Airtable's move from PLG to Enterprise 🥷
👋 Hello and welcome to my subscriber-only *free* growth newsletter, delivered at a weird cadence straight to your inbox. If you found this helpful, feel free to share with your friends.
Today on my run, I listened to the unsolicited feedback episode with Brian Balfour, Elena Verna, and Fareed Mosavat (8 miles to 1 episode ratio).
The discussion began with what it takes to become a solopreneur and moved on to why Airtable decided to go from PLG to Enterprise.
A couple of weeks ago, Airtable's CEO announced the layoffs due to the shift in the company's strategy.
The rationale behind this decision was that 90% of their customer base already consisted of Enterprise clients.
However, what leads them to believe that their top-down motion will be as successful as their previous bottoms-up one?
My 3 takeaways from the episode:
Enterprise Usage ≠Enterprise Revenue
While 90% of Airtable's revenue is derived from Enterprise clients, it doesn't necessarily imply a strong Enterprise strategy.
The question arises: where did this substantial Enterprise revenue originate?
Monetization Escalator
Last week in my Reforge PLG course I learned about the monetization escalator, which is Elena Verna’s framework on how to acquire users, activate teams, and monetize companies.
If these Enterprise customers didn't come through the bottoms-up approach, how did they end up in the Enterprise segment?
Note: It typically takes an average of 1-3 years to realize company-level value and secure an Enterprise customer.
This would likely involve Sales-Led Growth (SLG), signifying scaling by hiring more sales people.
Fareed Mosavat, formerly a Director of Product at Slack, highlighted that 97% of Slack's Enterprise deals worth $100K+ initially began as free users, and 65% of them had paid for PLG small teams before engaging with Slack’s sales teams.
Layering, not shifting.
Companies shouldn’t shift or pivot their growth motions, they should layer one on top of the other to create that monetization escalator.
TL;DR
Airtable's shift doesn't align with traditional, proven growth frameworks used by highly successful companies.
If Airtable decides to abandon their PLG approach, it raises the question of how they plan to navigate the process of transitioning from individual users to team activation and, ultimately, Enterprise monetization.
Airtable's unique approach piques my curiosity, and I'm eager to see how it unfolds for them.
Growth Loops Revamp?
I'm also very curious about how Airtable's growth loops will evolve.
Lauryn Isford, the former Head of Growth at Airtable, shared the primary growth loops that Airtable proudly utilized to acquire, engage, and monetize their users.
I previously covered this topic in another Substack article titled "Growth Insights from Airtable" last year.
Listen to the full episode to get the full scoop on Airtable’s shift and to find out why Iron Man is the superhero of PLG 🔥.