Unlocking Early Stage SaaS Growth: Study User Data & Find PMF

Lately, I have been deep in outbound. Testing different messaging, see what resonates. Following up with leads, booking calls.

It’s the classic early-stage grind. Some days feel slow, but that's by design.

Shifting Focus: Are We Delivering Real Value?

Today, I wanted to do something different: take a moment to step back and analyze. The better question isn't “how do we get more people in”, but… “Are our current users actually getting value?”

We asked our users how they define the problem and the solution. How do they find the pain points? What are they frustrated about? We asked for raw emotions.

The funny thing is that the feedback had a lot of expletives and cursing because email is such a chore. It’s becoming so unmanageable, it's constantly piling up, and in this day and age, in 2025 with AI, it just feels like:

"Why am I still dealing with this shit?"

Intended Product Usage vs. Actual Product Usage

Clarity Inbox helps label the important threads and prep smart replies, so nothing slips, and your inbox feels under control.

They don't have to constantly archive and delete emails coming into their inbox or label them. They can simply feel that everything is organized, and just reducing that anxiety is already enough.

But… are users really using it like that?

What’s the actual core action?

Did we deliver the value?

Hey Database Assistant, Help Define the Core Action

I jumped into our database.

(I hadn’t touched SQL in a while, but the new database’s AI assistants make it so much easier. It’s unbelievable!)

If you know where the data is placed, how the architecture is laid out, and the taxonomy, it's pretty easy to pull data together. There's no more writing JOIN clauses or GROUP BY queries together. It was fantastic, and it has sped up how I uncover our usage data.

In minutes, I could define the core action, measure it, and trace where the real value happens.

Why This Matters

When we know the core action, everything gets easier. We can understand people's pain, how our users are using the product, and how they're getting value. Then, all we need to do is bring that to the forefront in our onboarding and our sales demonstration. We double down on that in our product experience, building around that core action to make it more discoverable and easier to access, with more entry points.

And most importantly, we stop guessing (or think we know) and start building around what we actually can measure.

Building Around What We Can Measure

Sometimes it's a reminder that we can keep pushing outbound and testing new messages, but true product-market fit comes from understanding what resonates with your sticky users. Study your product usage data, finding your core users will discover what truly gets traction. That’s how you unlock product-market fit, find your ideal customer profile, and build a strategy that scales.

Read more about my startup journey: https://growthwithgary.com/archive?tags=Startup

P.S. If you have 2 min, please take this three-questions survey about this newsletter for me @ https://tally.so/r/3EaPyl 

New here? Here’s what to expect each week:
- Monday: spotlight a lesser-known PLG company
- Tuesday: my PLG experience
- Wednesday: Memes on product, AI, and marketing
- Thursday: tactical growth tips
- Friday: raw accounts of my startup journey

I write daily*** about my learning on launching and leading PLG. Feel free to subscribe.

I am Gary Yau Chan. 3x Head of Growth. Product Growth specialist. 26x hackathon winner. Building ClarityInbox. I write about #PLG and #BuildInPublic. Please follow me on LinkedIn, or read about what you can hire me for on my Notion page.