Who should I follow to learn about Growth Marketing?

If you want to actually learn growth marketing - rather than just consume “10 growth hacks” posts - I’d follow a small group of operators who explain why things work.

My top 8

1. Brian Balfour - best overall

   • Growth models, retention, activation, experimentation, monetization.
   • Particularly good at teaching growth as a system, rather than a collection of tactics. The Top Growth Marketing Experts of 2026 – First Page Sage
   • Start with his writing and Reforge material.

2. Lenny Rachitsky - best for breadth

   • His newsletter/podcast covers product, growth, startups, and interviews with people who've actually built things.
   • His archive now has 500+ deep dives and 1M+ readers/listeners. Start here - by Lenny Rachitsky - Lenny's Newsletter
   • If you only follow one person, I'd pick Lenny.

3. Elena Verna - best for PLG & retention

   • Excellent on activation, retention, growth models, experimentation, lifecycle, and growth-team design.
   • Her Growth Scoop is particularly useful because it comes from hands-on operating experience. About - Elena's Growth Scoop

4. Andrew Chen - best for understanding network effects

   • Marketplaces, virality, network effects, acquisition loops, and startup scaling.
   • His work is more strategic/theoretical, which makes it valuable once you understand the basics. Best LinkedIn Marketing Experts to Follow (2026)

5. Casey Winters - best for practical growth systems

   • Great for understanding how growth actually operates inside companies.
   • Particularly strong on growth loops, retention, experimentation, and scaling. The Top Growth Marketing Experts of 2026 – First Page Sage

6. Sean Ellis - best for experimentation

   • Coined/popularized “growth hacking” and is strongly associated with experimentation-driven growth.
   • Good person to study if you want the historical foundations of the discipline. Growth Marketing Consultant: What They Do, Cost & How to Hire One (2026) | Growth Method

7. Kyle Poyar - best for SaaS/PLG

   • Pricing, packaging, product-led growth, SaaS benchmarks, and go-to-market.
   • Especially useful if you're working on a B2B software company. Growth is now the hottest role in startups. The smartest operators are iterating rapidly and sharing MBA-level playbooks on socials for free and most aren't paying attention. At Flywheel, we work… | Alex S. | 14 comments

8. Emily Kramer - best for B2B marketing

   • Great complement to the product/growth-heavy people above.
   • Focuses more on building the actual marketing engine: positioning, demand generation, content, and team structure. Growth is now the hottest role in startups. The smartest operators are iterating rapidly and sharing MBA-level playbooks on socials for free and most aren't paying attention. At Flywheel, we work… | Alex S. | 14 comments

If I were starting from zero

I'd not follow all eight immediately. I'd do:

Brian Balfour → Lenny Rachitsky → Elena Verna → Casey Winters → Andrew Chen

That gives you a pretty complete mental model:

Acquisition → Activation → Retention → Monetization → Loops/Networks → Scaling

And I'd deliberately avoid accounts that mainly post things like “7 AI growth hacks you need to try today.” The strongest current growth voices tend to emphasize experiments, systems, retention, and actual operating experience rather than hacks. Best LinkedIn Growth Hacking Experts (2026)

If you tell me whether you're interested in B2B SaaS, consumer apps, e-commerce/DTC, or a startup you're building, I can narrow this down to the 10 people/resources I'd follow specifically for that path.

To master growth marketing, it is best to learn from the pioneers who scaled companies like Dropbox, Uber, Facebook, and HubSpot. The top practitioners, thinkers, and educators in the space share their frameworks primarily through newsletters, essays, podcasts, and social channels (mostly X/Twitter and LinkedIn). Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

1. The Growth Pioneers & Authors

• Sean Ellis: Widely known as the "father of growth hacking," Sean coined the term, was the first marketer at Dropbox, and co-authored Hacking Growth. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Where to follow: GrowthHackers.com, X (@SeanEllis), and his Breakout Growth Podcast. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Morgan Brown: Co-author of Hacking Growth alongside Sean Ellis and a veteran product/growth leader at companies like Facebook and Shopify. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Where to follow: X (@morganb) and his personal blog. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Andrew Chen: General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and former head of the Rider Growth team at Uber. He has written hundreds of widely read essays on user acquisition, network effects, and viral loops. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Where to follow: His personal blog (andrewchen.co) and X. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

