PLG Readiness Check

Use this when a client is considering product-led growth or is early in a PLG transition and needs to know what operational foundations are missing.

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How it works

1. You describe the client's current GTM model and PLG ambitions
2. The skill assesses readiness across operational dimensions that PLG requires
3. It returns a readiness scorecard with gaps and sequenced recommendations

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Prompt

You are conducting a product-led growth operational readiness assessment for Kate Makrigiannis. Kate is a product strategist and consultant. PLG sounds exciting on paper — the product drives acquisition, retention, and expansion. But the part everyone glosses over is that PLG is an enormous operational challenge. If users can discover, sign up, onboard, and get to value without talking to a human, every part of that journey has to be designed, instrumented, and maintained. There is no "we'll fix it live on the next call" safety net.

Inputs I will provide:

• Current GTM model: {{CURRENT_GTM}} (sales-led, hybrid, early PLG, or aspirational PLG)
• PLG ambitions: {{PLG_AMBITIONS}} (what they're trying to achieve — self-serve signups, freemium, product-qualified leads, expansion revenue, etc.)
• Product type: {{PRODUCT_TYPE}} (B2B SaaS, marketplace, dev tool, etc.)
• Known blockers (optional): {{BLOCKERS}} (anything already identified as a challenge)

Step 1: Assess readiness across 7 dimensions

For each dimension, rate as: Not Ready / Partially Ready / Ready / Advanced

1. Discovery & Acquisition

• Can users find and try the product without talking to sales?
• Is there a clear self-serve entry point (free trial, freemium, sandbox)?
• Is the value proposition clear enough for self-qualification?

2. Onboarding & Time-to-Value

• Can a new user reach their "aha moment" without human help?
• How long does it take? (Minutes vs. hours vs. days)
• Is onboarding personalized by use case or role?
• What percentage of signups actually activate?

3. Feedback Loops & Instrumentation

• Is product usage tracked with enough granularity to identify friction?
• Are feedback mechanisms embedded in the product (in-app surveys, NPS, feature requests)?
• Does usage data flow to the teams that need it (product, sales, success)?

4. Product-Qualified Lead (PQL) Infrastructure

• Is there a definition of a PQL?
• Can the system identify when a user is ready for expansion, upsell, or human touch?
• Is there a handoff process from product → sales for qualified leads?

5. Self-Serve Monetization

• Can users upgrade, add seats, or expand without talking to a human?
• Is pricing transparent and self-serve?
• Are there usage-based or value-based pricing mechanisms?

6. Cross-Functional Ops

• Are product, growth, sales, marketing, and success aligned on the PLG motion?
• Who owns the self-serve funnel?
• Is there shared visibility into conversion, activation, and retention metrics?

7. Experimentation & Iteration

• Can the team run experiments on onboarding, pricing, or activation flows?
• Is there a process for learning from experiments?
• How quickly can changes be shipped to the self-serve experience?

Step 2: Identify the critical path

• Which dimensions are blocking PLG progress right now?
• What's the dependency chain? (e.g., can't do PQL without instrumentation)
• What's the minimum viable PLG foundation for this specific product/market?

Step 3: Generate output

PLG Context Summary

What the client is trying to achieve and their starting point.

Readiness Scorecard

Dimension	Rating	Key Evidence
Discovery & Acquisition	[rating]	[evidence]
Onboarding & Time-to-Value	[rating]	[evidence]
Feedback Loops & Instrumentation	[rating]	[evidence]
PQL Infrastructure	[rating]	[evidence]
Self-Serve Monetization	[rating]	[evidence]
Cross-Functional Ops	[rating]	[evidence]
Experimentation & Iteration	[rating]	[evidence]

Critical Path

The 3-4 things that must be true before PLG can work for this client. Ordered by dependency.

What to Build First

Sequenced recommendations. For each:

• What to do
• Why it comes first (dependency or highest impact)
• Expected effort
• What "done" looks like

What to Defer

Things the client might think they need now but can wait. Explain why.

PLG Anti-Patterns to Avoid

3-5 common mistakes relevant to this client's situation (e.g., "building a free tier before the paid experience is solid", "adding self-serve without instrumenting the funnel", "letting PLG become a way to avoid investing in sales instead of complementing it")

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PLG Economics

After the readiness assessment, add a financial reality check:

• CAC comparison: Estimate the client's current customer acquisition cost under their sales-led model (deal size, sales cycle length, headcount involved). Then estimate what CAC could look like under PLG (lower touch, higher volume, longer time-to-convert). Be explicit about assumptions.
• LTV implications: Does PLG change who the customer is? Smaller customers, shorter contracts, but more of them. Estimate whether total LTV per cohort goes up or down, and over what time horizon. Flag if the math only works at scale.
• Cash flow timing: PLG has fundamentally different cash dynamics. Sales-led: fewer, larger deals, revenue arrives in chunks. PLG: many small conversions, revenue compounds slowly then accelerates. Note the cash flow gap between investment and payoff, and whether the client's runway supports it.
• Investment estimate: For each item in the "What to Build First" section, add a rough cost estimate (engineering time, tooling, headcount) and expected payback timeline. Format:

Build Item	Estimated Cost	Payback Horizon	Confidence
[item]	[cost]	[months]	[Low/Med/High]

This section exists because PLG enthusiasm often outpaces PLG budgets. Kate needs to ground the conversation in what it actually costs to make this transition. Flag speculative numbers with .

For VoC operational foundations needed for PLG, use the voc-program-designer skill. For metrics and instrumentation, use metrics-dashboard.

Examples

Input

• Current GTM: "Sales-led. Inbound demo requests, 2-week pilot, then annual contract."
• PLG ambitions: "Want to add a free tier to get more top-of-funnel. CEO saw competitor launch one."
• Product type: "B2B workflow automation for operations teams"
• Blockers: "Product requires custom configuration for each customer. Average onboarding is 3 weeks with a solutions engineer."

Output (abbreviated)

PLG Context Summary: The client wants to add a free tier to a product that currently requires 3 weeks of custom configuration and a solutions engineer. This is a significant mismatch between PLG ambitions and product readiness.

Readiness Scorecard:

Dimension	Rating	Key Evidence
Discovery & Acquisition	Partially Ready	Inbound demand exists, but no self-serve entry point
Onboarding & Time-to-Value	Not Ready	3-week custom configuration. No self-serve path to value.
Feedback Loops & Instrumentation	Not Ready	Not mentioned — likely minimal
PQL Infrastructure	Not Ready	No concept of PQL in current model
Self-Serve Monetization	Not Ready	Annual contracts via sales
Cross-Functional Ops	Not Ready	Sales-led org; no PLG ownership
Experimentation & Iteration	Not Ready	Not mentioned

Critical Path:

1. First: Solve the onboarding problem. A free tier without self-serve onboarding is just a free demo that nobody can use.
2. Identify a simplified use case that can deliver value without 3 weeks of configuration. Not every workflow needs to be self-serve — find the one that can be.
3. Instrument the simplified experience before opening it up...