Acorns
company on 9 shows · 5 statements across 2 episodes · said 35 times in 14 episodes since 2016
20VC 18 
My First Million 4 
A Product Market Fit Show 4 
TBPN 3 
Lenny's Podcast 2 
In Depth 1 
the Pitch 1 
Top Founders 1 
Capital Allocators 1
Mentions by year, every show
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20VC 18My First Million 4A Product Market Fit Show 4TBPN 3Lenny's Podcast 2Capital Allocators 1Top Founders 1In Depth 11 more shows
2025 4 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2024 5 mentions in 3 episodes 2 per episode
2023 18 mentions in 3 episodes 6 per episode
- Hila Qu: The Ultimate Guide to Product Growth at Your Startup | 20VC #967 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- The ultimate guide to adding a PLG motion | Hila Qu (Reforge, GitLab)
- Nico Wittenborn: Consumer Subscription Apps; Using Evolutionary Biology to Invest; Solo GP's | E1017 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
- every mention in 2023, scene by scene →
2021 4 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2018 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode
2017 1 mention in 1 episode
every mention on every show, scene by scene, with the transcript →
5 statements about Acorns, every show
Qu: Activation was the highest leverage point for Acorns retention
“When I was asked to work on retention, I did a bunch of analysis. The biggest leverage for me is actually activation.”
Increasing user revenue unlocks higher CAC tolerance and more paid channels
“We added new product life so that we can charge more. And then that higher revenue allow us to unlock a higher CAC in paid channels or more paid channels.”
Native gas station ads outperformed celebrity endorsements for Acorns' user acquisition
“We also do a bunch of like very native ads. Someone go to gas station and then just pump, pump gas and say acorns help them. Like the ordinary person gas station version works much better than a celebrity.”
Acorns spent heavily sponsoring NASCAR but saw zero visible user growth
“At one time we sponsored NASCAR. And it's a lot of money, but it didn't, we didn't see any visible lift in our results.”
Acorns converted high-performing ad concepts directly into in-product features
“At Acorns, we often run ads that work so well. And we begin to implement that feature in the product. Like we have a calculator, retirement calculator ads. We talk about if you start saving today in, in twenties, in your thirties, what difference does that mak…”