2. The Systems & Framework Builders

• Brian Balfour: Former VP of Growth at HubSpot and founder of Reforge (the premier career-accelerating program for tech and growth leaders). He focuses heavily on moving away from "tactics" and toward systemic growth loops. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Where to follow: Reforge Insights blog and his personal essays (brianbalfour.com). Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Casey Winters: Former Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite and former growth leader at Pinterest and Grubhub. He is an exceptional follow for learning about two-sided marketplaces, SEO as a growth channel, and product-led growth (PLG). Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

• Where to follow: His blog (caseyaccidental.com) and LinkedIn. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

3. Actionable Resources & Communities to Watch

• Reforge Blog: Even if you aren't enrolled in their cohort programs, their public blog features deep-dive essays on product-led growth, retention, and monetization written by top industry operators.

• GrowthHackers.com: Founded by Sean Ellis, it remains a great community forum for case studies, discussions, and real-world growth experiments. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key Work)

Are you looking to learn growth marketing for a B2B SaaS company, an e-commerce brand, or a consumer startup?

To truly master growth marketing (rather than just general social media branding), you want to follow the practitioners who pioneered product-led growth, data-driven experimentation, and funnel optimization.

The absolute best authorities, thinkers, and operators to follow include:

** Sean Ellis** – Co-author of Hacking Growth and the founder of GrowthHackers. He literally coined the term "growth hacking." Follow him for foundational experimentation frameworks.

Andrew Chen – General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and former head of rider growth at Uber. His personal essay blog is a masterclass in metrics, network effects, and tech growth loops.

Brian Balfour – Founder/CEO of Reforge and former VP of Growth at HubSpot. He offers some of the most rigorous, analytical, and anti-hype mental models on how growth actually works in modern tech companies.

Casey Winters – Former Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite and growth advisor/lead at Pinterest and Grubhub. He specializes in the intersection of product, SEO, and two-sided marketplace growth.

Morgan Brown – Co-author of Hacking Growth alongside Sean Ellis , and a product/growth leader at Shopify and Facebook. Follow him for operationalizing growth inside cross-functional teams.

Elena Verna – A legendary growth advisor who has scaled companies like Miro, Amplitude, and SurveyMonkey. She is exceptionally good on modern B2B product-led growth (PLG) and monetization loops, frequently sharing frameworks on LinkedIn. Growth Marketing Experts to Follow in 2026 (Bios, Links & Key

If you want to narrow this down, let me know:

• Are you focusing on B2B, B2C, or E-commerce?
• Do you prefer learning via newsletters, podcasts, or deep-dive articles?

I can tailor the reading list and channels to your specific niche!

Follow Lenny Rachitsky for practical growth and product insights, and Sean Ellis, Brian Balfour, Andrew Chen, and Morgan Brown for foundational growth strategy and scaling expertise.(europe.republic.com)(growthmethod.com)

To learn Growth Marketing, follow pioneers like Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown, Andrew Chen, Brian Balfour, and rising practitioners such as Chase Dimond and Asia Orangio. These experts share practical frameworks, case studies, and experiments across acquisition, retention, and product-led growth.

🌟 Foundational Growth Marketing Leaders

🚀 Practitioners Driving Modern Growth

📌 How to Use These Voices

• Follow their blogs/newsletters for deep essays (Andrew Chen, Brian Balfour).

• Engage on LinkedIn/Twitter for bite-sized insights and frameworks (Chase Dimond, Sean Ellis).

• Listen to podcasts like Breakout Growth for case studies.

• Consider structured programs like Reforge if you want hands-on training.

⚠️ Risks & Considerations

• Hype vs. substance: Growth marketing often attracts buzzwords. Stick to experts who share data-backed experiments.

• Context matters: What worked for Uber or Dropbox may not apply directly to your startup. Adapt frameworks to your industry.

• Platform bias: Some experts focus heavily on SaaS, others on B2B or consumer apps. Choose voices aligned with your goals.

👉 If you’re just starting, I’d recommend beginning with Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown’s book _Hacking Growth_ for fundamentals, then following Andrew Chen for strategic essays and Chase Dimond for tactical execution. Would you like me to suggest a step-by-step learning path (books, blogs, podcasts, courses) to structure your growth marketing journey?