Application — Growth
Lyka already owns a strong proof, 96% of surveyed owners seeing health improve, but the 49.00 AUD Starter Box (small dog) has to carry it.
Who I am
- Former COO of Tabs. Built its creator program to 100M monthly social impressions, and the paid ad engine alongside it.
- Founded Mainstreet, a consumer home-services platform: a team of 70, $25M raised (Greylock, Khosla, YC, Tim Ferriss). It failed.
- Before that: Quintessential Ventures, an early seat at a high-growth startup, and entrepreneur-in-residence at Prehype.
- I'm moving into growth specifically. The creative and top-of-funnel work is what I want to be doing every day.
What I noticed
- Starter Box (small dog) shows 49.00 AUD with 70.00 struck through, while the offer copy says "Get 30% off your first box". Two price signals a buyer has to reconcile.
- The 96% owner-improvement line rests on a May 2023 survey of 131 Lyka customers who had fed Lyka over 3 months. Strong proof, but it sits as a footnote, not in the lead.
- The home description promises "See health benefits in as little as 2 weeks", while another line says "Better dog poos in 14 days". Two timeframes; ads should lead with one.
What I built
What I'd do here
- My KPI: scale ad spend, hold target CAC. Everything else follows from that. On Lyka, the Starter Box (small dog) is the first sale.
- Week to week: launching a bunch of different experiments, losers killed early. Each test changes one variable: the 30% offer or the health claim.
- Creators: small-dog owners, puppy parents and fresh-food switchers, filming the Starter Box (small dog) arriving, opening and landing in the bowl.
- Reporting so you never have to ask. Daily CAC. Weekly what we learned. Monthly cohort payback. Starter Box cohorts tracked to second box.
- Event tracking I'd spec and work through with your team. That part isn't me. Subscription and first-box events need your developers.
Month one
| Metric | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators live | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Creator videos / week | 0 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 56 | 70 |
| Landing pages live | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| New ads / week | 12 | 12 | 12–20 | 12–20 | 20 | 20 |
| Unique experiments | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Creators come on two a week, 10 live by week six. Each posts seven videos a week, so videos climb from 14 to 70. New ads and landing pages follow the creators, from 12 ads a week to 20. Proposed.
Creator videos a week = creators live × videos per creator. Week 1: 0 × 7 = 0; Week 2: 2 × 7 = 14; Week 3: 4 × 7 = 28; Week 4: 6 × 7 = 42; Week 5: 8 × 7 = 56; Week 6: 10 × 7 = 70.
How I'd start
- Build a claims sheet from Lyka's own wording: the health lines, the owner survey result and the first-box offer, exactly as published.
- Brief the first wave of small-dog owners to film the Starter Box (small dog) unboxing, then cut a dozen hook variants from that footage.
I'd love to chat if this makes sense. Grab a time here.
Danilo