ProductLed Podcast: "Why We're Giving Away Our $150K Playbook for Free"

Host: Wes Bush
Date: October 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Wes Bush, founder of ProductLed and bestselling author, explains the bold decision to give away the "ProductLed Playbook"—a resource developed with over $150,000 in investment—completely free of charge. He digs deep into the rationale behind democratizing access to the proven playbook, how it aligns with his mission to grow the entire product-led growth (PLG) category, and why liberating knowledge is a powerful business move. If you're a founder, team leader, or SaaS enthusiast interested in scaling through PLG models, this episode unpacks the how and the why behind one of the most generous knowledge-sharing moves in SaaS.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Backstory: Turning Down Publishers and Betting on Free Access

• Wes shares his motivation for self-publishing and distributing the playbook for free, resisting traditional publisher offers that conflicted with his mission.
• Despite offers from publishers, Wes insisted on retaining digital rights to distribute the playbook for free—a non-negotiable that publishers balked at.
  • "All of them wanted the digital rights to the book... I was like, I already know, given the last two books, I'm going to be giving this away for free. And I'm like, is that a problem? And they're like, yeah, hell yeah. That's a big prime." (02:14)
• Invested over $150,000 of his own money and 16 iterations to create the playbook.
• Core philosophy: "I am not in the business of guarding knowledge. I don't believe in it." (03:28)

2. Why Give Away the Playbook For Free?

a. Democratizing Product-Led Growth (PLG)

• PLG has often seemed like a "secret known only to Silicon Valley" or giant SaaS companies, but Wes sees it as a learnable, accessible skill.
  • "PLG is a skill at the end of the day, full stop. It can be learned, it can be practiced, and it can be scaled." (04:24)
• The Playbook is a roadmap for any company size, from $100k ARR to $100M ARR.

b. Attracting Doers and Future Clients

• Free access attracts people excited to implement, who become ideal clients later.
  • "It attracts many people who are doers... those are the clients where we get excited to work with." (05:16)

c. Enabling Team Alignment and Internal Champions

• The Playbook helps align entire organizations—not just product teams. It’s easily shareable for onboarding everyone from finance to sales.
  • "The best companies we have worked with... don't treat this like a siloed product thing. They treat this like a company thing." (06:12)
  • "One of the fastest ways is just now you can just send them the link to the free product LED playbook and then voila, everybody in Slack has access." (06:46)

d. Expanding the Product-Led Category (The Vision)

• Wes wants PLG to become the default SaaS growth system globally.
  • "In the next decade, product led companies are going to be the norm at the end of the day, full stop. If you don't have product LED Motion you just won't be able to compete." (07:34)
• Generosity as a Business Principle: Product-led businesses "can afford to have the most generous free plans and provide a ton of free value."
  • "That's really what this movement is all about. This book is just one small piece that will help unlock the next generation of product led founders who adopt this mindset." (08:12)

What's Inside the ProductLed Playbook? (08:42)

• Frameworks, templates, and a growth operating system—the same resources used with high-paying clients.
• Proven track record: Over $1B in self-serve revenue generated for 400+ SaaS companies.
• Key learnings in the Playbook:
  • How to design a free-to-paid conversion strategy that improves monthly.
  • How to align product and go-to-market teams around a single metric.
  • Secrets of scaling without massive headcount or complexity.

Notable Endorsements (09:43)

"There's only one way to build a $40 million plus ARR Bootstrap SaaS company without a large sales team. You must be product led. And this book shows you exactly how."
— Nathan Barry, ConvertKit

"We took Userflow from 0 to 5 million ARR with just three employees, and this is the manual for product led success."
— Esben, Userflow

"Being product led is critical to running a profitable SaaS business. It's the guide I wish I had when I started and now it's yours."
— G, Lempire

Action Steps & Final Takeaways

• Wes’s only ask:
  "If this playbook helps you, all I say is just share it. Start with your team, then send it to the founder who you think could benefit from this." (10:32)
• Where to get the Playbook:
  • productled.com/forward/book-playbook
• When you’re ready to scale further:
  • "You can always book a free PLG game plan session with our team at ProductLed.com..." (10:51)

Memorable Quotes

• On PLG Accessibility:

  "PLG is a skill at the end of the day, full stop. It can be learned, it can be practiced, and it can be scaled." (04:24)

• On Knowledge Sharing:

  "I am not in the business of guarding knowledge. I don't believe in it." (03:28)

• On the SaaS Future:

  "If you don't have product led motion, you just won't be able to compete in your market..." (07:34)

• The Big Ask:

  "Just share the product LED playbook with somebody else, please. That's my only ask for giving this away for free." (07:00)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:25: Introduction and Wes’s background.
• 01:26 – 03:49: Turning down publishers, investing in the book, and writing iterations.
• 03:50 – 05:10: Philosophy behind giving away IP and growing the PLG category.
• 05:11 – 06:39: Making PLG accessible and attracting doers.
• 06:40 – 07:33: Aligning teams with the Playbook and making it easy to share.
• 07:34 – 08:41: Expanding the PLG movement and category.
• 08:42 – 10:08: What’s inside the Playbook; endorsements from SaaS leaders.
• 10:09 – 11:00: Request for listeners to share the Playbook and where to get it.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode provides an inspiring look at why Wes Bush and ProductLed are challenging conventional business wisdom by giving away their most valuable frameworks for free. It’s both a masterclass in modern SaaS growth and a call to action for founders and teams to embrace a more open, collaborative future in product-led growth. If you want proven strategies trusted by SaaS legends—and a contagious passion for enabling broader success—this is a must-listen (or at least, must-read) episode summary.