The Initial

Lucia van den Brink
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What does it take to build a healthy in-house experimentation program? Find out in these candid conversations with the leaders running 100 - 500+ A/B tests a year at Vinted, Preply & Diary of a CEO, and more. Get the recipes, frameworks, and lessons you need to run your own in-house experimentation program. Episodes released twice a month. Host, Lucia van den Brink, is Founder of The Initial, the agency that builds, runs & hands over experimentation capabilities for brands like Semrush, British Airways and Bolt Pharmacy. Find out more: https://the-initial.com/

  1. 10 août

    You're Already in Love With the Solution (That's the Problem)

    Daniël Granja Baltazar⁠ is a CRO Specialist at one of the Netherlands' biggest telecoms VodafoneZiggo, and proving that CRO goes way beyond A/B testing. If you enjoy learning about these topics, follow our newsletter to get all the frameworks and insights: ⁠https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/⁠ in this episode… → what a 300+ experiments per year experimentation program looks like → why B2B experimentation can't just copy B2C playbooks → the MVP mindset: stop falling in love with solutions, start defining the problem → how qualitative research fills the gap when traffic is too low to test → using sales knowledge to rewrite product pages (and 10x your leads) → building an AI-powered experiment library so no learning ever gets lost Find Daniël on Linkedin: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgbaltazar/

    You're Already in Love With the Solution (That's the Problem)

  2. 29 juil.

    Stop Testing Only Your Website — There's a Whole World Out There

    Gabriel Marçal⁠ is a growth PM at AIOS Medical, and one of the quietest, sharpest minds in experimentation. Solving bigger problems than just running A/B tests for checkouts. follow our newsletter to learn all his frameworks and insights: ⁠⁠https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/⁠⁠ in this episode… from his early days at a CRO agency in Brazil to running experiments on sales call scripts, physical medication boxes, and mobile apps, Gabriel refuses to stay in a box. it's about: → why your website isn't the only surface worth testing (and what to do when you're blocked) → how a lean 2-person team scaled to 10x growth without scaling headcount → the no-show rate problem: how experimenting with sales reminders moved the needle from 70% to 80%+ → subscriptions as a retention game-changer — and why 90%+ adoption doesn't happen by accident → Bayesian vs. frequentist? the answer that will surprise you Find Gabriel on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabmarcal/

    Stop Testing Only Your Website — There's a Whole World Out There

  3. 22 juin

    I Do Stand-Up Comedy and A/B Testing (Turns Out They're the Same Thing)

    Get David's prioritization framework in this month's newsletter: ⁠https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/⁠ David Swinstead spent 10 years inside the Booking.com bubble, and came out with some of the sharpest, most contrarian takes in the experimentation space. in this episode… he is now running experimentation programs at e-clerks, and doing stand-up comedy on the side, he treats both the same way: test everything, surrender to the data, and never assume you know the answer. it's about: → the "no-brainer" test on his first day at Booking.com that completely tanked → why PIE, ICE, RICE and every off-the-shelf framework is setting your team up to fail→ the 5-criteria prioritization framework he's been refining for 15+ years→ 1 pixel. 1 underline. and why everything on your site can make a difference→ CRO is easy, people are hard. how to actually build a culture that lasts Find David on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-swinstead-09267030/

    I Do Stand-Up Comedy and A/B Testing (Turns Out They're the Same Thing)

  4. 1 juin

    Blinkist: 'Onboarding Best Practice' failed 😳

    Proven at brands like Kia, Montblanc, Blinkist, and Blacklane, Ioana’s framework shows how to implement experimentation that actually scales. Find it in this month’s newsletter: ⁠https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/⁠ in this episode... Ioana has built experimentation programs across industries (from automotive to luxury to tech) and she’s not just running tests, she’s building systems that scale learning. currently working as a product growth consultant at Blinkist, she turns experimentation into a true growth engine. this conversation isn’t about surface-level A/B tests. it’s about: → the 5-step framework to build an experimentation program from scratch→ why “time to learn” beats perfection in high-performing teams→ how to avoid false positives that can cost companies millions→ why common “best practices” in CRO often fail in reality→ using AI to generate hypotheses and accelerate experimentation Find Ioana & her cohort for women on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioanaiordache/

    Blinkist: 'Onboarding Best Practice' failed 😳

  5. 18 mai

    My Job Title is ‘Head of Failure’ (& we do 50 Experiments /Month)

