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The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)

Overview

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The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/12/18
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

2025/12/18
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Elena Verna is the head of growth at Lovable, the leading AI-powered app builder that hit $200 million in annual recurring revenue in under a year with just 100 employees. In this record fourth appearance on the podcast, Elena shares how the traditional gr...

Highlights

In this episode, Elena Verna returns to discuss how the explosive growth of AI-native companies like Lovable is rewriting the rules of traditional growth strategy. With unprecedented scalability and minimal overhead, these organizations are thriving not through incremental optimization, but by embracing constant innovation and cultural resonance in ways that challenge long-standing playbooks.
11:38
A man used Lovable to create a marriage proposal that unlocked deep creative potential.
12:17
Lovable doesn't optimize for revenue but believes more users will drive revenue as an outcome.
26:09
Shipping velocity is the top value for Lovable's development team
33:27
Influencer marketing is 10 times more effective than paid social due to visual storytelling.
38:09
Hire people who see work as a hobby, not just professionals from big companies
41:30
We pay people during work trials to see how they perform in real conditions.
45:50
Vibe coding has dramatically accelerated our work velocity and opened new possibilities in product development.
49:46
Community is a core growth lever, with hundreds of thousands in Discord and an ambassador program
51:47
Lovable gives away credits at events and hackathons as a growth strategy
59:11
The free-giving model isn't VC-subsidized; companies are making their own money.
1:00:25
Every AI company must re-find product-market fit every three months.
1:11:31
The wrong fit in an AI company can lead to quick burnout.
1:14:29
Saying no to work when family needs come first is essential for sustainable success
1:18:07
Vibe coding helps break down ideas and align with engineering teams
1:22:35
Recent podcast videos featuring female AI builders are outperforming well-known figures.

Chapters

Introduction to Elena Verna
00:00
The scale and growth of Lovable
05:19
Confidence in Lovable as a business
08:55
Retention at Lovable
12:17
Lovable’s unique growth levers
15:02
The role of marketing in Lovable’s success
28:13
Launching new features
38:09
Hiring and team dynamics
40:59
The value of vibe coding
43:17
The importance of community
49:46
Giving away your product for free
51:47
Tripling their company size
56:26
Product-market-fit challenges
1:00:23
Advice for joining AI companies
1:08:50
Work-life balance
1:12:00
What it’s like to work at Lovable
1:15:20
Women in tech
1:19:45
Final thoughts and lightning round
1:25:29

Transcript

Lenny Rachitsky: You're a head of growth at Lovable, on track to be the fastest or one of the fastest growing companies in history. Elena Verna: We're over 200 million in ARR at this point. We're 100 people large. The pace here is insane. Lenny Rachitsky...