Library
The library is organized as the GTM stack — three layers, top down. Strategy decides who you serve, what distinct value you offer, and how you capture it. Functions (Marketing, Sales, Customer Success) execute the strategy. Motion is the path a stranger takes through that execution to become expanding revenue.
Motion comes in two shapes — sales-led (Lead-to-Revenue) and product-led (PLG). Both funnels are shown below.
The GTM stack
Section titled “The GTM stack”flowchart TD
subgraph STRAT[" STRATEGY — the decisions "]
direction LR
ICP[1 ICP<br/>who you serve] --> POS[2 Positioning<br/>what value, vs what alternatives] --> PRICE[3 Pricing<br/>how you capture value]
end
subgraph FUNC[" FUNCTIONS — who executes "]
direction LR
MKT[Marketing<br/>demand creation] --- SALES[Sales<br/>conversion] --- CS[Customer Success<br/>retention & expansion]
end
subgraph MOTION[" MOTION — how it flows "]
direction LR
L2R[Lead-to-Revenue<br/>sales-led] --- PLG[PLG<br/>product-led]
end
STRAT --> FUNC --> MOTION
How to read it: Strategy decides the play. Functions are the teams that run it. Motion is the path a stranger travels to become expanding revenue. A change at the top ripples down — a shift in ICP changes positioning, which changes pricing, which changes how Marketing and Sales operate.
Lead-to-Revenue funnel (sales-led motion)
Section titled “Lead-to-Revenue funnel (sales-led motion)”flowchart TD
%% ================= MARKETING =================
subgraph MKT[" MARKETING — Demand Creation "]
direction TB
A1[Awareness<br/>ads, SEO, content, social] --> A2[Visitor / Audience]
A2 --> A3[Lead<br/>captured contact / sign-up]
A3 --> A4[MQL<br/>Marketing Qualified Lead<br/>hits lead-score threshold]
end
%% ================= HANDOFF =================
A4 --> H{{"HANDOFF — SLA<br/>Sales reviews & accepts"}}
H -->|Accepted| S1
H -->|Rejected / Nurture| A3
%% ================= SALES =================
subgraph SAL[" SALES — Conversion "]
direction TB
S1[SQL<br/>Sales Qualified Lead] --> S2[Discovery / Demo]
S2 --> S3[Opportunity<br/>active deal in pipeline]
S3 --> S4[Proposal & Negotiation]
S4 --> S5{Close}
S5 -->|Won| W1
S5 -->|Lost| L1[Closed-Lost<br/>recycle to nurture]
L1 --> A3
end
%% ================= REVENUE =================
subgraph REV[" CUSTOMER SUCCESS — Revenue Growth "]
direction TB
W1[Customer<br/>Closed-Won] --> W2[Onboarding & Activation]
W2 --> W3[Retention]
W3 --> W4[Upsell / Cross-sell / Renewal]
W4 --> W5[Expansion Revenue]
end
%% ================= METRICS =================
A4 -.MQL volume, cost per lead.-> M1[(Shared KPIs:<br/>conversion rate per stage,<br/>velocity, CAC, LTV)]
H -.MQL→SQL accept rate.-> M1
S5 -.win rate, deal size.-> M1
W4 -.NRR, churn.-> M1
It’s a flowchart (not a mind map) because a funnel is about flow — how a stranger becomes paying, expanding revenue.
How to read the Lead-to-Revenue funnel
Section titled “How to read the Lead-to-Revenue funnel”- Marketing owns demand creation: Awareness → Visitor → Lead → MQL. The MQL gate is the lead-score threshold where a lead is “ready” to pass over.
- Handoff is the critical MQL→SQL boundary, governed by an SLA. Sales either accepts (becomes an SQL) or rejects and recycles the lead back into Marketing nurture — that feedback loop is what keeps the boundary honest.
- Sales owns conversion: SQL → Discovery → Opportunity → Proposal → Close. Lost deals recycle back to nurture rather than vanishing.
