Experimentation-Led Growth: Redefining Success in the Modern Business

With endless competition, mountains of data, and countless options to think about, businesses face a critical challenge: How do you make smart, decisive moves that keep you ahead of the pack, without getting bogged down by complexity or losing sight of your goals? And then how do you do this for teams of people, how do you scale this approach? I believe the answer lies in adopting an operational model centered on experimentation—what we call Experimentation-Led Growth (ELG).

What is Experimentation-Led Growth?

At its core, ELG is the practice of integrating structured, scientific experimentation into the decision-making fabric of a company. It shifts organizations away from gut-feel decisions or one-off, channel-focused testing and optimizations and moves them toward a scalable, repeatable, and data-literate approach to growth and learning.

This methodology isn't just about A/B testing a landing page or optimizing conversion rates—it's about embedding a culture and operational framework that empowers teams to test, learn, and adapt quickly across every facet of the business. It's about making growth into a deliberate and scientific process.

The Two Stories of Experimentation-Led Growth

ELG addresses two primary audiences within organizations: practitioners (such as CMOs and product leaders) and resourcers (such as CEOs, especially in legacy enterprises). These groups have different stakes and motivations but converge on the need for experimentation as a growth driver.

1. The Practitioner Story: The Need for Speed and Certainty

The world has changed dramatically for marketing, product, and experimentation practitioners. Decision-making on the ‘front line’ must now keep pace with a flood of (often unreliable) data and evolving consumer channels and behaviors.

Practitioners prioritize:

• Authority to Test: Teams need the autonomy to run experiments without relying on cumbersome approval chains. (Note to leaders, don’t give responsibility without authority…”trust but verify”)
• Strategic Integration: Experiments must align with overarching business goals rather than being siloed as mere tactics. (note to leaders, clarify what core biz opportunities and customer problems need to be solved)
• Systems of Trust: Reliable data and consistent methodologies are non-negotiable to build confidence in experimental results. (note to leaders, it’s your job to ensure access to quality data systems)

These teams operate with the mantra, "Move fast, but with certainty." Their focus is on solving strategic problems, not just optimizing minor metrics.

2. The Resourcer Story: Reinventing Legacy Systems

For CEOs of large, legacy companies, ELG is a survival mechanism. These organizations face the dual pressures of digital transformation and talent acquisition. Experimentation becomes the operational "cheat code" that allows them to:

• Modernize Decision Systems: Create frameworks that decentralize decision-making and enable agility.
• Attract and Retain Talent: Younger professionals crave autonomy, accountability, and the ability to see their impact. ELG-driven organizations appeal to this type of workforce.
• Scale Innovation: By implementing Centers of Excellence (CoEs) or structured experimentation frameworks, legacy organizations can drive consistent, organization-wide impact.

The stakes for these leaders are existential. As the business world moves into an era where digital innovation defines competitive advantage, experimentation is no longer optional—it’s imperative.

Why Experimentation Matters Now More Than Ever

1. New World Stakes: In this "new world," businesses that cling to outdated practices face irrelevance. Experimentation offers the agility to respond to changing customer needs, navigate business uncertainty, and outpace competitors.
2. The Cost of Inaction Failing to experiment isn’t just a missed opportunity—it’s a liability. Companies risk falling behind, losing market share, and alienating both customers and talent. Experimentation, in contrast, minimizes risk by providing actionable insights before scaling initiatives.
3. Winners and Losers Organizations that embrace ELG win by consistently learning and adapting faster than their competitors. Losers, on the other hand, remain mired in analysis paralysis, gut-based decisions, or disjointed tactical efforts.
4. The Magic Capability Experimentation becomes the "magic capability"—a differentiator that separates innovators from the rest. It’s not just about having the tools but about fostering a culture of curiosity, learning, and disciplined execution.

Building an Experimentation-Led Growth Operating System (XOS)

To successfully implement ELG, businesses need to embrace specific practices and cultural shifts. They need to change ‘HOW’ they work. Here’s how:

1. Align Experiments with Strategic Objectives

Every experiment should ladder up to the company’s "customer north star metric." For example, testing a new website feature isn’t impactful unless it ties back to broader goals like improving customer lifetime value or reducing churn.

