ProductLed Podcast

For today’s guest, product is the new marketing and in this episode, she shares why she believes it is so. In today’s show, Sandhya Hegde, VP of Growth and Marketing at Amplitude talks about how they approach product-led growth at Amplitude, what the good North Star metrics are for product-led companies, and how she builds customer empathy within their team. Show Notes [00:47] How she became the VP of Growth and Marketing at Amplitude [04:53] Why she thinks product is the new marketing [08:20] How her team’s thoughts around the product has changed [10:50] Good North Star metrics for product-led companies [14:49] Why their strategy is collaboration [17:13] How she monitors the success of the users for their campaigns [19:40] How they approach product-led growth at Amplitude [24:26] Her thoughts on dummy data [27:25] When should sales step in during the initial touchpoint [30:00] How they use the product to hit their marketing and growth goals [31:21] Skills needed in a product-led company [35:27] How she builds customer empathy within their team [39:18] Where people can find out more about her and her work About Sandhya Hegde Sandhya Hegde is the VP of Growth and Marketing at Amplitude, a computer software that provides product intelligence tools designed to help teams run and grow their digital businesses. To date, over 26, 000 companies use Amplitude for product analytics including Twitter, Intuit, Under Armour, Bonobos, Peloton, and Microsoft. Profile AmplitudeAmplitude Blog

To say product is the new SDR is a bold statement. Our brilliant guest today will share why he believes it is so. In this episode, Moritz Dausinger, founder of Refiner discusses why he thinks product is the new SDR, what the new SDR is in his opinion, and how the hand off is different for product-led businesses. Show Notes [00:56] How he became the founder of Refiner [02:14] Their company mission and the problem they want to solve [03:55] Why he thinks product is the new SDR [06:19] How selling changes in a product-led business [07:35] When should human interaction come into the whole process [10:00] Where they start on the journey of using their products to qualify users [13:10] What he recommends when it comes to qualifying results [14:53] When should companies introduce the traditional MQO with inside sales [16:19] What the new SDR is in his opinion [17:48] Trends he sees in the companies he has helped [20:30] How the hand off is different for a product-led business [22:15] His advice to companies who want to become more product-led [24:38] Where people who would like to reach out can find him About Moritz Dausinger Moritz Dausinger is the founder of Refiner, a user profiling software that’s built specifically for eCommerce, SaaS, and membership sites. The software is also designed to easily integrate into any sales and marketing stacks seamlessly. If you are looking to increase both conversion and retention rates through better customer data, Refiner might be just what you need. Profile RefinerMoritz on LinkedInMoritz on Twitter

For DevOps platforms like GitLab, transparency is crucial as it can provide feedback instantaneously. In this episode, Kenny Johnston, senior director of product at GitLab talks about product engagement, why transparency is important, and how people can build a successful product-led business. Show Notes [00:33] How he became the senior director of product at GitLab Inc. [02:38] How he transitioned from being a web developer to someone who leads product [04:03] What GitLab is [05:20] His process in terms of product engagement [08:56] Where to start when improving product engagement [11:02] How they handle trolls [12:53] How they find ideas and potential products from the feedbacks [15:09] What they look for when analyzing product engagement [17:03] Common mistakes he’s seen people make when improving product engagement [18:37] Signals they look out for when pulling the plug [20:04] Frameworks or methodologies he uses to improve product engagement [22:49] Why transparency is important and how to make it a reality in the business [25:37] How people can build a successful product led business [27:24] Where people can find out more about him and what he does About Kenny Johnston Kenny Johnston is the senior director of product at GitLab, a DevOps platform that changes the way security, development, and Ops teams collaborate and build software. The fast-growing, all-remote company has team members located in over 50 countries. Profile GitLabKenny on TwitterKenny on LinkedIn

