In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush shares the formula for transforming businesses into product-led powerhouses. Together with Laura, the director of content at ProductLed, they unravel the nine fundamental components of the ProductLed System – a comprehensive roadmap for SaaS businesses aiming to scale efficiently while keeping the product at the core of their strategy. Key Highlights [01:34] The top three main outcomes of product-led growth: Effortless ARR, lean...

Monetization is a big challenge for nearly every product-led company. In today’s episode, Wes Bush helps you overcome this business hurdle by sharing five best practices to boost your free-to-paid conversion rate. Even better, many of these strategies are easy for your team to implement, so you can start making positive changes now.    Key Takeaways: [2:30] Sequencing  [5:30] Remind users of the current plan [8:20] Reevaluate your free model [12:15] Simplify the upgrade...

Integrating onboarding coaching into your strategy can improve customer success and drive acquisitions, especially if your SaaS product is more complex or targets enterprise users. But where do you begin? In this episode, Wes is joined by Clate Mask, CEO and founder of Keap, to talk about the importance of understanding user needs and delivering tailored solutions through coaching sessions.  Doing so bridges the gaps in product understanding, knowledge, and skills.    Key...

In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz focus on an acquisition growth process. They discuss a structured approach involving a 60-90 minute weekly meeting aimed at enhancing not only acquisition but also engagement and monetization aspects of a business. Wes emphasizes the importance of identifying bottlenecks in the business and collaboratively finding solutions as a team, rather than placing the burden on a single individual.  Highlights 02:30: Wes Bush...

In this episode, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz emphasize the importance of structured meetings and discuss how a well-organized approach can significantly impact daily priorities and your overall business strategy. The discussion covers key aspects of conducting effective meetings, including setting clear agendas, identifying core issues, and brainstorming solutions to foster growth and alignment within a company.  Key moments in the conversation include: [0:35]: Introduction and the...

This episode dives into the concept of value engines within product-led businesses. Wes Bush and Laura Kluz emphasize the significance of mapping out every aspect of a business, from the initial customer touchpoint to their journey toward becoming a successful customer. He argues that understanding and optimizing these value engines is crucial for organizations to create and capture value efficiently.  The discussion covers the importance of detailed mapping at a granular level, the...

In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush and co-host Laura Kluz dive into the world of company scorecards. They cover the essentials of what a healthy scorecard looks like and how to create your own. Wes gives his practical advice for setting up and maintaining a company scorecard and why he believes manual tracking is the way to go.  Here’s a template you can use to create your own company scorecard. Highlights [2:15] Explaining what a company scorecard is [2:50] The...

In today’s episode, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz share all about identifying the North Star Metric for your product-led businesses. They start by explaining the importance of identifying the right North Star Metric, emphasizing its role as a unifying metric that aligns the entire team's efforts towards common goals.  They chat about how an NSM is different in a product-led business and provide examples of good and bad ones. They also share an exercise you can complete with your team to ensure...

In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush dives into identifying the most significant bottleneck in a product-led business. He emphasizes the importance of monitoring six core metrics: website visitors, sign-ups, account setups, first-value realization, key usage indicators, and upgrades.  Wes shares the role of a well-defined tracking plan and the benefits of leveraging first-party data for insightful decision-making. Wes stresses the importance of simplicity in tracking and the...

In this episode, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz examine the use of Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) in a product-led business. Wes explains why PQLs are so important, and how they drive user success. He also addresses the common challenges product-led companies face when identifying PQLs. Wes then break down the four essential components of a PQL so you can identify your own, and shares some specific strategies you can employ with your team to get more PQLs. To read more about PQLS, be sure to...

In this episode, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz examine the use of Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) in a product-led business. Wes explains why PQLs are so important, and how they drive user success. He also addresses the common challenges product-led companies face when identifying PQLs. Wes then break down the four essential components of a PQL so you can identify your own, and shares some specific strategies you can employ with your team to get more PQLs. To read more about PQLS, be sure to...

In this episode, Wes Bush shares his process for finding the #1 bottleneck holding your product-led business back from growth. He shares the six key metrics for product-led businesses, covering each stage of the customer lifecycle –from acquisition to monetization.  Wes stresses simplifying data tracking to identify business bottlenecks effectively, and avoiding common mistakes like tracking too many metrics and lacking accountability. He shares insights from coaching sessions and...

Cloudinary, a leading image and video API platform, maintains a balanced revenue split: 30% from self-serve and 70% from enterprise sales. However, this wasn’t always the case. Join us as Sanjay Sarathy, the company’s VP of Marketing, discusses how user growth prompted a strategic shift from their original product-led GTM strategy. Learn from their mistakes, like focusing on incompatible geotargeting and partnerships, and discover what elements make Cloudinary’s mix of self-serve and...