• Goal tree maps
• Strategic testing roadmaps

2. Invest in Rituals and Artifacts

Establish consistent systems to document, share, and celebrate learnings from experiments. Whether through a centralized knowledge base, regular "test readouts," or team workshops, these rituals foster trust and a shared sense of purpose.

• XOS Artifact and Ritual blueprints

3. Educate and Empower Teams

Training programs, wikis, and workshops ensure that every team member—regardless of role—understands the principles of experimentation and their impact on growth. Education creates champions who advocate for testing within their functions.

• Engagement mechanisms
• Meetings and ceremonies

4. Integrate Experimentation into Core Operations

ELG isn’t an add-on; it’s an operational model. This means:

• Embedding experimentation within cross-functional teams.
• Ensuring experiments are part of product development cycles.
• Using experimentation insights to shape high-level strategy.

5. Adopt a Change Management Mindset

Transitioning to an ELG framework is as much about cultural change as it is about tools or processes. Leaders must champion this shift, emphasizing the long-term benefits while addressing initial resistance.

Common Pitfalls in Experimentation-Led Growth and How to Avoid Them

1. Tactics Over Strategy Too often, teams fall into the trap of testing for testing's sake—running random experiments with no strategic tie-in. Avoid this by always asking: "What strategic problem are we solving?"
2. Siloed Efforts Experiments run in isolation can lead to inconsistent results and missed opportunities. Break down silos by fostering collaboration across teams and sharing learnings organization-wide.
3. Data Trust Issues Poor data quality or lack of transparency undermines trust in experimentation. Invest in robust data infrastructure and clear reporting to ensure results are credible.
4. Lack of Accountability Without clear ownership, experiments can falter. Assign accountability for not just running tests but also synthesizing learnings and driving action.

The Future of Experimentation-Led Growth

The potential for ELG is immense, especially as organizations recognize its power beyond traditional CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization). Over the next decade, we’ll see ELG:

• Expanded applications beyond the UI: As the cost of ‘variations’ of creative crash to zero with AI, we’ll move from visuals and layout testing to testing models (e.g., recommendation engines, propensity, lead scoring, pricing models, etc)
• Expand Across Industries: From offline retail to healthcare to finance, experimentation systems will become a standard element if not a practice.
• Drive Innovation at Scale: CoEs and advanced experimentation platforms will allow businesses to test and learn at unprecedented speeds and in areas not seen before. Hello Quasi-experiments, Ad testing, CMS testing, etc. 
• Shape Workforce Expectations: As younger generations enter the workforce, they’ll expect ELG practices as a given, not a bonus. 
• Orgs hire for data- AND people-literacy: It’s knowing data, yes, but it’s just as critical to be additive to a team, to understand how orgs get more done faster via collaboration.

A (Moral) Call to Action

Experimentation-Led Growth isn’t just a methodology—it’s a movement. It’s about rethinking how businesses operate, innovate, and grow in a world where the only constant is change.

It’s about a paradigm shift in HOW we choose to grow by adapting to changing market conditions and placing the tools of adaptation in the hands of the teams on the front lines of customers.

The crux is a change from management to leadership. 

• More coaching and a focus on making data available – making rapid testing easier
• Bottom-up ownership of decision-making
• Accountability systems for transparency and ownership
• Missionaries, not mercenaries

For practitioners, it’s time to advocate for deeper integration of experimentation into business strategy. For resources, it’s time to invest in the systems and cultures that make experimentation possible.

In this new world, the winners won’t just be the companies with the best ideas—they’ll be the ones with the discipline and courage to test, learn, and adapt faster than the rest. The question is: Will you be one of them?

Conclusion: Embrace the Experimentation Mindset

The business world is evolving fast, and companies need to keep up to stay ahead. That’s where Experimentation-Led Growth comes in—it’s a game-changer for navigating today’s challenges. By making experimentation a core part of your operations, tying it to your big-picture goals, and building a culture that values learning and accountability, you can set your company up for long-term success and outpace the competition.

Whether you're a marketer fine-tuning campaigns or a CEO looking to shake things up, leaning into experimentation is the secret to driving growth and sparking innovation.

