Product-Led Growth is the go-to-market strategy that relies on using the product as the main vehicle to acquire, activate, and retain customers. In this (summarized and simplified) deck, I will explore: - Why the fastest growing startups use a product-led GTM strategy - The role of Sales and Marketing under this GTM - Main marketing and product KPI's - B2B martech stack - Pricing SaaS - Bottom up targeting

1. Adrian Escude
adrianescude@gmail.com
PRODUCT
LED
GROWTH

2. ● Bottom up targeting
Puts product first, delivers value quickly. Targets ‘Doers’
● “Show me the value” (and let me try it)
Vs “Tell me about it”
● Self Service
Transparent pricing and ability to transact
● Customer-experience- oriented org
Culture of fast, continuous product improvement
PLG Checklist

3. ● Bottom up targeting
Puts product first, delivers value quickly. Targets ‘Doers’
● “Show me the value” (and let me try it)
Vs “Tell me about it”
● Self Service
Transparent pricing and ability to transact
● Customer-experience- oriented org
Culture of fast, continuous product improvement
PLG Checklist
● DIY, easy onboarding
● High speed-to-value
● Shorter sales cycles
● Faster revenue growth
● Lower CAC
● Higher LTV
● Net Retention

4. PLG Internal Adoption Loop

5. The The prim
The Promise

6. Less or equal to 5Y
More than 5Y, less or equal to 10Y
More than 10Y, less or equal 15Y
More than 15Y
Source: Kimchi hill
Years to reach
$100M ARR

7. Less or equal to 5 y
> 5 y, less or equal to 10 y
> than 10, less or equal 15 y
> than 15 y
65%
Of co’s that reached $100M within less
less than 10Y
Are PLG companies
Source: Kimchi hill
Less or equal to 5Y
More than 5Y, less or equal to 10Y
More than 10Y, less or equal 15Y
More than 15Y
Years to reach
$100M ARR

8. PLG vs Non PLG
PLG
NON PLG

9. PLG vs Non PLG
Benchmarking success
Revenue Growth Net Dollar Retention CAC Payback Period
Source: publiccomps.com

10. KPIs & Optimizations

11. CONVERSION
CUSTOMER
ACTIVE
CUSTOMER
LOYAL
CUSTOMER
Content
VISITS
Content
Paid
Other
MQL
Channels
SQL
IN- PRODUCT
ENGAGEMENTS
OUTSIDE
PRODUCT
ENGAGEMENTS
Marketing team
Sales team
Customer success team
TIME
Customer Lifecycle in a Sales-Led GTM

12. “98% of MQLs never close”
SiriusDecisions

13. PQL
CUSTOMER
ACTIVE
CUSTOMER
LOYAL
CUSTOMER
Content
VISITS
Content
Paid
Other
TRIAL
Marketing | Growth teams
Sales team
Customer Success team
Product | Growth teams
TIME
IN- PRODUCT
ENGAGEMENTS
OUTSIDE
PRODUCT
ENGAGEMENTS
Customer Lifecycle in Product-Led GTM

14. What is a PQL?
Activation ICP Match
PQL
Engagement

15. ● Interaction with core features
‘X’ number of messages / actions / etc
● Addressed pain point
Solved a problem / Experienced your value prop
● Invited team members
PQL Definition
Activation
Engagement
ICP Match
Have they experienced the value
of your product?

16. ● Active User
They keep coming back for more
● Recency & Decay
Recent activity
● Behaviour (in-app + website)
Visited Pricing page, consumed blog content, etc
PQL Definition
Activation
Engagement
ICP Match
Are they signaling further interest?

17. PQL Definition
Activation
Engagement
● Technographics
Technology installed, Integrations
● Firmographics
Company Size, Industry, Revenue, Funding, Geo
● Customer Persona
Department, Job Title, Pain Points
ICP Match
Aligned with Ideal Customer Profile?

