Dave Boyce is Executive Chairman at Winning by Design, board member at Forrester, and creator of the first MBA course on Product-Led Growth.
He’s sold companies to Oracle and Amazon, scaled products to profitability without a sales team, and now teaches SaaS operators how to win in a world where freemium isn’t a pricing tier — it’s the strategy.
The Onboarding Moment That Defines Growth
“Your product’s story doesn’t start when the user converts. It starts when they click ‘Try Now.’”
In 2025, onboarding is your GTM motion — and AI isn’t assistive anymore. It’s foundational. In this episode, Dave breaks down how to design onboarding that drives retention, powers PLG, and scales revenue.
In This Episode:
Why most founders go PLG too early — or too passively
The difference between a PLG motion vs. a PLG company
What to measure before revenue kicks in
When layering sales kills PLG momentum — and when it accelerates it
How AI makes onboarding personalized and scalable
Why automated renewals should be your first RevOps automation
The rise of the GTM Architect — and why tactics without architecture fail
What tools to use when building your AI-native GTM stack
How Dave’s MBA students are learning PLG by running experiments
The pattern behind every scalable SaaS exit (hint: it’s not CAC payback)
5 GTM Takeaways to Steal
1. Time to First Impact > Time to Value
The user journey starts at first click. Get to impact faster — or lose them forever.
2. Retention Before Revenue
If users aren’t coming back, don’t expect them to pay. Optimize for usage first.
3. Automate the Renewal
The lowest-hanging fruit in RevOps. Systematize it and move up the stack.
4. Don’t Add Sales Too Soon
Let PLG stabilize before layering sales. Premature pressure kills momentum.
5. GTM Architect > GTM Engineer
Clever workflows won’t scale without a unified theory of growth.
Featured Toolkit
The Omni-Stack Playbook
A stage-by-stage GTM system for pre-launch, activation, traction, and scale.
Grab the playbook →
Also inside:
Coming Soon: Freemium by Dave Boyce
Releasing August 2025 from Stanford University Press.
A practical deep dive into PLG strategy in the AI-native era.
Pre-order at ProductLedGTM →
Listen to the Full Episode
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Connect
Follow:
LinkedIn: Dave Boyce
Product Led GTM
Follow Rick Koleta:
LinkedIn: Rick Koleta
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