large teams.

Techniques for top down and bottom up communication. How to get buy in, navigate politics and influence stakeholders to support your vision.


You will participate in an interactive case study assignment to teach you how to assess the long range viability of your greatest transformational moves, as it is critical at the senior level to understand how to evolve and sustain your biggest ideas.

Clear understanding of social cues. Apply a framework to know when to play harder, to pivot or to walk away from ideas you have championed.


You will spend time understanding your own needs around health, wellbeing and energy management so that you can prevent burnout. You will develop a framework to create a set of commitments to yourself that ensure you're endurance for the long leadership road ahead.

Strategies for sustaining yourself. How to establish the unique rituals that you will need to prioritize your own health and wellbeing.


Learn to lead boldly, assess risks, and drive change. Gain confidence to inspire large teams and seize breakthrough leadership opportunities


Sarah Robb O'Hagan

Cohort 2

Cohort 3

Growth leaders and teams are expected to bring impactful results at high speed. However, in that high-paced environment, it's easy to get into a trap of constant local optimization. 👉 What is good for USER is good for BUSINESS. The biggest changes that drove product Growth for companies like Miro, Notion, Figma didn't happen due to local changes. These products combined both components: high-quality user experience and ethical PLG strategies. 📌 Growth teams face many challenges like: 🚨 Getting caught in a trap of local optimization and constant A/B testing with no impact?🚨 Hard to uncover new growth opportunities to impact Activation, Habit-forming, and Upgrades?🚨 What behavioral principles can help create the most user-friendly and ethical solutions?🚨 Finally, how do we receive a buy-in to implement meaningful product changes and drive Product-led Growth? I've been facing these challenges myself and collecting knowledge for years to address them. 📌 What prepared me to share this knowledge with you: ↳ For 6+ years at Miro, I covered all parts of the Growth funnel holistically&nbsp;(Activation, Engagement, Monetisation, Community-led Growth).↳ As a part of Growth Leadership at Miro, scaled from 1 Growth team (5 people) to a stream of 15 teams (170+ people).↳ As a founder of Growthmates, collected knowledge directly from 20+ leaders from Notion, Canva, Dropbox, and↳ As a Growth advisor, helped 10+ B2B and B2C companies in SaaS, Collaboration, Education, AI, and other sectors. 📌 What to expect on this course: ✅ Take an end-to-end look at 3 key Growth flows: Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades ✅ Apply Behavioural science methods and uncover new opportunities through a user-centric approach✅ Turn your ideas into roadmap by applying 5-step Growth Flow review and prioritisation framework 🎯 THE RESULT: 📊 A diverse roadmap: you will translate your ideas into Quick Wins, Meaningful shifts, and Big bets that you can present and get a buy-in. ⏯️ 1:1 Personal video feedback on your project: Submit your final project and receive detailed, thoughtful feedback from me via Loom — I’ll walk through your work, respond to your specific questions, and share insights to help you move forward with clarity. 📌 What you get for the Total value: ⚡️ Personalized feedback on your completed project ($990 value) ⚡️ 4 interactive live sessions with me ($1,190 value) ⚡️ 30+ B2B &amp; B2C product flows for Onboarding, Adoption, and Upgrade experience from Notion, Canva, Dropbox, and more ($690 value) ⚡️15+ Templates for Growth, Research, and Growth teamwork ($990 value) ⚡️ Lifetime access to all these materials ——— ❗️ This course is NOT about abstract growth strategies. It's about real product examples, behavioral science knowledge, and PRACTICE that you can combine with your real work project. — Products that use only Sales-led model (course is about Product-led Growth)&nbsp;— Too early-stage products in the development phase (course is about your flows to analyse and improve).&nbsp;&nbsp;— If you want t learn deep Data analytics&nbsp;(course is more about Qualitative user-centric approach)

Create your Product-led growth roadmap — from Quick wins to Big bets.

📅 Join on Tuesdays for Live sessions

Bring your real growth challenge with Activation, Habit-forming, or Upgrades, and work on it by applying the frameworks shared in the course.

✏️ Work on your work-related projects during the week

Get feedback directly from me on Q&amp;A parts of live sessions, as well as from a small group of peers who are solving similar challenges — let's learn from each other!

🙌  Get feedback on your work

PMs and Product Designers working on Growth — apply frameworks and feedback to produce a roadmap to immediately take into work

"Growth team of one" — Product and Design Leaders who drive several parts of growth simultaneously (like Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades

Growth Marketers, User Researchers, and other Product members who want to deepen their knowledge of PLG practices and Behavioural psychology

You will create a draft of the roadmap and will apply the "3 types of initiatives" framework to articulate the value of Product-led Growth and get stakeholders' buy-in.

Create a diverse growth roadmap to get buy-in

You will get feedback from me directly and like-minded peers on the growth flow you're working on.

Get direct feedback on Growth flows improvements

User-centricity requires understanding how people behave and make decisions. You'll get access to 30 main behavioral principles; we'll practice 3 Behavioral methods — all of which are complemented with real SaaS examples.

