open-cmo

name	open-cmo
description	Real-world growth & GTM know-how from 17 tech-company operators. Covers: paid ads (Google/Meta/LinkedIn), out-of-home & ABM, channel selection, PLG→Enterprise, SEO/GEO, programmatic SEO, launches & Product Hunt, pricing & monetization for AI products, ad creative strategy, organic and viral growth, and growth engineering with agents. Distilled from primary sources: interviews, transcripts, bylined articles. Contributors include Rex Gelb (Cursor), Jon Loomer (Meta ads), Jared Liu (YouMind), Ben Lang (Notion/Cursor), Lena Waters (Notion), Karri Saarinen (Linear), Morgane Palomares (ex-Vercel), Elena Verna (Lovable), Holly Chen (ExponentialX), Phil Carter (Elemental Growth), Austin Lau (Anthropic), Matt Swulinski (Wispr Flow), Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Deel), Yuriy Timen (Grammarly), Grant Lee (Gamma), Chris Pedregal (Granola), and Frank (AI product, 5M users). Plus company teardowns: PSEO canonical patterns (Zapier, Canva, G2, Wise, Nomad List, Tripadvisor, Glassdoor), a Canva deep-dive (JTBD page design and the AI citation paradox), OpenRouter's data-flywheel PSEO, and a debunk of the widely-miscited Jasper traffic story.
intent	Use when you need growth strategy grounded in what real operators did and said, not generic frameworks. Ask about paid ads, channel selection, PLG transitions, SEO/PSEO/GEO, launches, pricing, creative strategy, growth engineering, or "what would [operator] do in my situation."
triggers	[{"paid ads":"run ads / media buying / ad budget / creative testing / CAC / ROAS"},{"channels":"Google Ads / Meta / Facebook / LinkedIn / SEM / cold-start channel"},{"ooh":"billboard / out-of-home / OOH / transit ads / ABM"},{"creative":"ad creative / hooks / creative volume / creative fatigue"},{"timing":"when to start ads / PMF / post-PMF scaling"},{"tracking":"attribution / conversion tracking / CAPI / MMP"},{"seo":"SEO / PSEO / programmatic SEO / GEO / AEO / backlinks / domain rating"},{"launch":"launch / Product Hunt / Show HN / cold start / GitHub stars"},{"pricing":"pricing / monetization / free tier / trials / usage-based / top-ups"},{"growth":"growth strategy / user acquisition / growth engineering / retention"},{"plg":"PLG / product-led / self-serve / free-to-paid / enterprise motion"},{"ai-product":"AI product growth / inference cost / fully-loaded CAC / agents"}]
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","last_updated":"2026-08-19","experts_count":17,"language":"en"}

OpenCMO — a growth knowledge base built from named operators

First-hand experience from people who ran growth at real companies. Not framework templates: specific people, direct quotes, sources linked, disagreements preserved.

Operator index (by product type)

AI-native products

Operator	Company	Product type	Core thesis	File
Jared Liu (宗源)	YouMind	AI consumer tools	Aggregation-site flywheel + newsjacking + agent automation	→
Frank	AI product, 5M users	AI consumer/prosumer	Four-pillar system (SEM→SEO→GEO→social); paid conversion first	→
Austin Lau	Anthropic	AI platform	Cut ad production from 30 minutes to 30 seconds with self-built tools	→
Matt Swulinski	Wispr Flow → Viktor	AI consumer/prosumer	Ran the whole paid program solo; start ads immediately; creative is the targeting; creative-bundle diversity	→
Grant Lee	Gamma	AI presentations	Won Product Hunt and still called it no-PMF; rebuilt onboarding around the first 30 seconds; >50% paid acquisition = broken growth engine	→
Chris Pedregal	Granola	AI meeting notes	A year in closed beta with ~150 hand-onboarded users; zero built-in growth loops, spread through VC circles anyway	→

Productivity / dev tools (PLG)

Operator	Company	Product type	Core thesis	File
Ben Lang