Introduction
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Kyndryl Institute · Growth Session
Session 1 of several · 6 week sprint
Evolving
The Kyndryl
Institute.
Today is about alignment, not solving everything. We agree on the diagnosis, hear from the room, and leave with the no regrets actions that start immediately.
60'
This session
10,000
Subscriber Target
May / June 2026
Campaign Launch
Press → to begin
Today

What we're doing and in what order

We are not designing the full campaign today. We are agreeing on the direction, getting everyone's view on what's in the way, and leaving with things we can start on immediately, regardless of what else gets decided.
01
0:00, 0:10
Where we're trying to get to
The Institute's purpose and why the 10,000 target matters beyond the number.
Context
02
0:10, 0:22
Where things stand right now
An honest look at content, conversion, data visibility, and platforms. Does the room agree?
Input
03
0:22, 0:30
Who's made this work, and how
Two examples of organisations that built real audiences. What they did and what we can take from it.
Context
04
0:30, 0:38
How we'd approach it
The full inbound funnel, Attract, Educate, Convert, and how it fits together.
Discussion
05
0:38, 0:58
What's in the way, and what's going for us
Open to the room. Obstacles and opportunities. Everyone gets a say.
Open · 20 min
06
0:58, 1:00
What we do next
Three priorities. A plan. We'll send everything around and set up the next session.
Close
The Institute

The Kyndryl Institute.

The Kyndryl Institute is where C suite technology leaders come to think clearly about the decisions that actually matter.
The audience
CIOs. CTOs. The people who decide.
Senior technology leaders at large enterprises. Busy, sceptical, and highly attuned to content that wastes their time. If it earns their attention, it earns their trust.
The content
Practitioner analysis. Not marketing.
Rita McGrath. Klon Kitchen. Original research. The Institute publishes material that competes with HBR and McKinsey Quarterly on substance, and currently reaches a fraction of that potential audience.
The prize
10,000 readers. Then influence at scale.
When C suite leaders read the Institute before making decisions, the brand value of Kyndryl changes. 10,000 is the milestone. Trust at scale is the real goal.
The number · 5 minutes

The target is 10,000 new subscribers.

10k
New verified C suite subscribers to the Kyndryl Institute. Starting in June. Our shared goal for 2026.
Months available (June, December 2026)
7 months
New subscribers needed per month
~1,430
Per week to stay on track
~330
The 6 week sprint is not about getting to 10,000 immediately. It is about putting the right infrastructure in place, tracking, conversion path, campaign architecture, so that every pound of spend has a clear line to a subscriber.
Honest assessment · 12 minutes

Four observations. Agree or challenge.

Content
Distribution is the problem, not the content
This is a distribution question, not an editorial one. The Institute produces material that belongs in front of C suite technology leaders. The question is how we get those people to it, and what convinces them it's worth their time.
Agreed
Challenge
Conversion
The subscription form loses most of the people who try to use it
A six-field form without pre population asks CIOs to do work they will not do. LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms pre fill from profile data. One tap. The difference between 2% and 18% conversion for senior audiences.
Agreed
Challenge
Data
There is no tracking. We are spending without knowing what converts.
No connected view from ad impression to subscription. We don't know which channels, creatives, or audiences are driving subscribers, or failing to. Without this, every budget decision is a guess. Fixing it is a no regrets action regardless of everything else.
Agreed
Challenge
Platforms
Is LinkedIn the right channel, and are we using it correctly?
LinkedIn is the primary channel for this audience, but are we using it in the right way? And beyond LinkedIn, are there platforms or channels we should be investing in, shifting from, or testing? This is the question we need to pressure-test together.
Agreed
Challenge
Overall direction
Agreed, let's proceed
Agreed with caveats
Need more discussion
Case study 01
Morning Brew
Business news, rewritten for the people who were ignoring it
4M+
Subscribers · 0 to $75M in 6 years · built on format not budget
Subscriber growth 2015 to 2021
4M 2M 0 2015 2018 2021 $75M acq.
What they built it on
Pillar 01
Consistent format, every day
Same structure, same time, every morning. Readers built a habit before they built loyalty. Consistency creates trust before content does.
Pillar 02
Referral as the growth engine
Subscribers who referred friends unlocked rewards. Every reader became a distributor. 0 to 100k before a single paid ad.
Pillar 03
Free, frictionless, fast to subscribe
No paywall. No long forms. The subscription experience was as well designed as the content itself.
The takeaway
The subscription experience matters as much as the content. Format and delivery rhythm matter as much as editorial quality. Every barrier between interest and subscription costs you subscribers.
Case study 02
a16z
How a venture firm became the most-read publication in technology
500k+
Monthly readers · built without paid acquisition · zero boosting
Who reads a16z. Reader audience breakdown.
500k READERS / MO Founders (35%) VCs & Investors (25%) Tech Executives (20%) Product Leaders (12%) Other (8%)
What they built it on
Pillar 01
Thought leadership as a business function
Every partner publishes. Essays, podcasts, events. The brand is built through intellectual contribution, not through brand spend.
Pillar 02
One channel. Everything routes through it.
Events, research, podcasts, all amplified through the same newsletter and social channels. One piece of content, multiple touchpoints.
Pillar 03
Useful first. Paid acquisition never.
500,000 readers who arrived because the content helped them do their jobs. No boosting. Trust built through genuine utility.
The takeaway
The Institute has the advisors, the research, and the credibility. When the content is genuinely useful, paid acquisition works harder because the brand already has authority.
How we would approach it · 8 minutes

