In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush and Laura Kluz discuss Wes’ new book, The Product-Led Playbook, set to launch on October 8, 2024. This playbook is the no-BS guide to actually implementing PLG, and explores why some product-led companies see millions in ARR, while others don’t.

The book is structured around nine components, which guide companies from building a solid foundation to scaling for exponential growth. The first stage includes crafting a winning strategy, identifying the ideal user, and creating an intentional product model. The second stage involves establishing a frictionless onboarding process and developing effective pricing strategies. The final stage focuses on data analysis, growth processes, and team development.

The playbook offers a step-by-step approach to operationalizing PLG and is full of templates and canvases designed for team collaboration. Intended primarily for B2B software founders and early-stage go-to-market teams, this playbook provides a structured method for effectively implementing PLG.

Key Moments:

00:00 – What The Product-Led Playbook is and its release date.

02:03 – Exploration of why some companies succeed with PLG while others don't.

03:00 – The customer patterns Wes saw, which led to the creation of the ProductLed System.

06:32 – Explanation of the nine components of the ProductLed System.

15:11 – The three main outcomes you can expect when you implement the system into your business

20:21 – A juicy gift for podcast listeners.

Ken Babcock, Co-Founder of Tango and Zachary Dewitt of Wing Venture Capital, is in the show today to give us the nit and grit on how their company achieved 10,000 sign-ups in just less than two weeks. These business connoisseurs will also guide us through how we should target the right buyers and celebrate our end-users success—ensuring that there's connectivity between what you're building and what your customers need. They will also reveal the story behind Tango and how it evolved throughout its first initial launch. Grasp as much knowledge as you can by listening to these two geniuses.

Show Notes

[2:12] Tango helps create a flexible documentation tool that allows you to generate documentation for your workflow. And alleviate your maintenance burden.

[7:13] On optimizing the right go-to-market

[9:23] What other tools is Tango replacing, and what do you need to do for the documentation you are creating?

[15:40] The importance of setting up suitable measurement gates and understanding when to know how things are successful

[16:31] How does the operation cadence work?

[18:18] Being data-driven is important and complementing that with a customer focus

[23:00] Why is it essential to be time-bound?

[23:47] Honing your most active users in the pilot is key

[24:47]On Finding different company sizes and types to understand your customer and your persona

[34:49] Sales vs. Product led is different in terms of messaging

[36:12] There's a different approach to targeting buyers and users

[39:27] What does it take to have your first successful launch?

[45:55] Your end-users success will eventually become your success

About Ken and Zach

Ken is the CEO and Co-Founder of Tango. Before diving into the world of Tango, he spent more than four years at one of the world's famous platforms, Uber. After learning the depths of entrepreneurship at Atomic VC, he teamed up with his co-founders and founded Tango in 2020.

Zachary "Zach" Dewitt is a partner at Wing Venture Capital. Wing Venture helps founders establish businesses around their ideas. In the company, Zach mainly focuses on enterprise application, technology and product-led growth to propel businesses forward.

Links:

Wing Venture Capital

Tango

Product Hunt

Profiles:

Zach Dewitt

Ken Babcock

David Rostan is Head of Revenue (Sales & Marketing) at Stonly in New York. Stonly is a company that created a unique widget to build interactive guides to lead clients’ customers to activation, issue resolution, and success on their terms. He has previously worked with fascinating product-led companies such as Calendly as VP for sales and marketing and Dashly as Head of organic and product marketing. These companies are known for effectively scaling that improved their onboarding experiences. In this episode, David will talk about the topic at hand -- how to use customer intent to build product onboarding that scales.

Show Notes

[01:19] How David got fascinated in customer intent and product onboarding and scales

[03:45] The importance of tailoring onboarding for different user intent for him

[05:51] His view on the differences of customer intent at different stages

[07:59] What customer intent is for him

[10:59] On ‘asking’ as the first step to meaningfully understand customer intent

[14:39] On testing and seeing what resonates as the second step

[17:27] On identifying the pattern, replicate successes, and observe as the last steps

[23:13] What he does best to scale the business right now

[26:23] His favorite companies using user intent

[29:12] What intent signals he looks for to ensure success for clients

[31:36] The results of the experiments he had on user intent to scale onboarding

[35:27] On how to further use customer intent to scale and deliver superb onboarding experiences

[37:53] Ways on building the empathy muscle for him

[40:26] Where to find out more about David

About David Rostan

David Rostan is a marketing bigshot with a track record of starting up and expanding mobile products and applications on the web in Fortune 100 and start-up environments. He has outstanding experience in leading all aspects of marketing strategy, such as but not limited to customer acquisition, product innovation, customer research, branding, and data analytics, to accomplish business objectives. He has accomplished so much as an entrepreneur. He has launched 3 SaaS applications and grew them via online and offline sales and marketing channels. He specializes in the following fields: digital marketing and strategy, customer acquisition and channel prioritization, customer development and market research, technology innovation and product management, team building or hiring, strategic planning (OKRs), and leadership.

Profile

• David Rostan on LinkedIn
• David Rostan’s Email Address
• Stonly