product-led-growth

What this skill does

# Product-Led Growth - Build Products That Sell Themselves

> Transform your go-to-market strategy using Wes Bush's PLG framework to make your product the primary driver of customer acquisition, activation, and retention

## When to Use This Skill

- **Launching a SaaS product** and deciding between free trial, freemium, or sales-led models
- **Reducing customer acquisition costs** by letting the product do the selling
- **Designing user onboarding** that drives users to value quickly
- **Converting free users to paid** through product-qualified leads (PQLs)
- **Fighting churn** by identifying at-risk users through activity data
- **Scaling growth** without proportionally scaling sales teams
- **Optimizing pricing** around value metrics that align with customer success
- **Building viral loops** where product usage naturally spreads to new users

## Methodology Foundation

| Aspect | Details |
|--------|---------|
| **Source** | Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself (2019) |
| **Expert** | Wes Bush - Founder of Product-Led Institute, PLG strategy authority |
| **Core Principle** | "Product-Led Growth is about helping your customers experience the ongoing value your product provides. A strong brand and social proof are no longer enough—you need to let people try before they buy." |


## What Claude Does vs What You Decide

| Claude Does | You Decide |
|-------------|------------|
| Structures content frameworks | Final messaging |
| Suggests persuasion techniques | Brand voice |
| Creates draft variations | Version selection |
| Identifies optimization opportunities | Publication timing |
| Analyzes competitor approaches | Strategic direction |

## What This Skill Does

This skill helps you build a product-led go-to-market strategy where your product itself drives growth—not just your sales team or marketing campaigns.

You'll learn to:

1. **Choose the right PLG model** - Free trial, freemium, or hybrid based on your market
2. **Apply the MOAT framework** - Match your model to Market, Ocean, Audience, Time-to-value
3. **Build the value foundation** - Understand, Communicate, and Deliver value (UCD)
4. **Design the Bowling Alley** - Onboarding that keeps users on the path to value
5. **Identify Product-Qualified Leads** - Replace MQLs with PQLs based on product usage
6. **Optimize ARPU** - Increase revenue from existing users
7. **Slay the churn beast** - Prevent customer, revenue, and activity churn

The result: A product that acquires, activates, and retains customers—selling itself.

## How to Use

### Prompt Examples

```
Help me decide between freemium and free trial for my SaaS product. Use Wes Bush's
MOAT framework. My product is [description], targeting [audience], in a [market type].
```

```
Design a user onboarding flow using the Bowling Alley Framework. My product's core
value is [value], and the "Aha moment" happens when users [action]. What product
bumpers and conversational bumpers should I implement?
```

```
My free-to-paid conversion rate is 3%. Use the UCD framework to diagnose why users
aren't upgrading. Here's my current pricing page and onboarding: [describe].
```

```
Define Product-Qualified Lead (PQL) criteria for my product. Users experience value
when they [action]. What behavioral signals indicate buying intent?
```

```
Our churn rate is [X%]. Apply Wes Bush's churn framework to identify whether it's
customer, revenue, or activity churn—and recommend prevention strategies.
```

## Instructions

### What is Product-Led Growth?

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              PRODUCT-LED GROWTH DEFINED                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  A go-to-market strategy where the PRODUCT ITSELF is        │
│  the primary driver of:                                     │
│                                                             │
│    → Customer ACQUISITION (users find and try product)      │
│    → Customer ACTIVATION (users experience value)           │
│    → Customer RETENTION (users keep coming back)            │
│    → Customer EXPANSION (users upgrade and refer)           │
│                                                             │
│  "Let people try before they buy"                           │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

**Why PLG is Rising:**

| Trend | Impact |
|-------|--------|
| Rising CAC | Sales-led models increasingly expensive |
| Self-education preference | Buyers want to try, not be sold to |
| Product experience importance | The product IS the buying process |

---

### Step 1: Choose Your PLG Model (MOAT Framework)

Use the MOAT framework to select the right model:

**M - Market Strategy**

| Strategy | Definition | PLG Implication |
|----------|------------|-----------------|
| **Dominant** | Undercutting competition | Free tier can capture market share |
| **Disruptive** | New category, novel solution | May need education + trial |
| **Differentiated** | Unique position in existing market | Freemium shows differentiation |

**O - Ocean Conditions**

| Ocean | Characteristics | Recommendation |
|-------|-----------------|----------------|
| **Red Ocean** | Many competitors, established category | Freemium (let product win) |
| **Blue Ocean** | Few competitors, new category | Free trial (focused experience) |

**A - Audience**

| Approach | Description | PLG Fit |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| **Top-down** | Sell to decision-makers | Sales-assisted PLG |
| **Bottom-up** | End users adopt first | Pure self-serve PLG |

**T - Time-to-Value**

| Speed | User Experience | Recommendation |
|-------|-----------------|----------------|
| **Immediate** | Value in minutes | Freemium works well |
| **Delayed** | Value takes days/weeks | Free trial with guidance |

---

### Step 2: Select Free Trial vs. Freemium

```
           FREE TRIAL                        FREEMIUM
    ┌─────────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────────┐
    │  "Try free for      │          │  "Free forever,     │
    │   14/30 days"       │          │   upgrade for more" │
    ├─────────────────────┤          ├─────────────────────┤
    │ ✓ Creates urgency   │          │ ✓ No time pressure  │
    │ ✓ Full product      │          │ ✓ Builds habit      │
    │   access            │          │ ✓ Viral potential   │
    │ ✗ Must convert or   │          │ ✗ Can attract       │
    │   lose user         │          │   freeloaders       │
    │ ✗ Less viral        │          │ ✗ Revenue delayed   │
    ├─────────────────────┤          ├─────────────────────┤
    │ Examples:           │          │ Examples:           │
    │ Netflix, Dropbox    │          │ Slack, Spotify,     │
    │ Business            │          │ Canva, Notion       │
    └─────────────────────┘          └─────────────────────┘
```

> "Freemium is like a Samurai sword: unless you're a master at using it, you can cut your arm off."

**Hybrid Options:**
- Free trial → converts to freemium
- Freemium base + free trial for premium tier
- Reverse trial (full access → downgrades to free)

---

### Step 3: Build Your Value Foundation (UCD Framework)

**U - Understand Your Value**

Map the three outcome types:

| Outcome | Question | Example (Dropbox) |
|---------|----------|-------------------|
| **Functional** | What job does it do? | "Store and access my files anywhere" |
| **Emotional** | How does it make them feel? | "Feel secure knowing files are backed up" |
| **Social** | How do they appear to others? | "Look organized and professional" |

**Define Your Value Metric:**

The value metric is the core unit of value your product delivers:

| Product | Value Metric |
|---------|--------------|
| Dropbox | Storage used (GB) |
| Slack | Messages sent |
| Zoom | Meeting minutes |
| Mailchimp | Subs