How to Implement Product-Led Growth

Elena Verna’s has written and recorded >500 hours of content on PLG Growth in B2B — here is EVERYTHING you need to know, save, and implement in 10 bullets: 𝟭𝟬-𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝟮𝗕/𝗣𝗟𝗚 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 1. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 “𝗮𝗵𝗮” 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. Every growth model starts by proving value fast through a self-serve flow that walks the user straight to the core outcome, minimizing time-to-value and instrumentation gaps. 2. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀. Replace linear acquisition funnels with compounding growth loops where each cycle of usage creates new input (content, invites, referrals or data) that feeds the next cycle and lowers marginal CAC. 3. 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲. Identify your highest-retention ICP(s), double-down on them, and expand only to “adjacent users” once growth in the core segment saturates; one size never fits all. 4. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 → 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 → 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲. Don’t gate value too early; wait until the product habit is forming, then intersect upgrade triggers (usage limits, collaboration, security, etc.) with clear pay-offs to convert. 5. 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀. Iterate on paywalls, tiers, and thresholds the same way you iterate on product—continuously, with clear hypotheses and measurable upgrade metrics. 6. 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗟𝗚 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁. Use product-qualified leads (PQLs) to hand warm, usage-validated accounts to Sales; PLG and SLG complement each other rather than compete, especially in enterprise. 7. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀.Drive email, in-app and human touchpoints off real usage—not calendar dates—to accelerate activation, expansion and resurrection. 8. 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 ~𝟭𝟴 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. Expect channels to plateau; dedicate ~20-25 % of resources to testing new growth loops long before the current ones top out. 9. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝘀. Small squads of product, design, eng, data and marketing own a single North-Star metric and operate with rapid experiment cycles—no hand-offs, no silos. 10. 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 & 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. “Growth at what cost?” is Elena’s constant refrain—CAC payback and cohort retention trump vanity metrics, and sustainable, defensible growth beats short-lived spikes.

Jira Product Discovery scaled from 0 to 14,000 paying customers in 4 years using PLG. Here's the playbook: Exponential growth is rare. Especially as a new product in a big company. Yet JPD? • 8 months ago → 8,000 customers • 4 months ago → 10,000 customers • Today → 14,000 customers They're more than doubling every year. Here's how they mastered Product-Led Growth: — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟭: 𝗚𝗢-𝗧𝗢-𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗚𝗬 JPD does massive cross-selling to Atlassian’s existing customer base. They don't have a separate sales team; they leverage existing Jira sales reps. But they don't stop there. They have a full-fledged marketing engine that includes demand generation, performance marketing, SEO, and events. — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟮: 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘-𝗧𝗢-𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 JPD’s PLG model comes with a twist. They offer free access but with a strategic limitation: → Teams under 3 members (FREE) → Teams with more than 3 members ( Paid with a free trial) → Only key contributors (PMs, designers, stakeholders) are charged This ensures that teams get hooked before they hit the paywall. — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟯: 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 JPD has three key activation paths, each tailored to different types of users: 1. Startup teams Start with basic roadmapping → Scale usage as they grow 2. Mid-market teams One PM adopts JPD → Product Ops teams onboard → Becomes core to their workflow 3. Enterprise organizations Larger teams adopt JPD strategically for complex product discovery They drive activation across all with: → Pre-built templates (Lower friction & guide users toward success) → Collaboration tools (Teams can share their work seamlessly) → Gradual feature expansion (Helps users get deeper into the product over time) — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟰: 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 JPD’s customer satisfaction score is in the 80s and that's the sign of strong retention. Here’s why users keep coming back: 1. Solving real pain points → PM teams rely on it for critical workflows 2. User education → Teaching teams how to maximize JPD’s value 3. Strong onboarding experience → A “wow” moment early on — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟱: 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 JPD follows Atlassian’s proven playbook for monetization: • Freemium: With premium plans starting at just $25 • Self-serve: Users can sign up and start using JPD immediately • Built-in audience: JPD is an extension of Jira, making it a frictionless upsell For enterprise customers, they do have a sales team, ensuring they can land larger deals. — 𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝟲: 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 JPD was built for PMs, but now they’re expanding: → Publishing product roadmaps Encouraging adoption across departments → Expanding beyond PMs Attracting designers, engineers, and other teams → Data-driven growth Using an “expansion coefficient” to predict how much they can scale inside a company — Get all the details - including screen-by-screen walkthroughs - in my deep dive: https://lnkd.in/ev98yG7u

