Growth Team Structure Planner

Example 1 — Series A SaaS, Product-Led Model

Scenario: 35-person Series A SaaS company. Product team (5 engineers, 2 PMs), marketing team (3 people), one data analyst. CEO is focused on fundraising. VP Product has strong exec presence and wants to own growth.

Trigger: Head of Growth (newly hired) asked to propose a team structure before their first 30-day review.

Process: Org context signals point to product-led model — established PM org, VP Product as natural sponsor, CEO bandwidth is limited, and realigning reporting lines would require board approval. Growth lead reports to VP Product. Team roster: growth lead (new hire) + one dedicated engineer (from product team) + marketer (from marketing, 80% allocation) + data analyst (full-time, from existing team). Designer is shared at 50%. Scope: activation funnel only (D7 retention is the North Star). Velocity target: 2 experiments per week.

Output: growth-team-proposal.md with VP Product named as sponsor and authority to approve experiments touching onboarding flow and email without separate product team sign-off. kickoff-agenda.md with first experiment discussion focused on onboarding drop-off points surfaced by data analyst.

Example 2 — Series B B2C, Independent Model

Scenario: 90-person Series B consumer app. Four product squads (acquisition, activation, retention, monetization), large marketing team, CEO actively engaged in growth decisions. Marketing and product have friction over campaign attribution.

Trigger: CEO asks Head of Growth to propose a standalone growth function that can run cross-funnel experiments without requiring approvals from each squad PM.

Process: Independent model is the clear fit — growth must span four existing squads, CEO is the sponsor and has expressed willingness to create a new reporting line, and the cross-departmental friction is exactly what the independent model is designed to break through. Growth lead reports to CEO directly. Team: growth lead + two dedicated engineers + data analyst + marketer + UX designer, all full-time. Scope: North Star metric is weekly active engagements (WAE); first 90-day focus is top-of-funnel acquisition conversion. Velocity target: 5 experiments per week by end of month 1.

Output: growth-team-proposal.md establishing the growth team as a permanent standalone unit with CEO sponsorship letter attached. kickoff-agenda.md including all four squad PMs as observers for the first meeting to signal that the growth team has cross-functional authority, not just advisory status.