Podcast Summary: 20VC with Omer Shai, CMO @ Wix

Episode Title: 20Growth: How Wix Built a $100M Marketing Machine | Why LTV is BS and Why Time Return On Investment is the Most Important Metric | How to 10x Your Growth
Podcast: The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Host: Harry Stebbings
Guest: Omer Shai, CMO @ Wix
Date: January 31, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into marketing leadership and growth strategy with Omer Shai, the long-time CMO of Wix. Omer shares candid insights on building Wix’s $100M+ marketing machine, the myths of LTV, why Time Return on Investment (TROI) is his north star, the real interplay between brand and acquisition, and how he navigates risk and channel selection. Throughout, Omer mixes anecdotes from Wix and Base 44, operational philosophy, and his brutally honest take on what actually drives scale.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Super Bowl as Growth Engine (05:18 – 12:26)

• News: Wix and Base 44 will each have a Super Bowl ad this year, with Base 44 potentially being the youngest company ever to air an ad during the game.
  • Omer on rationale:

    “The way that I'm thinking on brand activities is that it's not an empty okay, it's not only brand. And when I'm doing acquisition, I'm not doing just acquisition marketing… The beauty about Super Bowl... is to be part of that... To trust the product, to trust what our users are doing and to be in the super bowl is a message.” (07:00)

• ROI Reality: You see acquisition “spikes,” but measurement should be multi-layered. True ROI comes from both direct user acquisition and the sustained brand lift.

Brand vs. Performance—The False Dichotomy (08:42 – 14:09)

• Balanced Perspective: Omer rejects viewing brand and performance (“acquisition”) as separate. Every marketing initiative should aim for measurable outcomes.
• Why LTV Is “BS”:

  “I never used lifetime value… I hate it so much because how do you know what is the lifetime value? How many years? …I’m using a different term. I’m using a TROI. It’s time to return on investment.” (13:48, 14:26)

• TROI Explained: Focus tightly on how soon investment is returned—not some hypothetical long-term value.

In-Depth: What’s TROI and Why It’s Better (14:26 – 19:05)

• Short-Term Cohorts & Measurement:
  • Omer uses 1-day, 7-day, 14-day, and 28-day cohorts to see quickly what’s working.
  • “For me to move as fast as I can to impact the result of the company and lifetime value—it’s much slower than metrics that currently I have.” (14:26)
• Budget Philosophy:
  • If a traffic source or blended mix hits TROI in, say, 11 months, he’ll keep scaling up:

    “If I’m keeping the TROI on 11 months, I have unlimited budget.” (17:11)

  • “It depends how comfortable you are in the product and your risk in channels.” (17:57)

The Power of Channel Diversification (19:05 – 24:09)

• Don’t Bet on One Channel:

  “When you are doing one thing and you are doing it tremendously well, there’s only one thing that you can be successful in. When you are doing 10 things, you can be amazingly well in three things… in the math that I know, three is bigger than one.” (21:35)

• Channel Management: Expand into many channels to both grow and de-risk.
• Conversion Rate Myth:

  “Think how stupid it is to go after conversion rate... you don’t really care about the overall conversion of the company. You care about the conversion rate on specific users that came yesterday…” (22:53)

How to Know When to Kill or Double Down on a Channel (26:24 – 27:37)

• Brutal Iteration:

  “It’s horrible to work with me… when we have a success, I saw the success before the team…when we don’t have a success, I’m asking the team... are we investing enough, do we need to cut, or do we need to invest more?” (26:38)

• Testing & Data-Driven: Channels are kept or cut based on rigorously analyzed incrementality.

Content, Brand, and the AI Era (27:37 – 34:48)

• Content ROI: Omer admits some content channels take longer; he only keeps investing if eventual numbers “pop up.”
• SEO & AI Search:
  • Despite predictions of SEO’s demise, Omer has increased investment in SEO and new “AI search” paradigms targeting LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini):

    “Not down, actually up…you need to be smarter in the way that you are doing it… I need to invest more, not less.” (30:12)

• Best Channel Today: Direct (“brand—people who are coming to Wix because they know we have amazing products”) (32:06)

What’s Broken, What Never Worked, and What’s Next (32:33 – 34:40)

• Flops: TikTok hasn’t delivered for Wix yet; sports endorsements in some forms were disappointments (“TikTok didn’t work for me yet…” – 32:33)
• Biggest Win: Brand, hands down.
• Channel Organization: People typically specialize by function/channel, but AI tools make cross-channel messaging easier.

