Lenny's Podcast · Nov 26Billion dollar failures, and billion dollar success | Tom Conrad (Quibi, Pandora, Pets.com, Zero)
Grew from 0 to 80 million users and 10 to 3,000 employees with no paid acquisition, helped by everyone answering support emails personally. It stayed on a statutory radio license, moved to direct label deals too late, and lost ground to Spotify.
Tips
- Have the whole team answer early customer support personally▶ 46:31This genuine engagement fueled word of mouth, and Pandora never spent a dollar on paid user acquisition while Conrad was there.
- Take the shift of your market seriously, even when it is risky▶ 51:36Pandora eventually moved to direct deals but too late, while Spotify gained the lead.
