petrogurcak/product-led-growth

Product-Led Growth

Overview

This skill helps build products that sell themselves using frameworks from Wes Bush's "Product-Led Growth". Use when optimizing onboarding, choosing pricing models, or reducing time-to-value.

Announce: "I'm using product-led-growth to optimize how users experience value."

When to Use

USE this skill:

• "Should I use freemium or free trial?"
• "Users sign up but don't convert"
• "Onboarding is confusing"
• "How do I reduce time-to-value?"
• Building self-serve SaaS
• Product-led vs sales-led decision

DON'T use this skill:

• Creating compelling offers → offer-creation
• Positioning → uvp-optimization
• Growth experiments → growth-hacking
• SaaS metrics → saas-bootstrap

Iron Law

TIME-TO-VALUE IS EVERYTHING

The faster users experience the "Aha!" moment,
the higher your conversion rate.

Every click between signup and value = lost users.

Core Frameworks

Framework 1: Bowling Alley Framework

Purpose: Design onboarding that guides users to value like bowling bumpers guide the ball.

Metaphor:

        SIGNUP                    "AHA!" MOMENT
           │                            │
           │    Product Bumpers         │
           │    ┌─────────────┐         │
           │    │  In-app     │         │
    ●──────┼────│  guidance   │─────────┼─────> VALUE
           │    └─────────────┘         │
           │    Conversational          │
           │    Bumpers                 │
           │    ┌─────────────┐         │
           │    │  Emails,    │         │
           │    │  notifs     │         │
           │    └─────────────┘         │
           │                            │
           ▼                            ▼

Components:

1. The Straight Line

• Shortest path from signup to "Aha!" moment
• Remove every unnecessary step
• Map current path, then ruthlessly cut

2. Product Bumpers (In-App) | Bumper Type | Purpose | Example | |-------------|---------|---------| | Welcome message | Set expectations | "In 3 steps you'll..." | | Product tour | Show key features | Guided walkthrough | | Progress checklist | Show completion | "3 of 5 steps done" | | Empty states | Guide action | "Create your first X" | | Tooltips | Contextual help | Feature explanations |

3. Conversational Bumpers (External) | Bumper Type | Purpose | Timing | |-------------|---------|--------| | Welcome email | Reinforce value | Immediately | | Progress reminder | Re-engage | 24h if incomplete | | Success tips | Prevent stuck | Day 2-3 | | Win-back | Recover dropoffs | Day 7 if inactive |

Implementation Steps:

1. Define your "Aha!" moment (when users get value)
2. Map current signup-to-Aha path (all steps)
3. Create "straight line" (minimum steps)
4. Add product bumpers at friction points
5. Add conversational bumpers for recovery

---

Framework 2: MOAT Framework

Purpose: Choose between Free Trial, Freemium, or Demo based on your situation.

MOAT = Market, Ocean, Audience, Time-to-Value

Step 1: Market Strategy

| Strategy | Description | Model Fit | | ------------------ | -------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | Dominant | Better than existing (10x) | Freemium (show superiority) | | Disruptive | Cheaper alternative | Free Trial or Freemium | | Differentiated | Unique for niche | Free Trial (needs explanation) |

Step 2: Ocean Conditions

| Ocean | Description | Model Fit | | -------------- | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Red Ocean | Many competitors, known category | Free Trial (differentiate by experience) | | Blue Ocean | New category, no direct competition | Demo (needs education) |

Step 3: Audience

| Approach | Description | Model Fit | | ------------- | -------------------------------- | ---------------------- | | Top-Down | Sell to executives, then rollout | Demo/Sales-led | | Bottom-Up | Users adopt, then spread | Freemium or Free Trial |

Step 4: Time-to-Value

| Time-to-Value | Description | Model Fit | | ------------- | ------------------- | ---------------------- | | Immediate | Value in minutes | Freemium | | Short | Value in hours/days | Free Trial (7-14 days) | | Long | Value takes weeks | Demo + onboarding |

Decision Matrix:

              Fast TTV    │    Slow TTV
         ─────────────────┼─────────────────
Bottom-up │   FREEMIUM    │   FREE TRIAL
          │               │   (longer)
         ─────────────────┼─────────────────
Top-down  │   FREE TRIAL  │   DEMO +
          │               │   SALES

---

Framework 3: The "Aha!" Moment

Purpose: Identify the moment users truly understand your value.

