Silos are sinking your growth: It’s time for pods
Out with the silos, in with cross-functional Growth Pods.
Everywhere I look right now, marketing teams are getting leaner. But here’s the biggest mistake I’m seeing:
They’re still keeping the same broken silos.
It’s like 2015 all over again:
👋 Marketing over here…
👉 Product over there…
🫵 And Sales chasing both!
(The funnel is a myth).
The ones winning in 2025 aren’t just leaning on AI-powered tools with smaller teams.
They’re structuring better around what actually moves buyers.
If your GTM team is still built around old silos…
You’re not just shipping slower.
You’re invisible to your ideal customers.
Enter, Growth pods
Growth Pods are replacing bloated org charts with focused, cross-functional teams built around one thing:
Real buyer outcomes.
Growth Pods are tight teams that own the full journey:
🟣 Acquisition → 🟡 Activation → 🟢 Expansion
Inside a Growth Pod
Growth marketer – connects dots, keeps momentum, drives insight
Product/UX rep – turns customer problems into seamless product experiences
Sales/Solutions lead – surfaces voice of customer and expands based on value
Customer insights/ops hybrid – shares the newest customer feedback, drives retention plays
Their mission?
Own one major user milestone — from acquisition to expansion — without waiting for handoffs.
How to start small (today)
Pick one pod: Start with Activation if you already have users.
Assign fractional owners: Even 1-2 people moonlighting across roles is enough to pilot it.
Set one shared goal: e.g., "Increase % of users hitting first value within 7 days."
Run weekly retros: Check progress, unblock issues, and iterate fast.
Small pods → Tighter focus → Faster learning → Faster growth.
And with AI, your output is 10X’ed.
Your team structure affects how your product is shaped.
Tl;dr:
Silos kill speed. Pods fuel speed.
Align teams to buyer outcomes, not job titles.
Launch small. Learn fast. Scale impact.
If you want your GTM to evolve with the market, your team structure has to evolve too.
See you next week where I’ll share 5 AI-powered growth experiments every pod should be doing before 2026!