Join the Conversation with me

Interested in learning more about how experimentation can drive growth in your organization? Connect with me and other industry experts and peers to share insights and best practices. Together, we can shape the future of business through the power of experimentation.

Appendix: reference organizations connected to ‘Experimentation-Led Growth’ philosophy

Several organizations across industries claim to embody an Experimentation-Led Growth (ELG) philosophy through structured testing, data-driven decision-making, and innovation. Here’s a list of companies and groups often associated with this mindset:

1. Technology Giants

• Google: Known for its "test everything" culture, Google extensively uses A/B testing and experimentation in product development, user experience, and advertising.
• Amazon: The company integrates experimentation at every level, from small UI changes to significant feature rollouts. Amazon's culture emphasizes testing as a path to customer-centric innovation.
• Meta (formerly Facebook): Meta is famous for its rigorous experimentation systems, including feature flagging and randomized controlled trials for features across its platforms. The experimentation platform Statsig was birthed from ex-Meta staff. 

2. Digital-Native Companies

• Netflix: Netflix relies heavily on A/B testing to optimize everything from its recommendation engine to promotional strategies.
• Airbnb: Airbnb has built a robust experimentation platform to test hypotheses on user behavior, pricing strategies, and feature enhancements. The experimentation platform Eppo was created from ex-Airbnb staff.
• Spotify: Spotify employs experimentation to refine user experience, playlists, and its core algorithm for music recommendations. It has even birthed it’s own testing platform, Confidence. 

3. Retail and E-Commerce Leaders

• Shopify: The company uses experimentation to improve the platform's usability, performance, and merchant success.
• Walmart Labs: Walmart’s tech division emphasizes ELG as part of its digital transformation efforts, ensuring data-driven decisions at scale.
• Target: Target’s investment in experimentation supports decisions in pricing, marketing, and customer personalization.

4. Consumer-Focused Companies

• Procter & Gamble (P&G): P&G’s data-driven approach incorporates experimentation into product launches, marketing campaigns, and operational processes.
• Nike: Nike has embraced digital transformation and employs experimentation to enhance its customer experience across e-commerce and mobile platforms.

5. Financial and Fintech Innovators

• Stripe: Stripe runs experiments on product features and pricing to align with customer needs and ensure scalable growth.
• Revolut: The fintech giant incorporates continuous experimentation into its app development and customer experience design.

6. Consulting and Services Firms

• Speero: As noted in the source material, Speero focuses on helping businesses implement experimentation as a growth strategy, including Center-of-Excellence building and support.
• Accenture, McKinsey, Bain: These large firms increasingly push their clients toward adopting experimentation-led frameworks as part of digital transformation projects.

7. Media and Streaming Platforms

• Netflix: of course they do. Listed above as well. 
• Hulu and Disney+: Hulu and sister org Disney+ employ experimentation to refine its content recommendations and advertising placements.
• The New York Times: The Times uses advanced testing to optimize digital subscriptions, article formats, and user engagement strategies.

8. Legacy Companies Embracing Digital Transformation

• Ford: Experimentation has become a key part of Ford’s approach to building connected vehicles and testing digital features.
• General Electric (GE): GE integrates ELG practices in its industrial IoT platforms and manufacturing processes.
• Unilever: The company uses experimentation to refine products and global marketing campaigns.

9. Startups and Growth Companies

• Many high-growth startups, including Speero clients like Clickup, Miro, MongoDB, Tipalti, and Gympass (now Wellhub) are advocates of experimentation systems at all stages of their orgs, relying on rapid iteration to refine product-market fit and grow customer bases.

10. Experimentation-Platform Providers

• Companies that offer experimentation tools are themselves champions of this philosophy. Examples include:some text
  • Optimizely: A leader in digital experimentation platforms.
  • VWO (Visual Website Optimizer): Focuses on website and app testing.
  • Statsig: Provides tools for large-scale experimentation and feature management.
  • Eppo: Specializes in experimentation workflows for data-driven teams.
  • Kameleoon: specializing in a ‘unified’ platform for both marketing and product teams. 
  • And many many more, see Speero’s AB testing tool comparison resource here

These organizations not only use experimentation as a core operational model but also serve as examples for others aiming to implement ELG in their strategies.