NPLG 9.30.22: The Power of Ungating User Sign Ups
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NPLG Startup of the Week: Eraser
There are ~30M software engineers in the world and is one of the fastest growing job segments. Developers are increasingly becoming the tastemakers inside companies for what tools and products are adopted. One of the trends I am excited about is collaboration and productivity tools that are purpose-built for engineers. In a remote work environment, engineers need to whiteboard, but many of the general-purpose products don’t have the integrations and components that engineers require. Enter Eraser.
Eraser is a powerful and collaborative whiteboarding canvas specifically built for engineering teams. Since launching in March 2021 over 1.5M users have used Eraser to draw architecture diagrams, create technical planning docs, conduct whiteboard interviews, and sketch wireframes. For this edition of Notorious PLG, Founder Shin Kim shared with me his PLG strategy. Eraser is trend-setting in ungating the product experience in that Eraser removes the friction of an email signup and lets users get right to the product without having to register. Read more below:
“Why PLG for Eraser?
First, Eraser is a collaboration tool and collaboration tools are a natural fit for PLG. All the major use cases in Eraser either require or are greatly enhanced when a user brings in another user. For example, a live brainstorming session will require a thought partner, a technical design doc will be circulated to colleagues for feedback, and a system design interview requires an interviewer and an interviewee.
Second, Eraser serves developers who are often allergic to overt sales and marketing. They want to skip the fluff and get to the product as quickly as possible. This makes PLG almost the only sensible go-to-market option for this end market unless your product's adoption requires explicit buy-in from engineering management.
How Eraser does PLG
Here are Eraser's PLG strategies and specific examples of how we implement each strategy:
#1. Reduce time to product
Un-gated product experience. Each additional step in the signup flow is opportunity for the user to bounce as well as incremental delayed gratification. That's why Eraser does not require creating an account to use the product. Try visiting app.tryeraser.com and it will drop you straight into a state that is ready to write and draw. This means Eraser doesn't capture as many email addresses upfront. But it reduces bouncing and generates goodwill for front-loading value.
Link sharing on by default. Nothing is more frustrating than being sent a link only to open it and find you don't have access. That's why link sharing is on by default in Eraser with the option to turn it off. Defaults are important because most users won't bother changing. You'll find the same defaults in other products that take PLG seriously like Loom and Figma.
#2. Show don't tell
Product-forward marketing site. Eraser takes "show don't tell" to another level on the marketing site. The landing page counts 13 short videos that are just screen captures of the product. And the gallery page contains full-size live embeds of the product, allowing the user to directly experience the product without leaving the marketing site.
No product tour. We believe the best products don't require explanation. That's why we make it a point to not provide a product tour upon sign up or after a feature launch (instead a small "new" badge is added to features). This has the benefit of forcing us to design in a way that is intuitive and discoverable.
#3. Cultivate unique growth loops
Generic growth loops like "offer a referral bonus" or "encourage sharing" are less impactful because users are likely desensitized to the tactics. We've found more impactful growth loops are often very local to the problem space. For example:
GitHub readme's. Technical diagrams created in Eraser often end up in readme files on GitHub. Readme files are highly visible to Eraser's target audience who might feel inspired to create their own diagram after seeing an Eraser diagram on a readme file. Greasing the flywheel on this niche growth loop is an effective strategy for Eraser.
Virtual offices. Just like a physical office, virtual offices need whiteboards too. Eraser partners with major products in this space like Gather and Kumospace to power their users' whiteboard experience. This is another example of a growth loop that is very specific to Eraser's problem space.”
I would love feedback. Please hit me up on twitter @zacharydewitt or email me at zach@wing.vc. If you were forwarded this email and are interested in getting a weekly update on the best PLG companies, please join our growing community by subscribing:
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