Which Public Companies Are Product-Led? 40 At Our Latest Count

Product-led growth (PLG) is an end-user-focused growth model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. Although it’s rightfully associated with viral, freemium, bottom-up distribution, product-led growth is more than a simple go-to-market formula.

At OpenView, we’ve been paying close attention to companies that fit this mold since 2012, coining the term product-led growth in 2016. Our thesis is and always has been that these companies grow more quickly than their peers who aren’t product-led, spend more on research and development, and place a higher emphasis on building out a growth engine for the future.

For the first time, we’re able to understand product-led business performance during a potential bear market, or at least a market without the endless optimism as 2020-2021. While valuations are significantly lower than they were a year or two ago, product-led businesses still outperform their peers in terms of growth rate, R&D spend, and margins.

Most importantly, the number of companies featured in the PLG Index since we first published has grown by 33%, creating a wave in the public markets that can’t be stopped, and raising the bar for SaaS companies across the board.