- Customer Success owns revenue growth: Onboarding → Retention → Upsell / Renewal → Expansion.
- Shared KPIs show which metrics each stage feeds, so both teams measure the same funnel rather than arguing over leads.
The two recycle loops — rejected MQLs and closed-lost deals returning to nurture — are the parts most diagrams omit, but they’re where a lot of pipeline efficiency actually lives.
Product-Led Growth funnel (product-led motion)
Section titled “Product-Led Growth funnel (product-led motion)”flowchart TD
%% ================= ACQUISITION =================
subgraph ACQ[" ACQUISITION — Product as the Funnel "]
direction TB
A1[Discovery<br/>marketplaces, SEO,<br/>content, word-of-mouth] --> A2[Listing / Landing<br/>screenshots, reviews,<br/>social proof]
A2 --> A3[Sign-up / Install<br/>free tier or free trial]
end
%% ================= ACTIVATION =================
subgraph ACT[" ACTIVATION — First Value (Aha! Moment) "]
direction TB
B1[Setup<br/>install / connect / configure] --> B2[Configure<br/>first workflow set up]
B2 --> B3[Aha Moment<br/>first real use of core feature<br/>delivers value]
B3 --> B4[Activated User<br/>core value experienced]
end
A3 --> B1
%% ================= ENGAGEMENT =================
subgraph ENG[" ENGAGEMENT — Habit & Retention "]
direction TB
C1[Recurring Use<br/>used regularly] --> C2[Feature Depth<br/>more features,<br/>broader usage]
C2 --> C3[Retained User<br/>sticky, low churn risk]
end
B4 --> C1
%% ================= PQL GATE (the PLG handoff) =================
C3 --> P{{"PQL SIGNAL<br/>Product Qualified Lead<br/>usage hits value threshold<br/>e.g. quota cap, paywall, premium flow"}}
P -->|Self-serve upgrade| M1
P -->|High-value account| SA[Sales-Assist<br/>optional human touch<br/>for larger accounts]
SA --> M1
P -->|Not ready| C2
%% ================= MONETIZATION =================
subgraph MON[" MONETIZATION — Convert to Paid "]
direction TB
M1[In-app Upgrade Prompt<br/>contextual, at value moment] --> M2[Paid Plan<br/>subscription tier]
M2 --> M3[Expansion<br/>higher tier, add-ons, seats]
M3 --> M4[Advocacy<br/>reviews, referrals, case studies]
end
M4 -.fuels.-> A1
%% ================= METRICS =================
A3 -.signup rate.-> K1[(PLG KPIs:<br/>activation rate, TTV,<br/>free→paid %, NRR,<br/>PQL→paid %, churn)]
B4 -.activation rate / time-to-value.-> K1
C3 -.retention / DAU-WAU.-> K1
P -.PQL conversion.-> K1
M3 -.net revenue retention.-> K1
How to read the PLG funnel
Section titled “How to read the PLG funnel”The whole middle of the funnel is reframed around value delivery, not lead handoffs. The gate isn’t an MQL→SQL handoff; it’s a PQL signal — the user’s own usage tells you they’re ready to pay (e.g. hitting a free-tier cap, crossing a feature-usage threshold, or trying to use a premium flow).
- Activation / Aha moment is the single biggest lever in PLG — it’s the first real use of the core feature, and until the user experiences value firsthand, nothing else matters. Optimizing time-to-value here moves every downstream number.
- The PQL gate has three exits, not two: self-serve upgrade (most users), an optional sales-assist path for larger accounts worth a human touch, and a “not ready” loop back into deeper engagement. Most small accounts will be pure self-serve; sales-assist is only worth building once you see larger accounts that justify the human cost.
- Advocacy feeds back into Acquisition — public reviews and referrals are typically the cheapest acquisition channel, which is why the loop closes back to Discovery.
