The 'Slugging Average' Innovation Model
by Chris Hutchins • Creator & Host at All the Hacks
Former Head of New Product Strategy at Wealthfront, GV (Google Ventures) investor, and serial entrepreneur. He successfully pivoted from a product leadership role to building one of the top business podcasts in the world.
🎙️ Episode Context
Chris Hutchins joins Lenny to deconstruct the art of internal product innovation and the science of launching a successful content product. Drawing from his time at Wealthfront working on 'Self-Driving Money' and his rapid ascent in podcasting, Chris shares frameworks for gaining stakeholder buy-in, taking high-risk product bets, and optimizing creative workflows. The conversation bridges the gap between traditional product management and the creator economy, offering tactical advice on execution, growth, and audience building.
Problem It Solves
Teams playing it safe with incremental improvements instead of taking risks that could lead to exponential growth.
Framework Overview
A strategic framework borrowed from Andy Rachleff (Wealthfront/Benchmark) that prioritizes the magnitude of success over the frequency of success. It encourages teams to pursue projects that, if successful, would make the current business look insignificant.
🧠 Framework Structure
**Define the 10x Goal:** The objectiv...
**Accept Low Hit Rates:** Explicitly ...
**Distinguish from Iteration:** Clear...
**Focus on Product-Market Fit (PMF) a...
When to Use
During annual planning or strategy offsites when the company needs to find new S-curves of growth.
Common Mistakes
Judging high-risk bets by the same efficiency metrics (batting average) used for core product optimizations.
Real World Example
Wealthfront's 'Autopilot' feature was a swing to automate the user's entire financial life. While it didn't become the primary acquisition channel (top of funnel), it drastically increased retention and savings rates for existing users.
I don't care if you hit the ball every time. If one in 10 times you hit a home run, that's better than someone who hits it every three out of 10 times but gets out a lot.
— Chris Hutchins