    How do you pitch 50 experiments a month? ...by making them impossible to refuse. Steal Grace Miller’s framework for "tiny loss" proposals that guarantee a "Yes" from even the most risk-averse clients, it's in this month's newsletter: https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/ in this episode… Grace Miller is building one of the most advanced experimentation cultures in media. she doesn’t just run tests; she turns entire teams into experimenters. as head of experimentation and failure at Flight Story, the company behind Diary of a CEO, she’s scaling experimentation across 15+ teams, from thumbnails to full customer journeys. it’s about: how to build a culture where everyone runs experiments (not just one team)“kill the guesswork”: using data to drive decisions across the entire businesswhy failure, rewards, and rituals (like experimenter of the week) accelerate growthhow to prioritize experiments that actually impact company KPIsscaling learnings across brands, platforms, and audiences without forcing what doesn’t fit Find Grace on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-miller-linked-in/

    My Job Title is ‘Head of Failure’ (& we do 50 Experiments /Month)

  6. 7 mai

    Stop Trying to Trigger Emotion: Do This Instead

    If you enjoy learning about these topics, follow our newsletter to get all the frameworks and insights: https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/ in this episode… Talia Wolf has been shaping the CRO industry since its earliest days. she doesn’t just run experiments; she decodes how people make decisions. as the creator of the emotional targeting framework, she’s helped companies move beyond surface-level optimization and into truly understanding what drives conversions: human behavior. it’s about: → why conversions are decisions, and how to reverse engineer them → emotional targeting: understanding pains, desires, and real customer motivations → how to turn customer research into high-impact experiment → creating emotional resonance by meeting users where they already are → getting buy-in: treating stakeholders like customers Find Talia on Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/taliagw

    Stop Trying to Trigger Emotion: Do This Instead

  7. 20 avr.

    Use High Velocity as Stress Test while Scaling Experimentation

    get Luiza's playbook in our newsletter: https://increaseconversionrate.substack.com/ apply to work with us: https://the-initial.com/ in this episode... Luiza de Lange has taken companies from zero to over 100 experiments a year. she doesn't just run tests; she builds engines. currently leading experimentation at LeoVegas, she’s an award-winning practitioner who knows exactly where the "handshakes" fail in a growing business. this conversation isn’t about just tweaking button colors. it’s about: → how to move from "gut feeling" releases to validating every piece of code → why high velocity is actually the best way to audit your technical infrastructure → the "avoided loss" metric: how to prove you saved the company millions by not shipping → why "quantity improves quality" in the early stages of a culture shift → clarifying the raci: who is actually responsible for the hypothesis sign-off? Find Luiza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luizadelange/

    Use High Velocity as Stress Test while Scaling Experimentation

  8. 6 avr.

    how a €1M mistake at Booking.com didn’t kill his career

    Maarten van Pijpen spent 15 years at Booking.com. a place where experimentation wasn’t a project.it was the culture. now he’s chief growth officer at Unravel.a travel app that feels like TikTok,but lets you book instantly. in his first 35 days, he:– chose an experimentation tool– lined up 10 experiments– started building a data foundation but this conversation isn’t about tooling. it’s about: → how to move from top-down founder energy to bottom-up ownership → why shipping fast without tracking is dangerous → how a €1M mistake didn’t kill his career(but actually strengthened it) → why failures were celebrated at Booking → how to scale leadership so you’re not the bottleneck we talk about culture.trust.empowerment.and what it really takes to build a data-driven company —without killing speed. if you care about experimentation, growth, or leading teams in scale-ups and how all of these dynamics work, this podcast is for you.

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À propos

What does it take to build a healthy in-house experimentation program? Find out in these candid conversations with the leaders running 100 - 500+ A/B tests a year at Vinted, Preply & Diary of a CEO, and more. Get the recipes, frameworks, and lessons you need to run your own in-house experimentation program. Episodes released twice a month. Host, Lucia van den Brink, is Founder of The Initial, the agency that builds, runs & hands over experimentation capabilities for brands like Semrush, British Airways and Bolt Pharmacy. Find out more: https://the-initial.com/

Informations

  • Création
    Lucia van den Brink
  • Années d’activité
    2026
  • Épisodes
    15
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © Lucia van den Brink
  • Site web de l’émission
    The Initial