Honest caveat: the dotted KPI box lists the metrics that matter, but PLG lives or dies on activation rate and free→paid conversion. If those two are weak, no amount of top-of-funnel traffic saves you.
Activation and PQL thresholds
Section titled “Activation and PQL thresholds”The two PLG numbers that move everything else are activation rate (how many sign-ups reach first value) and the PQL conversion rate (how many activated users cross the readiness-to-pay threshold). Both depend on defining the right thresholds — which depend on instrumenting the right events.
Activation metric
Section titled “Activation metric”Activation is the single observable event that says “this user got the core value.” A useful template:
Activation = [core value action] × [quantity] within [time window]
e.g. "completed 3 successful runs of the core workflow in the first 7 days"Three properties an activation metric must have:
- Causal — users who hit it retain noticeably better than those who don’t (verify with a cohort cut, not a hunch).
- Early — it happens in the first session or first few days, not week 3. If it’s too late, you can’t act on it.
- Single — one event, not a composite score. Composite scores hide what to fix.
Benchmark: most healthy self-serve products land between 20-40% activation of sign-ups. Below ~20%, onboarding is broken before any other lever is worth pulling.
PQL thresholds
Section titled “PQL thresholds”A Product Qualified Lead is an activated user whose usage now predicts willingness to pay. PQL signals fall into three types — and a strong PQL definition usually requires at least one from each:
| Signal type | What it tells you | Generic examples |
|---|---|---|
| Value-realized | They’ve felt the core benefit | reached N successful uses; hit “wow” feature; saved measurable time |
| Limit-pressure | Free plan is now binding | hit usage cap; near seat limit; tried a gated feature |
| Intent | They’re evaluating buying | visited the pricing page; invited teammates; checked the billing/upgrade screen |
Composition rule:
- Value alone → happy but not ready to pay (no urgency).
- Pressure or intent without value → will churn shortly after upgrading (no stickiness).
- Both → a real PQL.
Free → paid benchmarks worth knowing as priors:
- Freemium (free-forever tier): ~2-5% convert to paid is typical; >8% is excellent.
- Free trial with credit card: ~15-25% trial → paid is typical.
- Free trial without credit card: much lower, often single digits — the credit-card step is a qualification step.
Priors, not targets
Section titled “Priors, not targets”These benchmarks are starting priors, not targets. The right move is: ship instrumentation, run for 4-6 weeks with real traffic, then set your activation and PQL thresholds where your cohort curves bend. Until you have that data, every threshold is a guess — useful for shipping, but not for optimizing.
Sections
Section titled “Sections”- Strategy — ICP & Segmentation, Positioning, Pricing & Packaging.
- Marketing — Market Research, Strategy (STP), Marketing Mix (4 Ps), Branding, Analytics & Measurement.
- Sales — Prospecting, Qualification, Pipeline & Process, Selling & Engagement, Closing, Analytics & Forecasting.
- Customer Success — Onboarding, Retention, Upsell & Cross-sell, Renewals, Expansion.
The PLG funnel’s stages map to dedicated measurement pages: Funnel (Acquisition → Conversion → Retention) and PLG vs Sales-Led Measurement for PQL/PQA metrics and motion-specific funnels.
Use the sidebar to navigate; the order there follows the logical business-process flow within each section. Hit an unfamiliar term? See the Glossary.
How to use this library
Section titled “How to use this library”- Start with the Workbook. It’s a fill-in-the-blanks template that walks you through Strategy → Marketing → Sales → Customer Success → Operate. The library chapters back each step with concept and detail; the Worked Example shows the Workbook filled in for a sample product.
- Treat Strategy as decisions, Functions and Motion as execution. The three strategy pages have templates to fill in; the function and motion pages are reusable structures.
- Pick one motion as primary. Sales-led and product-led are different operating models. Hybrid is real, but choose a primary motion before bolting on the other.
- Revisit quarterly. GTM is not write-once. Tighten the ICP, sharpen the positioning, and re-tune pricing and thresholds against real cohorts.