A few years ago, many noted a dramatic change in the world of buying and selling: companies that have adapted the “product first” strategy were outpacing those that rely primarily on high friction sales models. One of the companies that really went all in on product-led growth is Vendasta. In this episode, Jacqueline Cook, Vendasta’s chief strategy officer shares what made them decide to do it and how they were able to transition successfully. Show Notes [01:15] How she became the chief strategy officer at Vendasta [02:30] What a chief strategy officer does [03:29] What Vendasta does [05:24] Trends she saw in their business [07:36] What made her decide it’s time to take Vendasta to the next level [09:37] How they transitioned from a sales-led company to a more product-led business [11:37] How she got the buy-in from the team [14:54] How their organisation is structured [18:29] Some of the early experiments she ran [22:43] Things that need to be in place to maximise the learning curve [24:29] Things other companies should avoid [26:49] Some of her biggest worries about going product-led [29:03] Where people can find out more about Vendasta About Jacqueline Cook Jacqueline Cook is the chief strategy officer at Vendasta. Vendasta is a Canadian-based business that provides an end-to-end commerce platform to firms who sell digital services and products to small and medium businesses. The company is also known for their innovation, thought leadership, and rapid growth. Links HubSpotNetflix Profile VendastaJacqueline on LinkedIn

Understandably, different business models will require diverse strategies. In this episode, Jeff Hardison, head of product marketing at Clearbit discusses how he approaches product marketing in different kinds of companies and the things he takes into account when in each of those businesses. Show Notes [00:53] How he became the head of product marketing at Clearbit [03:24] What Clearbit is [04:52] His experience owning the self-service revenue number [07:15] How companies can decide between a self-service model or have sales lead the whole sales process [09:25] Three important things about product led growth [10:55] What he wants to caution people against in terms of product led growth [12:10] What to do when the self-serve revenue plateaus [13:54] The best time to introduce sales into the organisation [17:35] How to help people understand what they’re getting themselves into [20:17] How to make products easier to implement [25:37] How to determine when to reach out to specific people [27:59] One thing he wished he knew in terms of building the self-service model and learning how to turn users into paying customers [29:21] His advice to sales-driven companies that would like to try self-serve [33:04] How his testing process has evolved over the years [34:50] Why every company should try to start with product led growth About Jeff Hardison Jeff Hardison is the head of product marketing at Clearbit. Clearbit is a business-data and marketing software company relied upon by leading SaaS clients like Asana, Segment, and Stripe. Profitable since their fourth month, Clearbit is considered a great example of an exceptionally managed company. Links InVisionReflect Technologies, Inc. (Acquired by Puppet) HPShopifyGoogle Tag ManagerHubSpot Profile ClearbitJeff on LinkedIn

Contrary to popular belief, user onboarding is not designed to make people become better at using a product. Rather, its primary goal is to help them become better at what the product enables them to do. With that said, it’s no surprise today’s guest spends a significant amount of time and resources to ensure people have an aha moment the first 7 minutes of their onboarding experience. In this episode, Francois Bondiguel, head of growth at Deputy shares what they do the first 7 minutes of the onboarding experience, how they’re doing it, and why. Show Notes [01:11] How he became the head of growth at Deputy[03:29] What Deputy is in a nutshell[04:27] How he figured out the magic number (7 minutes)[07:57] How he found out about drop off rate and how he started improving the metric[09:35] How they collect information to tailor the user’s experience[11:22] How they got people involved and focused on improving the experience[15:21] What he’ll recommend to those who would like to improve their on boarding[17:02] Experiments they’ve done that didn’t work out well[19:35] The impact of introducing the human element in onboarding[22:59] When it makes sense to add a human element in the onboarding process[26:16] How they approach segmentation[28:45] How he built a lead scoring model[31:58] How he helped people to an aha moment the first 7 minutes[37:35] Where people can find him to know more about the work he’s doing About Francois Bondiguel Francois Bondiguel is the head of growth at Deputy, a product-led employee management tool that uses innovative cloud-based technology as well as machine learning and AI to help businesses transform operations and empower employees to work the way they want. Link: OpenView Profiles: DeputyFrancois on LinkedIn

