I read 『PLG プロダクト・レッド・グロース「セールスがプロダクトを売る時代」から「プロダクトでプロダクトを売る時代」へ』 ウェス・ブッシュ (著), UB Ventures (著), 八木映子 (翻訳) (PLG Product-Led Growth by Wes Bush), so I’ll share the insights I gained from this book.

Background: Want to Sell Products with Products

I read this book to understand PLG (Product-Led Growth).

Below are quotes and notes from sections that made an impression on me.

Supervisory Foreword

That is Product-Led Growth (PLG) - a growth strategy proposed in 2016 by US venture capital firm OpenView. It uses freemium to acquire users and expands the user base through viral effects. Then it encourages monetization at the perfect timing when users want to use more features. It's a concept that applies growth hacking concepts from B2C to B2B.

PLG as a growth strategy

Chapter 1: Why Is PLG's Importance Rapidly Increasing?

PLG is one of the GTM (Go-To-Market) strategies named by US venture capital firm OpenView, where user acquisition, activation, and retention are handled by the product itself.

Description of PLG

How to Build a Subscription Business That Responds to Three Changes?

First, let me explain what GTM strategy is. GTM strategy is a specific action plan that shows how a company will approach target customers to gain an advantage over competitors. Before considering which GTM strategy is optimal, you first need to understand market trends, your company's positioning, target customers, and the product you're offering.

Explanation of GTM strategy.

Option 1: Pricing Using Economic Value Analysis

2. Emotional Value: Emotions You Want to Gain or Avoid from the Product's Functional Value

Some of you reading this might object, saying "In the B2B world, purchasing decisions aren't made that way. They're made rationally based purely on ROI." But actually, that's not true. B2B purchasing decision-makers seem to be much more emotional than B2C buyers.

B2B purchasing decision-makers are emotional.

Team Selection for Running a Successful Product-Led Engine

1. Try trial and error

2. Hire a dream team

3. Train your team This is the option that allows you to start running a product-led model the fastest. Think about it. Your current employees already understand both the product and customers, and they (should) strongly want customers to succeed. In companies I’ve consulted with, teams that had no idea what PLG was about were able to show visible results within a month or a few weeks.

Since existing teams understand the product and customers, PLG training can quickly produce results.

But don't try to train all team members immediately. First, create a small team. This team needs seven people with the following roles. In a small startup business, one person can handle multiple positions.

1. Developer
2. UX Designer
3. Product Manager (person who leads the project)
4. Customer Success Representative
5. Digital Marketer/Inside Sales
6. CEO
7. CPO or CTO

If you’re leading this initiative, choose the most influential person from each team. Be careful in your selection, as these specialized team members will eventually set up their own small teams within the company.

A small PLG team.

That’s all from the Gemba - I want to aim for PLG.