Why I believe in Product Led Growth

Disrupting the Status Quo

Zigging While Others Zag

In a world that's predominantly sales-led approaches, we decided to zig while the competitors zag. We had to stand out and capture attention in a crowded space.

In the compliance automation world, traditionally, it's hard to see that PLG is even possible. The compliance industry has a lot of information asymmetry, and clients want to be handheld but do not have enough budgets to move forward. 

We disrupted the industry by offering the first-ever product-led, freemium experience. We democratized access to compliance tools and generated significant buzz around our brand.

Actually Delivering on Product Promises

While clever copywriting can generate initial interest, it's the product that ultimately matters. Our competitors are like this: a lot of investment is spent on billboards, subway signs, bus posters, and podcast sponsorship… It's great, and I am sure it works. We didn't have the funds to compete.

Users need to see a clear path to value, understanding that they're investing in a solution, not just hype. Putting the product on a pedestal without letting users experience it only prolongs disappointment if it fails to deliver — creating more headaches and churn downstream. 

The Power of Word-of-Mouth

Internal Advocacy: You don't win champions with marketing

True success comes when users gain confidence in the product and become internal advocates. These champions invest time and energy in the solution, ultimately advocating their experiences to their decision-makers and executives. "I tried it. I like it. Let's go ahead, use it, and adopt it to our operational process. It will be helpful." This internal word-of-mouth is far more powerful than any marketing copy.

External Recommendations: Viral Word of Mouth

PLG enables word-of-mouth. We found that 40% of our homepage traffic came from external recommendations. People trust their connections and communities more than they trust marketers, especially in a world saturated with marketing noise, case studies, and BS marketing… Check out April Dunford on how buyers buy.

Scalable Growth

PLG is a scalable process rather than a linear growth motion. You don't need more headcount to make it grow. We acquire customers from testimonials and word of mouth … and leverage self-serve documentation, communities, and a more intuitive user experience.

PLG cuts through the clutter. It allows users to experience the product value firsthand. We were building a scalable learning flywheel of trust and word of mouth.

Read more about the emotions of Product led Growth:

• My doubts about doing the PLG strategy 🤔

• My fears when I was leading PLG 😫

• A Year in the Life as Head of PLG 🚀

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. I write about #PLG and #BuildInPublic. Please follow me on LinkedIn, or read about what you can hire me for on my Notion page.