Attract. Educate. Convert.

You cannot do everything in one push. So we break the effort into three stages, each with a single purpose. Stack them together and they build sustained momentum toward a subscriber.
Attract
Get the Institute in front of C suite audiences. No conversion. No ask. Just the right content in front of the right people.
One job: be seen by the right people. No selling. No asks.
→
Educate
Deliver real Institute content to people who already know who you are. Articles, research, insights. Show them the depth. Still no ask.
One job: deliver value so they want more. Nothing yet.
→
Convert
This is the only stage that asks for anything. And we make it as easy as possible. LinkedIn pre fills the form. One tap. Done.
One job: make subscribing easy. This is the only ask in the entire funnel.
The next session after this one goes into the specifics, channels, formats, timing, budget allocation. Today we are agreeing on the architecture.
Open · 20 minutes

What's in the way. What's working.

Obstacles
What is in the way? What could stop this working?
Opportunities
What is working in our favour? What could we amplify?
Time remaining
20:00
✦ Find the themes
Once everything is captured, surface the key patterns across both columns.
Six-week priorities

Three things to agree on before we finish.

The sprint has three priorities baked in, website, paid social, and tracking. Before we close, let's hear from the room on each one. What does the group think?
Website
What has to change on the website before we drive traffic to it?
Traffic is coming, from paid social, from outbound, from search. What does the site need to do for that traffic not to be wasted?
Paid social
How do we restructure social spend so it drives subscribers, not just reach?
Right now the spend is on boosting. What would it look like to restructure it around the Attract / Educate / Convert funnel?
Accountability
Who is accountable for the subscriber number?
The sprint only works if someone is accountable for the number. Who's looking at it every week? Who calls it out if we're off track?
Website · discussion

The website. What needs to change.

The subscription form
Currently too long, no pre population. When traffic lands, what does it meet? A six-field form is a six-point drop in conversion. What needs to change here before the campaign goes live?
The value proposition
What does a C suite visitor understand about what they'll get if they subscribe? Is it clear above the fold? Does it give them a reason to act now rather than later?
Trust signals
Member count. Institutional logos. Advisory board names. What evidence is on the page that this is worth a senior executive's time and email address?
Content preview
Can a visitor see enough of what members get to make a decision? Is there a preview of the actual content, not a description of it, that creates genuine desire to subscribe?
Agreed changes, capture here
These go into the sprint plan. Lars reviews after the session. The website needs to be ready before traffic scales, not while it's scaling.
That's session one
Aligned.
Moving forward.
We know where we're going. We know what's in the way. Now we make it happen, together, with a plan everyone's seen and bought into.
01
We'll pull together a full campaign plan, channel by channel, week by week, and send it around before the next session so everyone can review and push back.
02
The first actions start in the next two weeks. Website changes, tracking setup, and paid social restructure. Things that unblock everything else.
03
We'll set up a series of short project calls to keep the team looped, make sure nothing falls through the gaps, and keep the plan moving at pace.
04
The goal is simple: things live and tracking by the end of June. The sprint is about getting there with everyone aligned and project management tight.
Kyndryl Institute · Growth Sprint Session 1 · Two Point Technologies · 2026
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