Practice key Behavioral psychology principles

You'll practice using my 5-step Growth Framework to take a helicopter view of one of the flows you'd like to excel in —activation, Habit-forming, or paths to Upgrade. After the course, you'll learn how to incorporate this approach into your work.

Take an end-to-end look at 3 key Growth flows: Activation, Habit forming, Upgrade

For your Project work, you will apply this knowledge on 3-5 critical steps of the flows by combining Growth frameworks and Behavioural science.

Uncover new changes to impact Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades

To inform your roadmap, you'll get 30+ flows of Onboarding, Habit forming, and Upgrade examples from the best B2B and B2C SaaS, learning how they address Activation, Habit-forming, and Upgrade experience.

🎁 Access to 30+ Growth flows visual base with best practices

Combine behavioral science and proven growth strategies to create a diverse roadmap, get buy-in, and drive impact with high quality.

Kate Syuma

Founder @Growthmates • Ex-Miro Head of Growth Design

Cohort 1

August Cohort 

You’ve launched. Customers are using the product. But growth still isn’t where it should be—and it’s hard to tell what’s working, what’s not, or where to focus next. You’re in the most critical phase between early traction and scalable growth. The moves you make now will define your trajectory—and if you get them wrong, it’s hard to recover later. This course gives you the structure to get it right. Growth for Founders helps you lead with clarity—without needing to be a growth expert from day one. You’ll learn how to identify what’s driving value, what’s getting in the way, and how to align your team around focused, high-leverage growth efforts. Sean Ellis has been a trailblazer in this phase of growth—helping companies like Dropbox, LogMeIn, and Eventbrite turn early traction into repeatable, scalable systems. At Dropbox, he helped lay the foundation for the company’s rapid growth—setting in motion the systems that contributed to it becoming the fastest SaaS business to reach $1B in recurring revenue. And his frameworks have been used by countless other global successes ranging from TikTok to Nubank (the world's fastest growing bank). He knows what it takes to move fast without creating chaos—and how to lead growth in the uniquely cross-functional way only a founder can. In just two weeks, you’ll learn how to: - Choose a success metric that reflects real value—and use it to focus your team- Run the PMF survey to understand what makes your product a must-have (and for whom)- Build a growth model that maps how users experience value—and where growth breaks down- Prioritize experiments using the ICE framework to focus on what moves the needle- Design a 90-day plan to lead growth confidently—or hand it off with clarity- Avoid common early mistakes—from misaligned metrics to premature growth hires You’ll walk away with a clear roadmap, sharper instincts, and the confidence to lead—not guess—your way through this critical phase of growth.

The growth foundation every founder needs

Live sessions run July 21–30, 2025 Each 90-minute session is hands-on and founder-focused. You’ll learn directly from Sean Ellis, applying his proven frameworks like the PMF Survey, Growth Model, and ICE prioritization to your own business in real time.

Mondays & Wednesdays

Want feedback on your decisions or ideas? Sean will stay on after each session for an open group AMA to go deeper, clarify takeaways, or offer direct feedback on your unique growth challenges.

Optional AMAs after each live session

This isn’t theory. After each session, you’ll apply the material to your startup—refining your metric, uncovering growth levers, or aligning your team. Each project is designed to drive clarity and momentum you can act on immediately.

Projects after each live session

You’ve launched—but growth is unclear: Learn what drives growth, where users drop off, and how to build a repeatable system.

You’re hiring a Head of Growth soon: Get the tools to choose the right person, stay aligned, and support growth without dropping the baton.

You’re considering owning growth yourself: Build the skills to lead growth now—and decide if you want to own the role long term.

Who will benefit most from this course?

Use Sean’s proven PMF survey to identify what your best users value most—then turn those insights into sharper positioning and conversion. Originally developed by Sean, this survey has been used by top startups around the world to sharpen their growth strategy.

Nail messaging with the Must-Have Survey

Build a working growth model based on how users actually discover, activate, and return—so you can focus on what truly drives your metric.

Map your product’s real growth system

Pressure-test your North Star Metric to ensure it reflects real value—and align your team around a clear, focused measure of progress. Avoid the common mistake of rallying around a metric that misleads your team or misrepresents value.

Define and align around your success metric

Apply the ICE framework to spot and test improvements that move your metric—and don't just sound good in a brainstorm. Sean’s ICE framework is now a startup standard for fast, resource-conscious decision-making.

Prioritize fast, high-leverage experiments

Stop wasting time on surface-level wins, scattered tests, or premature hires. Learn when to double down, delegate, or hire—based on signal.

Avoid common growth missteps

Build a test-driven growth plan you can lead with confidence. You’ll leave with a 90-day roadmap to move your key metric—and a rhythm to keep momentum going. This is the same framework Sean has used in interim VP roles, now available publicly for the first time.

Build a focused 90-day growth plan

Turn early traction into repeatable growth. Learn the systems and tools founders need to lead early growth with confidence.

