PLG Weekly #5: The Product-led Grownups, What to do if you are too early to a market?

Welcome to the fifth edition of the PLG weekly. This week we begin by taking a look at the OGs of PLG.

👵🏻 The Product Led Grownups

Rachel Wolan, GM&VP @ Dropbox put up an amazing slide at SaaStr about how the OG PLG companies sell to different segments.

Like all things in life, it’s a continuum. They’ve adopted their selling strategies based on the needs of the type of customer who’s purchasing from them! Anna Talerico from Arthur ventures describes it best - it’s a product-led continuum.

All these companies use their products to create a more ready-to-buy, self-qualified prospect. Anna calls this the product-led funnel. How do you know if you have a product-led funnel? She helps with these criteria.

• Looks more Sales-Assisted than Sales-Led.

  • Prospects have heard about, seen, or experienced enough of the product that they have self-qualified and know they probably want it by the time they come into the sales funnel.

• Increasing inbound organic demand coming from a flywheel motion.

• “First-call” hot inbound leads who:

  • Ask for a free trial.

  • Ask for wiring instructions or where to send a PO on their first call.

  • Close in one call.

• Inbound customer demand for account expansion.

The OG PLG companies have benefited from a product-led funnel and have been able to grow faster than any of their peers. If you’re a PLG company, it’s not all about self-serve. It’s all about the continuum!

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🧑‍🏫 Jason Lemkin on what to do if you’re too early to a market.

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