If I was a B2B SaaS Founder or CEO doing $1-10M ARR and I wanted replicate Wes Bush's proven, “Try Before you Buy” method, here are the 6 STEPS I would take:

Context

Wes Bush is famous for his Product Led Growth Strategy (PLG)

AKA “Try Before You Buy” Method

1.  Confirm PLG is for you

- 97% of B2B buyers now prefer to self-educate vs. talk to sales

- Your ideal users prefer self-serve

- Your market is highly competitive

- Users can experience value quickly

2. Identify the “Magic Moment” in your product

- What is the first valuable moment a user can experience in under 5 minutes?

- your free plan or trial should be guiding users through that

3. Map out the Points of Friction

- For a user to reach your product's “Magic Moment” what is stopping them?

- Ei. Product issue : Confusing UI, long step, technical integrations

- Build out resources to solve these issues such as AI assistants, onboarding tips etc.

4. Design a Free Experience

- Choose best model for SaaS

- Freemium: Always free-tier with usage or features limit

- Free Trial: Free access for 7-14 days

- Reverse Trial: start with free trial then downgrade to free

5. Founder Led On Boarding (FIrst 30-50 Users) 

- Personally guide users through setup and activation

- Watch where they get stuck

- Watch what’s confusing and what excites them

- Use these learnings to improve features

6.  Layer in Automation if Needed

- Create on boarding guided flow or even an AI co pilot to guide user

- Setup email nudges based on user behaviour (ei. You haven’t connected your CRM)

- use data for surface high value actions

My Take:

Product Led Growth is not, set it and forget it.

It’s a system that evolves with user feedback.

And the more involved founders are

The better the improvements.