About Me

👋 Hey, I’m Étienne.

I work as a Fractional Head of Growth at Sliced. I help founders–and founding teams–find, refine, or expand their product/market fits.

I’m a 3-time startup founder (Highlights, Flagback, and HireVoice), a 5-time entrepreneur, and a customer research expert. I’m passionate about Growth, Lean, Data, and Customer Research, and I specialize in B2B.

In 2014, I published Lean B2B: Build Products Businesses Want (now in its second edition). The Lean B2B Methodology has helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide build successful businesses. The Lean B2B Masterclass expands on the content of the book.

In recent years, I followed up Lean B2B with three more books: Solving Product, Find Your Market, and The SaaS Email Marketing Playbook.

My presentation 26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I’d Known at 20 has been read by over 32 million people.


What I Looked Like a Few Years Back.

Étienne Garbugli Photo
Étienne Garbugli Photo
Étienne Garbugli Photo
Étienne Garbugli Photo

You can download high-res versions of any of the photos by clicking on them.

All photo credits: Simon Vosgueritchian

Random Facts.

I grew up near Montreal, Canada, and studied Communications and Marketing. I built my first website in 1998 (a GeoCities site for bass tablature). I founded five businesses, starting with a hockey league that still runs today. I have over 18 years of experience in UX with highlights working as lead on a $40M flight reservation system at Aeroplan and defining Concordia University’s first-ever Intranet. I lived in Beijing, Hong Kong, Tbilisi, etc. I also lived on the road (check out my travel map here). Today, I live in Padova, Italy. Here’s why.

12 Things About Me. Most of Them Being True.

  1. Everything I own fits in a locker. But that’s becoming less and less true.
  2. I learned Chinese for the joy of it. It got me from Hong Kong to the Kyrgyz border (Far West China). Now, I’m trying to master Italian.
  3. I plan to do a round-the-world trip someday I did a round-the-world trip in 2017.
  4. I actually like Keynote and PowerPoint. Honestly.
  5. I don’t own a car—haven’t needed one yet, but that could change.
  6. I know way too much about hockey. I miss the game living in Italy.
  7. My goal in life is to make a dent in the universe.
  8. I’ve had three knee surgeries (same knee) in the span of 5 years.
  9. I created a card game. I’m proud of the results.
  10. In a previous life, I played and composed music for movies. I was good at it.
  11. I enjoy meeting new people. I’m a good networker.
  12. I created “Garbugli’s Law”. It even got Mike Godwin‏’s approval.