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The Growth of Product Led Growth

  • Writer: Matt Mullen
    Matt Mullen
  • Oct 28, 2020
  • 2 min read

Updated: Nov 12, 2020

There are a number of definitions out there for Product Led Growth, and here is my favorite - 'A go to market strategy that relies on use as the main driver to acquire and activate customers'. This is a new term, with the concept gaining material traction in 2019 and going business buzzword viral in 2020. I agree the term is new but is the concept? Let's get in the way back machine and travel all the way back to 2013.


In 2013, I and a few of my colleagues were planning a pure SaaS platform build to replace our 1000's of legacy on-premise installations. And while it was clear to me it needed to happen, we had no funding and needed to convince the board to approve the project. This almost seems absurd today, but there were serious questions about the business model and more than a little pushback. As part of a much longer presentation, I talked through the go-to-market strategy that we called 'First Value':



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While our GTM did not suppose a freemium path, the underlying thought model is the same - if customers use your product successfully then you will grow. The growth progression is shown in three phases and incorporates the outcomes you are seeking internally and externally:



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Getting a customer (or prospect if freemium) to stable use - where the promise of your marketing is fulfilled and the customer is gaining value through the user experience provided - is the goal. It is then - and only then - that you and the customer can collectively look for areas to create additional value and grow the relationship.


Returning to the present.... 7 years later and there has been a lot written about Product Led Growth. Many successful B2B and B2C software companies have applied this GTM strategy and forever changed the metrics that guide a Product Management team. Building SaaS platforms and launching these products in hyper competitive markets has taught me a lot, and I continue to learn from those trying to solve the same challenges. As I update my processes and terminology though - I still carry forward 'First Value' as a reminder that while content marketing still wears the crown as the most important revenue growth component - user experience closes the deal.



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