For decades, software was sold by people in suits. They took you out to steak dinners, walked you through a forty slide PowerPoint deck, and eventually convinced you to sign a contract. This is the Sales-Led Growth model. It works, but it is expensive and slow.
In recent years, a new model has emerged. Think of Slack, Zoom, or Dropbox. You did not talk to a salesperson to start using them. You just signed up and started working. This is Product-Led Growth (PLG).
Product-Led Growth is a business methodology in which the product itself is the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. Instead of hiring a massive sales team to promise value, you build a product that demonstrates value immediately.
The End of the Gatekeeper
#The core philosophy of PLG is removing friction. In a sales-led model, the product is hidden behind a gatekeeper (the sales rep). You have to “Request a Demo” to see it.
In a PLG model, the product is the marketing. You offer a free trial or a freemium version. The user gets to touch, feel, and use the tool before they ever pay a dime.
This flips the funnel. In the old world, you paid marketing dollars to get leads for sales. In the new world, you pay engineering dollars to build a product so good that users become your sales force. They invite their colleagues because the tool makes their life easier, creating a viral loop of acquisition.
Time to Value (TTV)
#The most critical metric in PLG is Time to Value. How long does it take from the moment a user signs up to the moment they have their “Aha!” moment?
If it takes three weeks of configuration to get value, PLG will fail. Users will churn before they pay.
For PLG to work, the TTV must be measured in minutes. The onboarding must be intuitive. The UI must be self explanatory. If a user needs a manual to use your software, you are not ready for PLG. You still need a sales team to explain it.
The Role of Sales in PLG
#Does PLG mean you fire your sales team? No. It changes their job.
In a PLG company, salespeople are not hunters; they are farmers. They do not cold call strangers. They look at the data of existing free users.
They see that a company has 50 employees using the free version of Slack. They call the CTO of that company and say, “Hey, your team clearly loves our product. Let’s upgrade you to the Enterprise plan for better security.” This is a warm sale. It is infinitely easier and cheaper to close than a cold outbound lead.
The Product as the Engine
#Transitioning to PLG is not just a marketing decision. It is an engineering commitment.
You have to invest heavily in design, user experience, and automated onboarding. Your product needs to be robust enough to handle thousands of users without support tickets.
Founders must ask themselves: Is my product simple enough to sell itself? If the answer is no, you either need to simplify the product or accept that you are a sales-led company.