Stop multitasking your experiments ⚠️

The 'No Two New's' Rule

Hi there,

Recently, I had a great one-off strategy session with a wellness startup. In the 1.5-hour slot, we covered many topics, including his pitch deck, growth strategy, team structure, and more.

After every session, I ask for feedback—you know I love user research. In terms of what his biggest insight from the session was, he said:

“No two new’s in one go”

I realised this exact topic had come up for three clients in three months, which is definitely not a coincidence. Cue a newsletter on the topic!

---

What are two new’s?

Startups tend to…get excited, to put it lightly. They want to test everything all at once, with no time to spare. They’ll have tests running on:

• New products

• New target audience

• New geographical markets

• New marketing channels

The list is literally endless. Now, I’m realistic enough to recognise that you’ll have multiple tests at once, but the issue occurs when you test two new things in one go, such as:

• New product in a new geographical market

• New product with a new marketing channel

• New geographical market with a new marketing channel

You’d honestly be better off not testing any of them.

No two new's at one go

It’s a simple rule of thumb, but it’ll save you so much hassle and wasted budget. As when you test multiple things, you just can’t know what actually worked, or what was dependent on something else.

For example, a brand tested Google Ads for the first time, and most of their budget was for the new product. The end result? They didn’t know if Google Ads was the issue or the product. They’d spent £100s on ads but were none the wiser.

---

Can you really only do one new thing?

I know startups struggle with the idea of one thing at a time. One feels slow, and it feels like there is no time to waste.

Startups want and need to move faster than that. As a compromise, I suggest that if you are testing two new things, test them separately:

1. Existing products with new marketing channel

2. Existing products with new geographical market

3. Existing marketing channel to test a new target audience

This reduces the number of variables. The secondary benefit is that you are more focused and will probably save your budget. You can always test your new product in that market or on that channel later.

---

What does this look like in practice?

Circling back to the Google Ads with a new product example, they first needed to test and improve their communication for that new product with the marketing channel they knew worked for them: email.

While they did that, they could work on improving their Google Ads approach with their other product.

So you can simultaneously run the two next to each other to learn even faster.

Obviously, there will be exceptions, such as if a new geographical market is better suited to a new marketing channel over an existing one, but the general idea is to avoid two news where you can.

---

Recommendation

Rather than introduce another new here (this time, a new resource for you to learn more about), I wanted to go back to the strategy session that started it all.

My schedule is pretty full at the moment, but I always try to leave a bit of space for smaller one-off projects and strategy sessions. I love meeting new startups and helping them along.

One-off sessions are simple:

• You book a slot and share your goal

• I’ll send over some questions about data to share upfront

• I’ll prepare the session based on that data

• We have a 1.5-hour session to tackle your challenge area(s)

• You’ll walk away with pages of notes, helpful resources and a clear action list

Here’s the full review of the strategy session that inspired this newsletter:

I have long been aware of Daphne's extraordinary expertise in growth since her days at Heights, and yet my consulting call with her greatly surpassed my expectations.

Having reviewed my brand's pitch deck and metrics, she gained a 360-degree understanding of my business and pinpointed problem areas. She shared extensive advice, which reflected her deep knowledge not only of growth but also of startup operations and the health and wellness industry as a whole.

She also provided detailed notes and guidance after the call. I am deeply impressed with her expertise, efficiency, and work ethic, and it would be a privilege for any brand to work with her.

Don’t hesitate to book your own strategy session here and see what important lesson comes up.

Until next week,

Daphne