Elena Verna

Growth, Dropbox

You can find more about me here: https://elenaverna.lovable.app/

Interim, Head of Growth

Lovable is turning 1🥳 and we just crossed $200m ARR 🤯. It’s wild. And not because the number is big, but because of how it happened. No giant sales org. Not a huge team (we are still under 100 peeps total). Not based in the heart of Silicon Valley. No endless paid marketing campaigns burning cash. Just product doing the heavy lifting like it always should.

Turns out when you focus on shipping fast, surprising people, and making software feel human again, the market pulls you forward. Builders talk, show/share what they make, and spread the word. The only other things that reliably worked for us were influencer marketing and giving the product away through freemium and every hackathon running on Lovable. It’s messy, nonlinear, and way more fun than the old playbook.

What I’m most proud of: this isn’t a growth theater. This is actual usage compounding. Real people building real things and telling their friends because they wanted to.

If you’re still treating growth like a channel optimization problem, you’re already behind. The most reliable engine is product that creates stories worth retelling. That’s what got us to 200m. And honestly, it feels like we’re just getting started.

#growth #lovable

Annual planning be like:
1. december: we start acting like psychics who specialize in ARR
2. we are given a number to hit
3. we build the plan
4. we rebuild the plan. and again. and again. and again. and again.
5. pre-reads, meetings, alignment about alignment. daily standups. 
6. we lose track of which version is “the plan”
(Its mid-Jan already) 
7. 40 slides. 6 pillars. 12 bets.
8. v27_final_final_FINAL.pptx becomes scripture
9. internal comms enters, now we need a comms plan for the plan
10. board hears the plan, no turning back
11. targets assigned like a chore wheel
12. Q1: always foundational work. Q2/Q3: the big stuff is coming. growth!
(last year? deleted from memory)
13. Q1 is running behind. 
14. big bets pushed to q3/q4 (q2 = still “foundations”)
15. we feverishly watch for “green shoots”
16. tech debt appears, migrations “almost done”
17. “need more time”
18. hockey stick expected to begin in Q4
19. “we can still hit the budget!”
20. there’s no way we can hit the budget. 
21. some executive exits
22. we promise to be realistic next year
23. someone proposes a new planning framework to fix everything
24. it’s December again. we become ARR psychics. 
#planning

I’m about six months into Lovable, but it honestly feels like six years. In a good way. I haven’t felt a learning curve like this since I was still climbing early-career rungs.

(I joined when we were just under $45m in ARR. We just announced hitting $200M - just 4 months after hitting $100M 😅)

My previous growth playbook carried me through roles where most of my job was tuning funnels and scaling established loops. Not here. Maybe 30-40% of what I knew still applies. The rest I’ve had to unlearn.  

Here’s what I’m seeing:

- Growth is now about launching new “features” and product surfaces, not just fine-tuning what exists.  

- Traditional marketing is still useful, but it’s no longer the main lever - product, virality, creator economies and community matter more.  

- The growth surface has collapsed: fewer knobs on the UI, more focus on model quality, embedded growth in product itself.  

- We’re racing on a moving treadmill: product-market fit isn’t a one-time milestone, it’s a continuous state in this AI era.  

- Roles are blending; structures are messy; you *must* author your role and navigate the ambiguity.  

Bottom-line: The current environment rewards people who can create clarity instead of waiting for it. 

⚡️Want to learn more about landing a job in AI company? Join a FREE webinar Sidebar is hosting with me this upcoming Monday!  Details on my blog post. 

Read more on my blog: https://lnkd.in/eXYVn5j3

Webinar sign-up: https://luma.com/l4575cls

#growth

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SheBuilds on Lovable buildathon applications are open again!!! A buildathon created for women, by women. Will you be there!!?

SheBuilds on Lovable is for every woman who’s had a product idea strike while feeding the kids, between meetings, on a run, during school pickup, and thought, “if only I had the skills, time, or help.”

Good news: The time is *now*. And no coding skills are required!

You will join hundreds of other women, get 48 hours, build your idea, and we give you unlimited credits to make it happen. Together. We will support you. We will lift you up. YOU. WILL. SHIP!

I want women shipping apps that solve real problems they care about. Tools that help your community, your household, your kids, your parents, you business (and yea, make money). 

🔥 Because when women build, world gets better. 

Ladies, let's go build something nobody saw coming 💃 

Important deets:
1. 48 hour buildathon is Dec 15-17
2. applications close in 48 hours, on Nov 26th.

3. APPLY HERE: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gpzsUR-R ⬅️ 
(if you've applied before, apply again!) 
-> you must have a Lovable account to apply

4. we’re selecting ~200 participants across 3 categories: business app, consumer app, and social impact 

5.  prizes: 5K lovable credits, mentorship from me, memories to last a lifetime, and a community that will absolutely change your trajectory

Season 1 was a blast. Season 2 is going to be even better. Don’t miss it!

P.S. Who runs the world???

#lovable #womenintech

Introducing… Lovable Missions - the easiest way to learn how to vibe code an app from scratch! Because if you’ve ever opened Lovable, saw the prompt box, and immediately wondered where the adult supervision went… this is your moment.

-> https://lnkd.in/eVinJDdS

We basically turned app building into GPS for builders: copy prompt, turn left, add a feature, arrive at app greatness.

Just pick your route: 
-> Landing page to catch that sweet sweet traffic before it runs away
-> Kanban board for the type A folks who color code their color coding
-> Lead capture for harvesting them MQLs 
-> AI chat bot that won’t gaslight you
aaaand more!

How it works: Grab an example app, follow the step by step prompts or watch the video, tweak it however you want, and prepare to shock yourself.

Warning: vibe coding is dangerously addicting. Side effects may include zero sleep, unsolicited app demos to friends, and the sudden belief that you possess superpowers.

Go build something. Now. 

P.S. This app is 100% vibe coded on Lovable. #EverythingIsPossible
#lovableway

behold… your 2026 annual planning bingo card.
I'm sorry to say, but... our business problems aren’t unique. neither are the solutions we keep pitching every december (just more AI this year than ever before). 
how many bingos can you hit? 
#corporatelife #tech

taplio