I’m going to tell you something that might sting. Most of what you’ve read about product-led growth is probably wrong. It’s not about freemiums, or viral loops, or any of the other buzzwords that get thrown around. I learned this the hard way, over a decade of building and selling companies in Silicon Valley.
I’ve had two successful exits: RemoteTeam, which was acquired by Gusto, and MovieLaLa, which was acquired by Gfycat. I’ve also invested in over 200 startups, including some you might have heard of like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying this because I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, from both sides of the table.
And what works is this: your product has to be the primary driver of growth. Not your sales team, not your marketing campaigns, not your content. Your product.
The RemoteTeam Story: From Zero to Acquisition
When we started RemoteTeam, the idea was simple: make it easy for companies to hire and pay remote employees. The market was crowded. There were already big players with huge sales teams and massive marketing budgets. We had neither.
What we did have was a product that solved a real, painful problem. We focused on the “aha!” moment – the instant a user realized how much time and money our product could save them. For us, that was the first time a company successfully onboarded and paid a remote employee in a new country. It was magic.
We obsessed over that moment. We streamlined the onboarding process, we simplified the payment flow, we made it so intuitive that a user could do it in minutes, not days. We didn’t need a sales team to convince people to use our product. The product sold itself.
Our growth wasn’t explosive at first. It was slow, steady, and organic. But it was real. Our users were our best salespeople. They told their friends, they wrote reviews, they shared their success stories on social media. That’s the power of product-led growth. It’s not about tricking people into using your product. It’s about creating something so good that they can’t help but share it.
The MovieLaLa Story: A Different Beast, Same Principle
MovieLaLa was a completely different beast. It was a B2C app for movie lovers. We were trying to build a community of people who were passionate about movies. We didn’t have a clear path to monetization at first. We just wanted to build something that people loved.
We focused on the core user experience. We made it easy to discover new movies, to create watchlists, to connect with other movie fans. We built features that our users were asking for, not features that we thought would make us money.
And it worked. Our user base grew to millions, with zero marketing spend. We became the go-to app for movie lovers. And when Gfycat acquired us, it wasn’t because of our revenue. It was because of our community. They saw the value in what we had built, and they wanted to be a part of it.
The Playbook: How to Build a Product-Led Growth Engine
So, how do you do it? How do you build a product that sells itself? Here’s the playbook I’ve developed over the years:
Find the “aha!” moment. What’s the one thing that will make your users’ eyes light up? What’s the one thing that will make them say, “I need this in my life”? That’s your North Star. Every decision you make should be in service of that moment.
Build for your users, not for yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in your own vision. It’s easy to build features that you think are cool, but that your users don’t actually need. Don’t do it. Talk to your users. Understand their pain points. And build a product that solves their problems.
Make it easy to share. Your users are your best salespeople. Make it easy for them to share your product with their friends. Build in viral loops. Create a referral program. Do whatever it takes to get the word out.
Focus on retention. It’s not enough to get users in the door. You have to keep them coming back. That means building a product that’s constantly evolving, that’s constantly getting better. It means listening to your users’ feedback and acting on it.
The Mistakes I’ve Made (and How You Can Avoid Them)
I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way. I’ve wasted thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns that didn’t work. I’ve spent months building features that nobody wanted. I’ve hired the wrong people. I’ve made every mistake in the book.
But I’ve learned from every single one of them. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned is this: you can’t force product-led growth. It has to be in your DNA. It has to be a part of your culture. It has to be who you are.
My Investment Thesis: What I Look for in a Startup
Now, as an investor, I look for startups that get this. I look for founders who are obsessed with their product, who are obsessed with their users. I look for companies that are building something that people love, something that people can’t help but share.
I’ve been lucky enough to invest in some amazing companies that are doing just that. Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. These are companies that are changing the world, not because they have the biggest sales teams or the biggest marketing budgets, but because they have the best products.
The Future of Growth
So, what’s the future of growth? It’s not about sales. It’s not about marketing. It’s about product.
If you’re a founder, my advice to you is this: stop worrying about the vanity metrics. Stop worrying about your website traffic, your social media followers, your email list. None of that matters.
Focus on building a product that people love. Focus on creating an experience that’s so good, your users can’t help but share it. If you do that, the growth will come. I promise.
Deeper Dive into the RemoteTeam Journey
Let's get into the weeds with RemoteTeam. It wasn't just about making hiring and payments easy. It was about trust. How does a company in the US trust a new hire in, say, Nigeria? How do they handle compliance? Taxes? Benefits? These weren't just features we were building; we were building a bridge of trust between employers and employees who had never met.
I remember one of our first customers, a small startup in San Francisco. They wanted to hire a brilliant engineer in Brazil. They were terrified. They had no idea how to handle the legal paperwork, the currency conversion, the local labor laws. They were about to give up on the idea. That's when they found us. Our product walked them through the entire process, step-by-step. We automated the contracts, we handled the currency conversion, we made sure they were compliant with Brazilian labor laws. The whole process took less than an hour. The founder sent me an email afterward. He said, "You didn't just save me a bunch of time and money. You made it possible for me to build the team I've always dreamed of."
