Product-led growth (PLG) in SaaS sounds simple, but it’s much harder than it looks to succeed and grow faster with the product doing most of the GTM work.

Product-led growth is not new in software, but the PLG term is new. There have always been business apps that created viral spreading with freemium products or free trials.

PLG is now the well-documented, try-before-you-buy approach in which the product itself drives awareness, engagement, and conversion deliberately and strategically.

Classic PLG winners include Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Canva, Github, and Calendly. These are typically simpler software that provides users with value quickly.

It’s the opposite of sales-led growth when salespeople drag you through a demo before you get to play with the product.

Wes Bush is CEO of ProductLed, a coaching and education company that has helped almost 500 serious SaaS founders to succeed with product-led growth strategies and tactics such as freemium products and free trials.

Wes has written two successful books, including “Product-Led Growth” and “The Product-Led Playbook,” which describe key concepts, frameworks, approaches, and useful examples for SaaS founders.

Wes shared the most common pitfalls and misperceptions that prevent PLG success this week on the Practical Founders Podcast.

He also puts his finger on the real goal of PLG for the user:

“The PLG model you choose doesn’t matter. Not a bit. Freemium, free trial, credit card up front, whatever. You can make any of those work. That’s not the question. What matters in PLG is the actual outcome that we hope somebody will get from our product-led experience.

“Does your free motion actually have a transformation in it where they can feel they will grow bigger, save time, and do cool stuff? Because if you don’t have that, it’s literally just, ‘Hey, look around, see for yourself, see what you can do in this product.’ That’s not real value.

“There has to be tangible value for the user before they ever consider buying. What is your PLG outcome that creates that transformation for the user?

“That’s what customers want when they buy software now–Show me value first before I think about buying from you.”

Wes Bush, ProductLed

PLG is working for more and more SaaS companies every year, but it isn’t for every software company.

In this expert episode, Wes shares his expertise for SaaS founders on these important topics:

• Defining product-led growth
• Transitioning from sales-led to product-led
• Common mistakes in product-led growth
• Identifying challenges and solutions for user experience
• Pricing strategies in product-led growth
• The future of product-led growth in SaaS

Check out this informative interview with Wes Bush of ProductLed on the Practical Founders Podcast.