Finding your Aha moment:

1. Interview converted users: "When did you realize this was for you?"
2. Analyze data: What actions correlate with conversion?
3. Common patterns:
   • First successful [core action]
   • Inviting first team member
   • Completing first workflow
   • Seeing first result

Examples:

| Product | "Aha!" Moment | | ------- | ----------------------------- | | Slack | Sending 2000 messages as team | | Dropbox | Putting first file in folder | | Zoom | Completing first video call | | Canva | Downloading first design |

Optimizing for Aha:

• Reduce steps to reach it
• Make it happen in first session
• Measure time-to-Aha
• A/B test paths to Aha

---

Workflow

Phase 1: Define Your Aha Moment

1. What action = user gets value?
2. How many steps from signup to that action?
3. What's the current time-to-Aha?
4. What's the conversion rate at each step?

Phase 2: Apply MOAT Framework

Answer each question:

• [ ] Market Strategy: Dominant / Disruptive / Differentiated?
• [ ] Ocean: Red / Blue?
• [ ] Audience: Top-down / Bottom-up?
• [ ] Time-to-Value: Immediate / Short / Long?

→ Recommendation: [Free Trial / Freemium / Demo]

Phase 3: Design Bowling Alley

1. Draw current path (all steps)
2. Create straight line (minimum steps)
3. Identify drop-off points
4. Add product bumpers at each point
5. Design conversational bumpers for recovery

Phase 4: Measure and Iterate

Key metrics:

• Signup-to-Aha conversion rate
• Time-to-Aha
• Free-to-paid conversion
• Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 retention

---

Quick Router

| Situation | Framework to Use | | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | "Free trial or freemium?" | MOAT Framework | | "Users sign up but don't convert" | Bowling Alley (find drop-off) | | "Onboarding is too long" | Straight Line optimization | | "What's our key activation metric?" | Aha Moment analysis | | "Users don't come back" | Conversational Bumpers |

---

Templates

MOAT Analysis Template

## Product: [Name]

### M - Market Strategy

Our approach: [ ] Dominant [ ] Disruptive [ ] Differentiated
Because: [Why]

### O - Ocean Conditions

We're in: [ ] Red Ocean [ ] Blue Ocean
Because: [Why]

### A - Audience

Our approach: [ ] Top-Down [ ] Bottom-Up
Because: [Why]

### T - Time-to-Value

Our TTV is: [ ] Immediate [ ] Short [ ] Long
Because: [Why]

### Recommendation

Based on MOAT: [ ] Freemium [ ] Free Trial [ ] Demo
Reasoning: [Summary]

Bowling Alley Design

## Product: [Name]

### Aha! Moment

[What action = value received?]

### Current Path (Signup → Aha)

1. [Step] - [Drop-off %]
2. [Step] - [Drop-off %]
3. [Step] - [Drop-off %]
   ...
   [Aha moment]

### Straight Line (Optimized)

1. [Essential step only]
2. [Essential step only]
3. [Aha moment]

### Product Bumpers

| Drop-off Point | Bumper Type   | Content   |
| -------------- | ------------- | --------- |
| After signup   | Welcome modal | [Content] |
| Step 2         | Tooltip       | [Content] |
| ...            | ...           | ...       |

### Conversational Bumpers

| Trigger      | Channel | Content             |
| ------------ | ------- | ------------------- |
| Signup       | Email   | [Welcome content]   |
| 24h inactive | Email   | [Re-engage content] |
| ...          | ...     | ...                 |

---

PLG Metrics Dashboard

Leading Indicators:

• Signup rate
• Activation rate (reached Aha)
• Feature adoption
• Invite rate

Lagging Indicators:

• Free-to-paid conversion
• Revenue per user
• Churn rate
• LTV

Benchmark targets: | Metric | Good | Great | |--------|------|-------| | Signup → Aha | 40%+ | 60%+ | | Aha → Paid | 20%+ | 40%+ | | Time-to-Aha | <5 min | <2 min |

---

Common Mistakes

Too many features in onboarding: "Let me show you everything!" → Focus only on path to Aha.

Long free trials: 30-day trial when value is immediate → User forgets why they signed up.

No empty states: Blank dashboard after signup → User doesn't know what to do.

Generic welcome emails: "Thanks for signing up!" → Should guide to Aha moment.

Forcing account creation: "Create account to see demo" → Let them experience value first.

---

Red Flags

STOP and reassess if:

• Can't define Aha moment → Product may lack clear value
• Time-to-Aha > 1 week → Consider demo/sales model
• High signup, zero activation → Onboarding broken
• Users complete onboarding but don't convert → Value proposition issue (uvp-optimization)

---

Integration

Before PLG optimization:

• uvp-optimization → Clear positioning
• offer-creation → Compelling value proposition

After PLG setup:

• growth-hacking → Experiment on activation
• ux-optimization → Implement UX improvements
• web-copy → Onboarding copy optimization