That's the kind of impact that gets you out of bed in the morning. We weren't just building software. We were enabling global teams. We were helping companies tap into a global talent pool that was previously inaccessible to them. And we did it all with a product that was so simple, so intuitive, that it sold itself.
The Secret Sauce of MovieLaLa's Community
With MovieLaLa, we weren't just building an app. We were building a home for movie lovers. A place where they could geek out about their favorite films, discover hidden gems, and connect with people who shared their passion. We didn't just have users; we had fans. And our fans were the most passionate, engaged, and loyal community I've ever seen.
How did we do it? We listened. We were constantly in our forums, on social media, talking to our users. We asked them what they wanted, and then we built it for them. We added features like custom watchlists, personalized recommendations, and the ability to follow other users. We created a space where people felt seen, heard, and understood.
I'll never forget the time we launched a new feature that allowed users to create their own movie-themed GIFs. It was a huge hit. Our users started creating and sharing thousands of GIFs every day. They were using our app to express their love for movies in a way that was creative, fun, and personal. That's when I knew we had something special. We had created a platform that was more than just a utility. It was a community. And that community was the reason Gfycat acquired us. They didn't just want our technology; they wanted our soul.
Expanding the Playbook: Actionable Tactics
Let's break down the playbook even further. It's not enough to know the principles. You need to know how to apply them.
Nailing the "Aha!" Moment: This isn't a guessing game. You need to use data to figure out what your "aha!" moment is. Look at your most successful users. What did they do in their first few minutes on your product? What features did they use? What actions did they take? That's your breadcrumb trail. Follow it. And once you've found your "aha!" moment, you need to do everything you can to get your users there as quickly as possible. That means simplifying your onboarding flow, providing clear instructions, and offering help when they need it.
Building for Your Users, Not Your Ego: I've seen so many founders fall in love with their own ideas. They build products that are technically brilliant, but that nobody actually wants to use. Don't be that founder. Get out of the building. Talk to your users. Do customer interviews. Run surveys. Use a tool like Hotjar to see how people are actually using your product. And when you get feedback, don't be defensive. Be grateful. Your users are giving you a roadmap to success. All you have to do is follow it.
Engineering Virality: Virality isn't magic. It's math. You need to have a viral coefficient greater than 1. That means that for every user you acquire, they need to bring in at least one more user. How do you do that? You build virality into your product. Dropbox did it with their referral program. Hotmail did it with their email signature. You need to find a way to make it easy and rewarding for your users to share your product with their friends. It could be a discount, a free feature, or just the social currency of being the first to discover something cool.
The Art of Retention: Retention is the silent killer of startups. You can have the best acquisition engine in the world, but if you can't keep your users, you're going to fail. So how do you improve retention? You build a product that's sticky. A product that becomes a part of your users' daily workflow. A product that they can't imagine living without. That means constantly adding value, constantly improving your product, and constantly surprising and delighting your users. It also means building a strong relationship with your users. Send them personalized emails. Celebrate their successes. Make them feel like they're a part of your team.
More Mistakes, More Lessons
I could write a whole book about the mistakes I've made. But here are a few more that stand out:
Chasing the wrong metrics. In the early days of MovieLaLa, we were obsessed with downloads. We thought that if we could just get enough people to download our app, we would be successful. We were wrong. Downloads are a vanity metric. They don't tell you anything about whether people are actually using your product. We should have been focused on engagement. How many people were opening our app every day? How much time were they spending in the app? How many of them were coming back week after week? Those are the metrics that matter.
Hiring for skills, not for culture. I once hired a brilliant engineer who was a complete jerk. He was a 10x engineer, but he was also a 10x asshole. He destroyed our team morale. He made everyone around him miserable. And eventually, I had to fire him. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But it was also one of the best things I've ever done for my company. I learned that day that culture is more important than skills. You can teach someone to code. You can't teach them to be a good person.
Not thinking big enough. When I started RemoteTeam, I was just trying to solve my own problem. I had no idea that it would become a multi-million dollar company. I was thinking too small. I was limiting my own potential. It wasn't until I started talking to other founders and investors that I realized how big the opportunity was. And that's when I started to think bigger. I started to dream bigger. And that's when things really started to take off.
My Investment Philosophy: The People Behind the Product
When I'm looking at a potential investment, I'm not just looking at the product. I'm looking at the people behind the product. I'm looking for founders who are passionate, resilient, and coachable. I'm looking for founders who are obsessed with solving a real problem. I'm looking for founders who are building a company that's bigger than themselves.
I'm also looking for founders who understand the power of product-led growth. I'm looking for founders who are building a product that's so good, it sells itself. Because at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters. You can have the best idea in the world, but if you can't build a product that people love, you're not going to succeed.
And that's why I'm so excited about the future of technology. We're living in an age where anyone, anywhere, can build a product that can change the world. You don't need a fancy degree. You don't need a lot of money. You just need a good idea, a lot of hard work, and a relentless focus on your users. If you have those things, you can do anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.