Open this lesson in your favourite AI. It'll walk you through the why, explain the demo, and quiz you on the try-it list.
PLG and SLG aren't philosophies — they're acquisition and monetization architectures with different cost structures, hiring profiles, and feedback loops. Choosing the wrong one for your market means you'll either underinvest in the product or spend on a sales motion users never asked for. Understanding the mechanics helps you pick the right model or design a hybrid deliberately.
Compare the unit economics and time-to-value of PLG vs. SLG for the same product at $50 ARPU.
Use these three in order. Each builds on the one before.
In one paragraph, explain product-led growth versus sales-led growth like I'm new to it.
Walk me through how PLG actually works step by step — from free user to paid expansion without a sales rep touching the account.
Given a dev-tools company with $200 ARPU self-serve and $8,000 ARPU enterprise deals, how would you decide where to invest the next growth hire and what metric would validate that decision?
const plg = {
cac: 30, // mostly product + content
timeToValue: "< 5 min", // user self-serves
salesCycle: "0 days",
avgContractValue: 600, // annual, low ACV
scalesWithHeadcount: false,
};
const slg = {
cac: 800, // AE salary amortized
timeToValue: "2-4 weeks", // demo + scoping + procurement
salesCycle: "45 days",
avgContractValue: 25000, // enterprise ACV
scalesWithHeadcount: true,
};
console.log("PLG payback (months):", Math.ceil(plg.cac / (600 / 12))); // 1
console.log("SLG payback (months):", Math.ceil(slg.cac / (25000 / 12))); // 1
console.log("PLG scales without headcount:", !plg.scalesWithHeadcount);