Meltem Kuran

Head of Growth at Deel

Meltem Kuran is Head of Growth at Deel, arguably the fastest growing SaaS business of all time, going from $0 to $300M ARR in three years while staying EBITDA positive.

The Growth Scientist The Growth Architect

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 60%

Execution & Craft 75%

Data & Experimentation 70%

Growth & Distribution 95%

Team & Leadership 55%

User Empathy & Research 50%

Key Themes

hypergrowth SaaS playbook growth fundamentals over tactics SEO and content-led growth paid acquisition foundations website performance basics international growth scaling

Episode Summary

Meltem Kuran reveals the growth playbook behind Deel's extraordinary trajectory from $0 to $300M ARR in three years. She emphasizes getting fundamentals right before scaling — fast websites, SEO foundations, and content before paid acquisition — arguing that most companies skip the basics in their rush to scale.

Leadership Principles

→ Build the skeleton before you put on the makeup — get fundamentals right before scaling tactics
→ You can't run successful paid ads if your website loads in 4+ seconds
→ Go back to basics: does your website exist, is it fast, can search engines find it?

Notable Quotes

"Build the skeleton before you put on the makeup. Do you have a website? Is it fast? Does the search engine know it exists?"
— On the foundational growth steps most companies skip

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