Talent, Hiring & The Future CMO/Growth Leader (35:10 – 37:23)

• What Omer Looks For:

  “We need to go back to the root of bringing people with zero knowledge about marketing. We need people with passion to AI… Because we can teach them marketing. We cannot teach them passion. We cannot teach them to be AI first.” (35:42)

Storytelling: Product at the Center (37:23 – 41:15)

• Common Mistake:

  “They’re afraid to put the product in the center… eventually people are coming to you to use the product that our team created for you to enjoy and eventually to fulfill something that you imagine. So put the product in the central.” (37:32)

• On “Selling the Why”: Omer distinguishes—Apple is unique and can sell dreams. Most companies should be clear and practical (“We are not Apple… all the others need to play a different gamble.” – 38:49, 41:15)

Competition, Market Caps & Staying Focused (44:09 – 46:19)

• Does Competition or Valuation Rattle Him?

  “I really don’t care. I care only about one thing. I just would like to do my best job and to see growth. I’m a freak about growth… I don’t care about any of competitors.” (44:30)

Social/Personal Brand: Omer’s Weak Spot (45:26 – 47:47)

• Self-Reflection: Wishes he and key team members did better with personal/social brand, admires competitors’ execution here, especially Anton at Lovable (“He’s doing amazing job... I am better in watching numbers. I’m better in telling stories in commercials…horrible in my personal brand.” – 45:26)

The Age of AI: Growth & Execution (48:12 – 51:36)

• Massive Acceleration:

  “From ideation to execution to A/B tests to go back to ideation, we are talking almost like days…this is the reason that the people that I think are going to be major key players… are going to be AI-first people.” (48:12)

• Advice for Marketers: “Stop thinking about your title and start thinking about thinking different.” (50:42)
• On Job Security Amid AI: Only the AI-first, rapid executors will win out.

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On wasting money:

  “I paid half a million dollar for the voiceover. It was fucking stupid idea that I had.” (53:26)

• On measurement and risk:

  “If I’m keeping the TROI on 11 months, I have unlimited budget.” (17:11)

• On diversification:

  “When you are doing 10 things, you can be amazingly well in three things… in the math that I know, three is bigger than one.” (21:35)

• On TikTok’s challenge:

  “TikTok didn’t work for me yet...I believe that I need to solve it. I know that I will eventually and I need to crack it down.” (32:33)

• On product-led storytelling:

  “Put the product in the central.” (37:32)

• On AI’s impact:

  “From ideation to execution to A/B tests to go back to ideation, we are talking almost like days.” (48:12)

Final Reflections & Omer’s Advice

• Biggest Parenting Advice:

  “If you can be up because of numbers or because you would like to watch sports at 3am, it’s easy for you to be up at 3am for your kids when you need to feed them… it created an amazing bonding.” (55:37)

• What Omer Would Tell His Past Self (18 years ago):

  “You are going to win because you think differently.” (57:18)

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [05:18] – Super Bowl Ads Decision & Rationale
• [07:00] – Brand vs Acquisition Philosophy
• [13:48] – Why Omer Rejects LTV for TROI
• [17:11] – TROI, Risk, Unlimited Budget
• [21:35] – Channel Diversification Logic
• [26:38] – How and When to Cut Channels
• [30:12] – Rise of SEO and AI Search Focus
• [32:33] – Channels that Didn’t Work (TikTok, Sports)
• [35:42] – Hiring for Passion and AI-First Mindset
• [37:32] – Product-Centric Storytelling
• [44:30] – On Competition and Valuation
• [48:12] – How AI Accelerates Execution
• [53:26] – The $500k Voiceover Blunder
• [57:18] – Omer’s Advice to His Younger Self

Takeaways for Listeners

• Omer Shai’s growth leadership is rooted in data rigor, relentless TROI focus, and a willingness to iterate and double down on what works—even if that’s not what’s trendy.
• Brand and acquisition are intertwined, and mature marketers must evaluate channels by both incremental lift and risk mitigation.
• AI is radically accelerating marketing pace—if you’re not AI-first, you’re falling behind.
• Lastly: humility, continuous improvement, and putting your product front-and-center remain timeless, no matter how big the budget or how fast the tech evolves.