User research determines your users’ pain points, motivations, needs, and preferences. The purpose is to learn how to serve current and potential customer segments with the best service or product. In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush talks with Ryan Glasgow, the CEO and founder of Sprig, a user insights platform. They discuss the importance of building customer-centric products to drive business growth. Ryan shares his experiences in product management and talks about how to...

Cake Equity is an online SaaS platform that helps startup founders and their teams manage equity and ownership. Hansen discusses the initial catalyst for starting the company, the challenges of managing a sales-led approach versus a product-led approach, and the importance of building a strong team. He emphasizes the need for a technical person on the team, the value of product thinking, and the importance of hiring slowly and becoming more efficient. Highlights: 03:10: What the size...

Product Discovery is the most important area for a Product Manager.  That’s why we have Pawal Huryn, a successful Product Manager and coach with more than 9 years of experience in the world of Product on the podcast today. In this chat with Wes Bush, Pawal explains what exactly Product Discovery is and shares his insights on discovering the best ideas, identifying assumptions, and validating them through experimentation. Along with his process, he gets into the details of how to best...

Selling units as a bundled package might not be the best approach. This episode focuses on CEO James Gill’s strategic decision to unbundle GoSquared’s products and create separate brands for each. This move aimed to simplify onboarding and better cater to different customer profiles, and the results have been significant. Join us to explore the strategic considerations, challenges, and benefits of unbundling products. James also shares practical advice for guiding your company towards...

Discover the secrets to building and scaling a bootstrapped product-led business to seven-figure success. Our guest is Elie Khoury, the founder and CEO of Woopra, a company specializing in customer journey and product analytics.  Elie shares the nuances of when a product-led model makes sense (and when it doesn't), emphasizing the importance of swiftly establishing the perception of value. He also sheds light on AI's role in driving product-led growth strategies. Key...

Today's podcast isn't exclusively about new product launches. Instead, we're taking a step back to address broader questions: What exactly is product-market fit, and how do you know if you've achieved it? Host Wes Bush chats with GTM strategist Maja Voje, breaking down the six key points and steps for uncovering product-market fit. They discuss various topics, from understanding your market, to establishing effective feedback loops, and approaching product pricing. These insights, detailed...

Today, host Wes Bush explores the strategy behind how Rezi, a live-streaming solutions platform, used SEO to 2.7x their monthly recurring revenue in just four months. In this episode, we zero in on the critical role of SEO for product-led companies, highlighting its impact on intent-driven user discovery and cost-effectiveness.  We are delighted to have Alister Pike, Growth Strategy Lead at Skale, joining us. He was pivotal in implementing Rezi's SEO strategy and will guide us through the...

In today's product-led convo, host Maja Voje talks with two exceptional experts from Amplitude: Tifenn Dano Kwan, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, and Ashley Brucker Stepien, the VP of Global Marketing. Together, they dive into why implementing an analytical system is essential for effective decision-making in leading a PLG strategy. The discussion explores valuable lessons from their experiences with some of the fastest-growing product-led companies, emphasizing the importance of...

Join host Wes Bush in an exciting episode as he uncovers the impressive journey of Gal Deitsch, co-founder of Align, a collaborative workspace platform. Gal's story is a testament to going from zero to over 10,000 monthly active recurring users in less than two years despite having no prior product-led experience. They talk about how the startup tackled the challenge confronted by sales teams in dealing with complex enterprise deals. Gal also touches on Align’s initial team, achieving...

Structuring your go-to-market (GTM) team is about creating a culture of teamwork. Our guest Anna Talerico, the CEO of Corporate Finance Institute, stresses the need to break down silos between departments and foster an environment where everyone focuses on providing an outstanding customer experience. We're excited to have her back on the podcast to share her valuable insights on organizing your GTM team, offering best practices, and helping you avoid common pitfalls. Listen to...

Host Mario Araujo returns with another installment of our PLG False Starts series. Special guest Elena Verna, a leading B2B SaaS product-led growth advisor, joins us in this episode. In 2022, she served as the Interim Head of Growth at Amplitude, a data analytics company.   Elena walks us through Amplitude's ambitious attempt to integrate a self-serve monetization model with its existing sales-led approach. As she explores this story, she discusses the challenges and anxieties associated...

Many software businesses initially prioritize sales over marketing, often leading to a need for more emphasis on demand generation. In this episode, Shiv Narayanan, CEO of How To SaaS and author of Post-Acquisition Marketing, discusses his experience and expertise building a self-serve demand gen engine, diving into strategies for companies looking to scale from $1 million to $10 million in revenue. Along with host Wes Bush, they explore different stages of marketing maturity, how to...