Frameworks for Selecting and Implementing Product Analytics with Sam Richard, Director of Growth at OpenView It is reassuring to know that product analytics have reached mass adoption with nearly 80 percent of companies already adopting in-product analytics as well as tracking. In this episode, Sam Richard, Director of Growth at OpenView shares the importance of product analytics and how companies should go about selecting and implementing product analytics. Show Notes [00:42] How she became the director of growth at OpenView [04:08] Her definition of product-led growth [06:39] Her thoughts on product-led growth being considered a fad [09:02] How to build a product-led business [11:25] Where one should start if they want to develop a culture of experimentation [13:03] How companies go about selecting and implementing product analytics [15:42] Key questions to ask before starting product analytics [18:25] Specific metrics she takes into account [21:35] The power of activation [23:42] Common mistakes she sees people make [27:14] Her advice for companies that are transitioning to become more product-led [29:06] Reasons to start a product-led business and reasons to consider a more sales-led business About Sam Richard Samantha Richard is Director of Growth at OpenView where she helps software companies become market leaders. Through OpenView’s expansion platform, they help ensure companies are able to hire the best talent, partner with industry leaders, and acquire (as well as retain) the right customers so they can dominate their markets. Links ServiceTitanOracleCostcoDropboxAmazon Profile OpenViewSam on LinkedIn

The proliferation of data-based practices has caused two major changes (at least): it’s raised expectations of data-literacy across all teams, and it’s started to change the ways data teams work. In this episode, Milene Darnis, Product Manager at Heap, shares why feeding product data into your strategy is critical, and how to do it successfully at each stage of your company as you grow. Show Notes [00:39] How she became a product manager at Heap[01:42] What Heap is[02:57] Why feeding product data into strategy is critical[03:43] Business data and product data[04:50] Data people should be tracking to make better decisions[07:55] Kind of prediction model she would suggest[09:04] Why product data is much more important for product-led companies than sales-led companies[12:36] How to know if you have gone too deep in quantitative data[14:17] Tool categories companies should be thinking about[21:01] Most common mistakes she sees people do again and again[22:28] Advice for companies who are just starting to gather product data[23:55] How people can use product data to make better decisions[25:30] Common mistakes people make when gathering data[27:50] How she gets her data and finds the best customers who use her product About Milene Darnis Milene Darnis is a Product Manager at Heap, where she works on Heap's core technology: autocapture. This forward-looking technology gives product managers around the world the ability to ask questions about their users retroactively, without having to bug developers to implement tracking. Links UberSalesforceShopifyRedshiftSnowflake Profile Milene’s TwitterMilene’s LinkedInHeap Website

KPIs and metrics are the signals; the inputs to making great decisions. It's not optional. In this episode, Allan Wille, Co-Founder and CEO of Klipfolio, shares the most important metrics every team working within a product-led organization needs to understand to thrive and grow in a super competitive market. Show Notes [02:59] Who Allan is[03:50] What Klipfolio is[05:06] Key metrics he takes into account[07:43] General and admin[15:47] How he defines success[20:59] How his team defines “onboarded”[21:44] A quick look at retention[23:33] Product[25:19] Trial engagement and conversion[25:39] On developing a metric called true trial[28:33] The cohort 90d logo retention[30:31] Marketing[32:22] Why he's not tracking the cost per trial user[33:09] MetricHQ About Allan Wille Allan Wille is a co-founder of Klipfolio, served as CEO until 2018, and is currently driving culture and collaboration as Chief Innovation Officer. Klipfolio is a SaaS dashboard company with over 11,000 customers—including Zendesk, Aviva, and IKEA. Allan previously co-founded Espial, an internet device software firm that is now publicly traded on the TSX. He lives in Ottawa with his wife and two daughters. Links HubSpotSalesforceFacebook AdsGoogle Analytics Profile Allan's TwitterAllan's LinkedInKlipfolio Website

Welcome to the introductory episode of Product-Led Podcast. In this episode, you'll find out more about the hosts of this show, Wes Bush and Ramli John, and why you should subscribe today!