18. Aha moment
/ä-hä ˈmōmənt/ noun
1. Pivotal moment when new users first realize the value of your product
2. A moment of sudden insight or discovery

19. Activation
Engagement
ICP Match
Aha! Moment examples
Connect with 7 friends
within the first 10 days
2000 messages sent
within a team
Returning 1 day
after sign up
Save 1 file on
folder on 1 device
Defining the Aha! moment

20. Visitor
Trial
PQL
Customer
Active
customer
Loyal
customer
Churned
customer
Visitor to Trial CVR
Trial to PQL CVR
PQL to Customer CVR
Active Customers Rate
Churn Rate Renewal Rate
Days from
Trial to PQL
Days from PQL
to Customer
Days to
Break Even
Avg Customer
Life
CLV- to CAC ratio
Customer lifecycle
Effectiveness
Velocity
METRICS TYPE
Key Performance Indicators
Avg Selling Price

21. Visitor
Trial
PQL
Customer
Active
customer
Loyal
customer
Churned
customer
VISITOR TO TRIAL CVR
Trial to PQL CVR
PQL to Customer CVR
Active Customers Rate
Churn Rate
Metric Optimizations
Efficiency
Renewal Rate
2%* Opt-in Free Trials
● Quality of the traffic
● Website content
○ Messaging
○ Design
○ Supporting visuals
○ Site architecture
* Innertrends

22. ● Onboarding
○ Qualification & Segmentation
○ Guidance
○ Goals & Personalization
● Time to value → ‘Aha moment’
Visitor
Trial
PQL
Customer
Active
customer
Loyal
customer
Churned
customer
Visitor to Trial CVR
TRIAL TO PQL CVR
Active Customers Rate
Churn Rate
Metric Optimizations
Efficiency
Renewal Rate
25%* Opt-in Free Trials
1-10%** Freemium
* sixteen ventures
** Insight Venture Partners
PQL to Customer CVR

23. Visitor
Trial
PQL
Customer
Active
customer
Loyal
customer
Churned
customer
Visitor to Trial CVR
TRIAL TO PQL CVR
Active Customers Rate
Churn Rate
Metric Optimizations
Efficiency
Renewal Rate
25%* Opt-in Free Trials
1-10%** Freemium
* sixteen ventures
** Insight Venture Partners
PQL to Customer CVR
Have your trial users
experienced the value of the
product?

24. “60% of users who try your app will
never come back”
Intercomm

25. Starts using add ons and other integrations
Converts to paid
Consecutive ‘Aha’ moments & activation points
Sees the product as a solution
Loyal Customer
Active Customer
Trial User
Website visitor
Engages directly with brand
Value
Time
Aha moment(s) Product Adoption
Activation

26. DESIRED OUTCOME
CURRENT STATE
● User Onboarding Emails
● In-app messages
● Sales outreach
● Product Tours
● Interactive walkthroughs
● Progress Bars
● Checklists
● Onboarding Tools
Content Product
Accelerating Speed-To-Value

27. Not Every SignUp Is A Core User
Likelihood to
activate
Likelihood to
Convert
CEO
Director / CXO
Product / Project Manager
Developer
Designer
Marketer
Analyst
CORE USER
CORE BUYER
Source: Madkudu

28. Qualification & Segmentation
Explicit, Enriched & Behaviour-Based Data
Explicit | Sign Up Survey Enriched | 3rd Party Behaviour-based
WEBSITE
● Firmographics
● Technographics
● Persona...
IN-APP
● Webinar attendance
● Pricing page
● Blog posts consumed
● ...
● Number of Interactions
● Team member addition
● Completion of core journeys
● ...

