PLG (Product-Led Growth)
A go-to-market motion where the product itself drives acquisition, activation, and expansion.
PLG replaces the traditional sales funnel (marketing → sales → close) with a self-serve product funnel (free tier → paid conversion → team expansion). Slack, Notion, Figma, Linear are canonical examples. For indie founders, PLG is often the only viable go-to-market — you can't hire a sales team on $2K MRR. PLG requires the product to sell itself, which means onboarding, activation, and time-to-value have to be excellent. If new users need a 30-minute setup call, you don't have a PLG product yet.
Related terms
Wedge
The narrow initial use-case that opens the door to a broader product later.
PMF (Product-Market Fit)
The point at which users pull the product from you instead of you pushing it to them.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
The total cost of acquiring one paying customer. Marketing spend + sales cost, divided by new customers.