Product-Led Companies Keep Making This Mistake When They Try to Scale A lot of PLG companies hit the same wall. - Product-led growth gets them their first wave of users. - Activation looks strong. - NRR is promising. But when it’s time to scale revenue? The instinct is almost always the same: “Let’s add a sales team.” And that’s where things start to break. The Common Mistake? Instead of layering in sales to support PLG, many companies flip to a fully sales-led approach. What happens next? - Sales gets frustrated because they’re chasing users who aren’t actually ready to buy. - CAC skyrockets because they’re treating PLG like an outbound motion. - Product engagement drops because sales is pushing deals that aren’t truly product-qualified. In trying to grow, they abandon the engine that got them there. The Better Approach: PLG + Sales Together The best PLG companies don’t go fully sales-led. They build a Product-Led Sales (PLS) motion that works with their self-serve funnel, not against it. Here’s what that looks like: 1. Sales fuels expansion, not just acquisition. Instead of forcing outbound, sales teams engage power users and convert them into enterprise deals. 2. Product usage triggers the sales conversation. Instead of guessing, sales teams focus only on PQLs (Product-Qualified Leads)—users who show clear buying intent. 4. Freemium isn’t just a lead gen tool—it’s part of the revenue engine. Let users onboard themselves at scale, but have sales step in to land and expand high-value customers. The Bottom Line PLG without sales is a volume game. Sales without PLG is a CAC nightmare. But PLG + sales? That’s a revenue engine. If you’ve scaled a PLG motion, how did you balance self-serve and sales? Let’s compare notes.

The most overlooked startup growth strategy isn't the latest AI ads platform or improved funnel optimization. It's actually hiding in plain sight: how your product naturally spreads from one user to another. Teams that understand their product's inherent distribution mechanics outperform those relying solely on paid acquisition. This is less about forcing virality, and more about recognizing your product's natural sharing dynamics: - For communication tools, it's inviting collaborators - For design software, it's exporting and presenting work - For consumer apps, it's sharing results or achievements - For B2B platforms, it's onboarding team members At Gamma, we discovered our growth accelerator was reducing friction in how users share their presentations. And while that lever was specific to our product, the principle still applies universally: Identify where your product naturally creates opportunities for exposure, then systematically optimize that pathway. To this end, there are two questions worth asking: 1. When users get value from your product, how do others naturally see that value? 2. What's preventing that moment of visibility from happening more often? Every product category has different answers, but the approach is consistent: - Map out your product's natural exposure points - Measure how often those moments occur - Remove friction from that process - Build features that amplify visibility This thinking transformed our product roadmap. Features aren't just about utility; they're about enabling natural discovery. Your growth strategy might look completely different from ours, but the mindset remains the same: The best acquisition strategy is built into how your product is naturally experienced and shared.

Pleo is growing 80% YoY on the path to cross €100m ARR. Yep, even in this economy 🤯 In the first 5-6 years at Pleo, all selling was driven by sales & marketing. Most acquisition was from paid social campaigns. That worked OK in 2020/2021. But the SaaS world has changed. Folks are looking for efficiency rather than growth-at-any-cost. Pleo wanted to achieve a world-class CAC payback of ~12 months. Product-led growth (PLG) became a way to get there. I interviewed the brilliant Haresh Bajaj, VP of Product Growth, on Pleo's growth journey and how they've embraced PLG. Get the full story in today's Growth Unhinged: https://lnkd.in/e8nRZD2r -- Don't worry, we got tactical, too. Here's the TL;DR about 10 specific things that worked: 1. Ran double-digit conversion rate optimization (CRO) experiments on the website every month. These drove a 20% improvement on cost-per-lead. 2. Changed the KPI of CRO experiments from sign-up rate to pipeline impact. 3. Ran website experiments on integration pages -- a big 'aha moment' for Pleo. 4. Launched an interactive product demo with Navattic, which drove 10x better conversion compared to any other entry point on the site. 5. Productized the sign-up process so sales reps focused on higher value deals. Average quota per rep has gone up by 35%. 6. Shifted reps to 'hybrid' doing both new biz sales & expansion. 7. Didn't affect sales comp. Sales owns a book of biz & is responsible for all deals, even self-serve ones they don't touch. 8. Made sales outreach prescriptive with Product Growth guiding sales reps on who to talk to, when to talk to them, and what message to use. 9. Embraced multi-functional teams, combining traditional GTM folks with product, content & product marketing teams aimed at specific problem spaces. 10. Tackled PLG friction points at a system-level rather than at an individual-level. By creating the right systems, the friction points take care of themselves. Can't wait to hear what y'all think! #product #saas #productledgrowth #growth