Freemium

In Freemium, Dave Boyce—Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Stanford Business Books author, and Harvard MBA faculty—provides a comprehensive, tactical blueprint for implementing product-led growth (PLG) through freemium models. Drawing from case studies of Dropbox, Zoom, Slack, Atlassian, HubSpot, and DocuSign, the book shows how companies leveraged “free first” strategies to reduce acquisition costs, fuel organic referrals, and build recurring revenue at scale. It covers how to design products that drive adoption, how to construct effective self-service onboarding, how to convert free users into premium customers, and how enterprises can balance PLG with traditional sales-led motions. Throughout, Boyce emphasizes that product execution—rather than headcount or outbound selling—is the heart of sustainable modern growth.

Best For

• CEOs & Founders defining long-term GTM strategy in a product-centric world

• Product & Growth Leaders building acquisition funnels and self-service experiences

• RevOps & GTM Operations teams integrating PLG into measurement and motion design

• CROs & Revenue Leaders blending product-led acquisition with enterprise expansion

• Boards & Investors evaluating capital-efficient growth models

Key Takeaways

• Freemium/PLG can dramatically reduce customer acquisition costs by leveraging the product itself.

• Successful PLG companies flip selling around: the product becomes the first salesperson.

• Onboarding and user experience aren’t just CX concerns—they drive conversion and retention.

• Product-led strategies must be paired with monetization motion design to convert free users into revenue.

• PLG isn’t limited to software startups—enterprise organizations can blend freemium tactics with traditional GTM motions.

• Customer expansion and upgrades (upsell) are essential for scaling freemium into predictable recurring revenue.

• Freemium strategy evolves with market dynamics and often preceded sales-led arrangements at successful companies.