🍂 Your September Growthmates Recap — Let's take a fresh start.
Everything we created, shared, and learned this September — all in one place.
Hello everyone 👋 I’m Kate Syuma, and welcome to Growthmates.news — the newsletter where we explore growth stories to inspire your professional and personal growth. Join the community of 7,000+ Product, Design, and Growth people from companies like Amplitude, Intercom, Miro, Atlassian, Grammarly, Framer, and more.
Summer flew by 🍃 and suddenly we’re here — the start of fall. For me, September felt like a real kick-off month after the slower summer pace: conferences, trips, new collaborations, and lots of prep for the next quarter.
It’s been a busy but inspiring transition into the new season. And just in case you missed something from this energetic start of the fall quarter — here’s everything in one place 👇
🚀 Growthmates Recap: Top of September
If you’re reading this newsletter, thank you — it really means a lot. I know how noisy and fast-moving things can feel in our industry, and the last thing I want is to add to the overwhelm. My hope is that this space feels like a pause, a small dose of inspiration you actually look forward to.
After the slower rhythm of summer, this month felt like a true kickoff into the new season. Between conferences in Berlin and Amsterdam, recording fresh podcast episodes, starting work with two new clients, and preparing for the next course cohort — September was both intense and energizing.
On the personal side, I mixed in some travel across Europe, live music (hello, Coldplay), and time with friends and family — small things that gave me a lot of creative fuel. There’s way more than one paragraph can capture, but here are the highlights I’ve wrapped up for you 👇
Before we dive in… Meet Growthmates Partners 🚀
I created the Growthmates Bundle to share not just ideas — but the tools I trust and use in my own work. Each one is a handpicked #1 tool for a key product area, and I’m proud to have them supporting this newsletter 🖤
Best way to support Growthmates? Explore these fantastic tools below 👇
Framer — the fastest way to design and publish stunning websites (Growthmates.club is built on it).
Mobbin — the largest UX & UI reference library for deep product inspiration.
Beacon AI — the smartest AI agent for product and design teams to identify and fix UX issues that block activation, retention, and conversion.
Now, let’s dive into today’s recap 👇
💫 Highlights of last month:
Joining Hatch Conference in Berlin — meeting friends, ex-colleagues, and rediscovering what true wealth feels like. This was my second time at Hatch in Berlin, and it reminded me why community matters so much. Huge thanks to
for hosting me 💜TGS Conference 2025 — I had the joy of facilitating two roundtables, and the depth of discussion (from growth pains to fresh GTM experiments) reminded me how much we all need these no-BS spaces.
Recorded NEW episodes for Growthmates podcast with fantastic people — Nad Chishtie (Lovable) and my creative friend Ioana Teleanu — can’t wait to share them all 🔥
📬 Featured Articles & Resources:
Growth Team of One: How to Wear Multiple Hats Without Losing Your Mind ⚡️— Insights from my 6-year Miro journey and principles to stay “generalist” in the uncertain world.
PLG vs AI: What’s next for Product-Led Growth? — Predictions from top growth leaders on how AI is reshaping growth work.
Where Is My Time?! Why We Feel There’s Never Enough ⏳ — New edition of “The Creator Path”: rethinking our relationship with time.
📣 Would you like to share your product story or co-create valuable content together? I’m opening a calendar and planning sponsored engagements 👉 Let’s talk
🖤 Personal stories on Creator & Founder Path:
One personal dream came true 💫 I’ve been to a Coldplay concert, together with 90,000+ more people!!!
Travelled across 5 countries (Serbia 🇷🇸, Montenegro 🇲🇪 , England 🏴, Scotland 🏴, Germany 🇩🇪). Meeting family and friends gave me a lot of fresh energy.
Reflected on my solopreneurship and shared this publicly here (didn’t expect 700+ people would resonate to this so much 💜)
A snapshot of September.
🚀 Featured LinkedIn posts & Industry buzz:
Running a One-Person Business in Amsterdam — behind the scenes with tools that I’m using for building Growthmates, advising startups, and running a PLG course while keeping deep work at the core;
Will PLG Survive AI? — 7 predictions from top growth minds (
, , , and more) on how AI is powering the next chapter of product-led growth;Canva’s Smarter Upgrade UX — a small design shift that transforms how users perceive value, trust, and timing in upsell flows;
Teaching 60+ People User-Centric Growth — reflections on running the third Maven cohort, what worked best, and why smaller groups create deeper learning;
99% of AI Products Will Fail — not because of tech, but because they ignore behavioral design principles that drive adoption and trust;
Claude and Ethical AI Design — why Anthropic’s Claude feels more like a human collaborator than a cold tool, and what this means for the future of trust in AI;
The 5 UX Mistakes Making AI Forgettable — lessons from 50+ AI products and how to design experiences that feel human, collaborative, and memorable.
📣 Growthmates reading radar — check this out:
SheBuilds by Lovable — A new buildathon for women, by women. 48 hours of vibe coding, mentorship, and a chance to tackle underrepresentation in founder roles head-on by
- sharp take on the hype vs. reality of 2025’s “hottest job”.
How to Land a $300K+ AI Product Manager Job in 2025 (Complete Roadmap) —
full roadmap, even if you’re non-technical.The Startup AI Tech Stack — Deep dive into the tools that actually matter for founders in 2025 by
.Framer raises $100M 🚀 — Framer just announced a massive funding round to double down on becoming the standard for professional websites.
🗓️ What’s coming next:
⚡️ Free Lightning lesson from me and
— October 2.Most products treat upgrade prompts like interruptions instead of value moments. I analyzed 30+ top SaaS and AI products to find what actually converts trial users to paying customers.
👉 Reserve your FREE spot →🎙️ Product Drive Conference — October 8.
I’m joining Product Drive Conf by Userpilot to talk about why habits don’t come from tooltips or checklists — but from real experiences.
👉 Reserve your spot →⚡️ Spotlight conference by Semrush — October 29.
Joining to facilitate a roundtable with a topic “How to Foster AI Activation & Adoption”.
👉 Join me in Amsterdam 🇳🇱🚨 User-centric Growth Course — filling up for January.
I created a bit more space for myself to make this cohort even better — I’m enhancing the course with new materials, diving deeper into AI ✕ Behavioral Psychology to help you grow products in the AI era while staying user-centric.
👉 Join with 100$ off → (promo “growthmates” for dear readers)Started working with 2 new clients 💫 — September also brought two new amazing clients on board.
🎙️ P.S. A little secret — a new season of Growthmates podcast is just around the corner… stay tuned.
💬 Quote of the month:
“Busy is a decision. You don’t find the time to make things, you MAKE the time to do things.”
Debbie Millman (Writer, Radio host) from “In the company of women”.
This is all for today, dear readers. If you find this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend or another creative builder 💜 It would give huge support for me to continue creating this!
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Grab a pumplatter and enjoy the last day of this September 🍁
Kate Syuma
Love this Kate. And again - was incredible to walk and talk! You are the inspiration