Introducing John Kennelly, Thrive's Head of Growth (and employee #2)!

Building Thrive for the past 773 days has been a journey. I get why founders call it quits—this shit is hard.?

But I’m also convinced that building a (successful) business takes time. The ones who make it far enough to find success do so because they just kept showing up. They didn’t quit when things got hard.?

I’m not the most talented person, to be honest, I couldn’t name something I can do that someone else cannot do better. But I’ll gladly keep showing up.

In May 2024, I was in a weird spot. I had idea-market fit. I knew I wanted to work with underestimated founders. I knew I wanted to build community, but man, did our product suck.?

No matter what I did, I just could not figure it out.

I do my best work in teams, and I was totally solo on this with no product experience (a recipe for disaster).?

I realized I needed to start meeting—and learning from—people who were way smarter than me. But had no idea that one day they’d work with me.?

Last week, I hired John Kennelly full time to be Thrive’s Head of Growth.?

When I met John in May of 2024, it took one call for me to say “holy shit, this guy is the real deal.”?

He’d built big companies, closed high ticket sales, built teams from 0-1. I was impressed.?

Over the next several months, John got more engaged with Thrive. He’ll be the first to tell you the product didn’t work for him. But he was invested in helping me learn and grow (for that I am grateful).?

Anyone I hire, I have a rule that I will meet them in person first. Getting a hiring decision wrong is really expensive, and I don’t have all the answers, but I know that doing this works for me.

When I met John in Dallas for a Thrive event last fall, I was sure—this guy is who he says he is.?

So why do I need a head of growth? Why John?

Well, last fall I decided I would be hiring Giovanna Ventola to completely rebuild our member experience—the product, and everything in between.?

Same vision, new product, same mission, new pricing.?

And she killed it (and is continuing to do so).?

We changed everything. It was necessary. And I changed the way I sold Thrive, too.?

I had a hunch it was going to work. That this was finally “it.”?

And thank god (for once) I was right.?My business is on fire—in a good way. And I need help.?

John is everything that matters to me when I think about the team I’ve always wanted to build. He’s smart. He does the hard things first. He knows how to be candid and he’ll always be the first one to fix what’s broken. He’ll build you up when you need it. He’s the ultimate team player.

And above all else, he’s loyal. To me, this team, and this mission. And in my mind, loyalty is the only currency.?

I wanted to build a team who loved supporting underestimated entrepreneurs. People who really understood what it means to be one. Through real life experience—not from some course they took or article they read on the internet.?

John knows how to find and communicate with underestimated entrepreneurs because he is one. Giovanna knows how to build an experience that works for underestimated entrepreneurs because she is one.?

They were both members, and now they work on this team. That’s what community can do—it’s special.?

Thrive performed better in January than all of 2024 combined. And I could not be more grateful.

But we’ve got bigger (and cooler) stuff to accomplish.?

And thanks to people like Giovanna, and now John—this is the best team I’ve ever been a part of. I am so bullish on what’s to come.?

And we’re just getting started.?

Let’s Thrive.?