Very interesting, thanks! Building for three years before launching is of course PLG heresy :) That does seem like a long time to me, but I've always said the "build it and they will come" line is a lie: 90% of the time, they don't come. We're all fooled by the survivor bias in stories of tech products that made it, fuelled by excitable VCs and investors that buy in and sell out long before breakeven. If I'm investing in something, I want to know whom you're serving, what problems those people have and see evidence that they'll pay for a solution.
I think one of the key takeaways that gets lost in the PLG zeitgeist is that, most startups dont just launch a product and users show up. The team at Attio went looking for potential users where there were signs of some propensity to try/buy, largely using *outbound* efforts.
This flys in the face of the PLG Field of Dreams product mindset (“if you build it, they will come”), but in reality is how most successful PLG companies get their start.
Totally - great callout, Liam! To build a product that millions of users love, you often have to start by building a product that 10 discerning folks *really* love.
Very interesting, thanks! Building for three years before launching is of course PLG heresy :) That does seem like a long time to me, but I've always said the "build it and they will come" line is a lie: 90% of the time, they don't come. We're all fooled by the survivor bias in stories of tech products that made it, fuelled by excitable VCs and investors that buy in and sell out long before breakeven. If I'm investing in something, I want to know whom you're serving, what problems those people have and see evidence that they'll pay for a solution.
Great points, Aidan.
Great piece, Kyle.
I think one of the key takeaways that gets lost in the PLG zeitgeist is that, most startups dont just launch a product and users show up. The team at Attio went looking for potential users where there were signs of some propensity to try/buy, largely using *outbound* efforts.
This flys in the face of the PLG Field of Dreams product mindset (“if you build it, they will come”), but in reality is how most successful PLG companies get their start.
Totally - great callout, Liam! To build a product that millions of users love, you often have to start by building a product that 10 discerning folks *really* love.
I love your work and your writting brother. Thank you for this article
🙏
PLG is just another way of saying "content marketing". And yeah, it can.
Valuable insights, when you are working on a product where there is already an established set of competitors and want to make a difference