Sean Ellis

July 2025

The ChallengeYour days are filled with:🗓️ back-to-back meetings,🚀 sky-high customer or investor expectations,⏱️ wishes that your team could move faster sooner,🔥 wishes that you could move even faster and work on what really matters instead of fighting fires. You start each day with the best intentions, but somehow find yourself constantly reacting instead of leading.&nbsp;Sure, it would be nice to focus on your own goals, but you care about those other people (or at least some of them 😁). They’re colleagues and customers, family and friends... How can you collaborate with them responsively without forsaking your goals and becoming just a (re-)Actor in their story? 🎬 ✨ You wonder if AI can help, you wonder how other leaders are using AI to manage it all and manage their teams--but honestly, who's got the time to figure that out? ⏳ You have a constant, lurking anxiety about what’s falling through the cracks or not getting done, so you work faster. As you try to move faster, people fall short of your expectations and their potential. It causes friction and frustration (even if you hide it well). It's uncomfortable to call out, so you avoid giving feedback or mention it lightly, which makes the situation more uncomfortable. Eventually, you decide to give feedback. Sometimes it goes okay. Often, you try to move through and out of the conversation as quickly as possible because it feels so awkward. Growth and improvements rarely last. You take on more work yourself to get it done. The Solution (Evidence-based. Immediately applicable.)⏱️&nbsp;EVERYTHING YOU READ BELOW WILL BE ORIENTED TO IMMEDIATE APPLICATION DURING THE COURSE ⏱️What if you could shift from reacting to the constant inputs to creating what matters most and leading your team in that direction--everyday? This course will support you, step by step, in building your Operating System to make this shift. Fancy apps aren't enough. Nor are bursts of motivation. A sustainable Operating System has 3 features:🧰 Tools (simple enough to keep using, and amplified by AI)🔁&nbsp;Habits (the tools don't use themselves...except for some of the AI ones we'll build)🧠 Mindsets (you can "productively" spend your life responding to other people's messages and requests--or build something that matters) No, "perfection" isn't possible (or even desirable). But our days--and our results--completely shift when we focus our attention systematically instead of ad-hoc and reactively. And our conversations shift when we stop trying to fix people and start inspiring them to take action and grow. We teach you how to do this by using straightforward approaches that reliably transform defensiveness and friction into self-reflection, connection, and motivation to grow. You will start to look forward to feedback conversations because you will know how to use them as powerful tools for building trust and deepening connection. You will also explore your own mindsets and beliefs around feedback, identifying your own patterns around conflict avoidance, people-pleasing, and controlling behaviors. AI is woven throughout the course, including:1️⃣ building your own Custom GPTs2️⃣&nbsp;mastering your calendar3️⃣ using AI as a practice partner for difficult conversations and coaching skills4️⃣ helping your team use AI, and so much more! Once you've shifted the way you manage yourself and lead your team conversations, applying evidence-based approaches tested with 1000s of managers and amplified with AI, the whole game becomes fun again. Bonus:📝 You will also get 5 step-by-step facilitation guides for sharing and teaching your team members everything we cover in this course. This helps establish shared language and frameworks within your team/organization, and positions you as the leader of change. 📖&nbsp;You'll also get our 20-page Offsite Playbook with step-by-step guidance on how to design and facilitate unforgettable team and company gatherings. 🚀 And you'll get to do this while in a practice lab with other high-growth leaders.

Spend your days fighting fires or each other?

Sundays (+ 1 Thursday)

Weekly Office Hours

High-Growth ManagersReady to move out of IC mode, you want to be the inspiring leader people thank for the rest of their careers.

ExecutivesYou know there's a better way than back-to-back meetings everyday. To scale your impact, you know you must scale yourself first

Startup FoundersYou're expanding your focus from building a product to building a team. And to do so, you need the team to step up fast.

You'll have the Inner and Outer Game in place:<ul><li>A systematic set of habits, tools, and mindsets to define What Matters Most each day and week</li><li>You'll be using your emotions as signals for what needs to happen next</li><li>Your mind will be at ease</li></ul>

Clear Focus & Emotional Balance

Whether you're currently intimidated by AI, curious, or all-in, you will:<ul><li>know exactly how to leverage Claude and ChatGPT to improve your skills and help you prepare for key conversations</li><li>have your own CustomGPT to do a recurring management task FOR you</li></ul>

AI As Your Ally (including your own CustomGPT)

<ul><li>Next Actions template (simplest tool possible to stay organized)</li><li>Weekly Preview Checklist (define what matters most and who should do it)</li><li>Daily Defining Checklist</li></ul>

The Operating System (feel on top of your s***)

<ul><li>Know how to decide WHAT to delegate to increase your leverage</li><li>Know HOW to delegate (to a person or AI) in ways that build confidence and follow-through</li></ul>

The Leverage Framework

<ul><li>GAIN Template for how to structure feedback conversations that inspire response-ability, action, and growth</li><li>how to use AI to prepare and practice</li></ul>

GAIN Feedback Framework

<ul><li>GROW Template for coaching conversations</li><li>The key skill to coach effectively</li><li>Know the difference between a feedback and a coaching conversation</li><li>how to use AI to practice and get feedback on a coaching conversation</li></ul>

GROW Coaching Framework

What if you felt on top of everything and your team were aligning and growing through every conversation with you?

Lightning Lessons

Building & Scaling Startup Culture