What is Product Led Growth?

As I’ve written before, I recently transitioned from working on core product to leading growth at my company. But what exactly is product-led growth?

Product-led growth (PLG) is a strategy where the product itself drives acquisition, activation, retention, and monetization—rather than relying on traditional sales or marketing efforts.

A well-known example is Facebook’s “People You may Know” feature. The Growth team discovered that users who added 21 friends had a high likelihood of retaining. Based on this insight, they launched the “People You May Know” feature which exponentially accelerated Facebook’s growth.

There are key differences between Growth teams and Core Product teams.

1. Experiments Over Features — Growth teams don’t just ship features; they ship experiments. These can take the form of design tweaks, engineering optimizations, or even marketing campaigns—not just product changes.
2. Fast Feedback Loops — Because Growth teams focus on rapid experimentation, they operate with a shorter feedback loop, high velocity, and a deeply data-driven approach.


By continuously testing and iterating, product-led growth enables companies to scale efficiently while improving user experience.