29. ● Onboarding
● Email nurturing campaigns
In- app messaging
Sales reach outs
● Customer persona
● Use Case / Pain Points
● Industry, Firmo & Technographics
Personalization
Criteria Applied to

30. Core User (Marketer) Buyer (CEO)
Sign Up
Usage
Invite Team Members
Invite Team Members
Add Credit Card
Product Overview Call
Sign Up
Custom Journey & Content
Hi Mark,
I’m Mark, VP of Sales at <Company Name>, we are thrilled to have you onboard!
To get the most out our app, be sure to <Usage Tip #1>, so you can <Product
benefit number #1>
Try it out and let us know if you have any questions,
Hi Kevin,
I’m Mark, VP of Sales at <Company Name>, we are thrilled to have you onboard!
I wanted to help jumpstart the onboarding process by offering a quick product
overview to ensure your team gets the most out of it. You can pick a
convenient time that works best for you here
Additionally, here you can find some quick resources on how sales <company
name> helped companies in your industry to <benefit number #1> and <benefit
number #2>
Email # 1 to Core User Sign Up
Email # 1 to Buyer Sign Up

31. Visitor
Trial
PQL
Customer
Active
customer
Loyal
customer
Churned
customer
Visitor to Trial CVR
Trial to PQL CVR
Active Customers CVR
Churn Rate
Metric Optimizations
Efficiency
Renewal Rate
25%* Opt-in Free Trials
1-10%** Freemium
* sixteen ventures
** Insight Venture Partners
PQL to CUSTOMER CVR
● Activity-based content nurturing
● Community, documentation & support
● Frictionless self-service
● UX & product optimizations
● Sales follow up post PQL qualification

32. B2B Tech Stack

33. User session replay
A/B Testing
B2B Tech Stack
Prototyping & design
CRM
Reporting & Data visualization
Lead Scoring
Product Analytics
Web Analytics
Personalization
Contact Enrichment
Market Research

34. A/B Testing and Experimentation
https://www.optimizely.com/sample-size-calculator/
DON’T TEST IF
● It’ll take too long to get actionable results
● Low downside risk of the change, high effort to test it.
● You’re launching something completely new
WHY TESTING
● Learn
● Decide
● Quantify
● Align

35. Pricing for SaaS

36. Value-based pricing
● Value is a proxy for usage.
● Pricing based on a value metric allows you to maximise revenue potential.
Opportunity costs

37. Companies using value-based
pricing are growing at
double the rate,
with half the churn
Value-based pricing
Source: Profitwell.com

38. Freemium vs Free trial

39. Freemium
Pros:
● More visitor to ‘trial’ conversions
● Higher virality
● More product data to optimize UX
● Paid users who convert from free tend to
better retention, and much lower CAC1
Cons:
● Limited features could result in a
inferior experience
● Lower sense of urgency
● Higher cost to service
1A16z

40. Free Trial
Cons:
● Less virality and buzz
● Requires more effort and time
commitment on the user
Pros:
● Sense of urgency
● Full feature set, most optimal UX
● More effort in a short timeframe, higher
likelihood of conversion if UX is optimal
The challenge
Delivering on the promise of your business (aha moment) as fast as possible

41. Freemium vs Free Trial
Complex Product?
High price?
Large Market?
Targets doers?
NO
YES
NO
YES
YES
NO
NO YES
Freemium
Free trial
Sales-led

42. Bottom up + Top down GTM

43. Combining PLG and a Sales Led GTM
Pure PLG
Sales +
PLG
A self-serve GTM, later combined with a strong direct sales motion
● Compounds revenue growth
● Lowers CACs
● Enables larger contract values
The Sales role in a mixed GTM strategy:
● Customer onboarding, expansions and renewals (Customer success)
● Work with resellers, distributors and MSP’s
● Help convert PQLs from large enterprises and other ‘hot leads’

44. Estimated ARR When Top Down Sales Was Layered In
$100M+
$50M+
$30M+
$25M+ $20M-$25M
Source: Andreessen Horowitz
When do we add a Top Down GTM?

45. When to Layer Top Down Approach
Bottom up flywheel
working ?
NO
YES
Continue developing
bottom up GTM
Customer demanding product at
enterprise level or enough penetration?
NO
YES
Introduce Top
down GTM
Continue developing
bottom up GTM
When do we add a Top Down GTM?
Source: Andreessen Horowitz

46. Thank you
Contact Me
Adrianescude@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianescude