How Snyk built a product-led growth juggernaut | Ben Williams (VP of Product at Snyk)
Ben Williams is VP of Product at Snyk, an industry-leading security platform for developers, last valued at $8.5b. He’s also a product and growth advisor with over 20 years of experience building and scaling high-performing product and growth teams. Through product-led growth, product-led sales, and community, Snyk rapidly scaled and won over the lucrative developer audience. In today’s episode, Ben shares the successful growth levers that helped Snyk get started, all of the details of how Snyk has structured their growth, product, and marketing teams and set them up for success in terms of cross-collaboration—and also how their initial plan for self-serve monetization fell flat. We go into Ben’s many useful tips for product-led growth, including his thoughts on free vs. paid versions, trials, and how to build amazing growth teams. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, and YouTube. — Where to find Ben Williams: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/semanticben • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/semanticben/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Coda: https://coda.io/lenny • Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lenny • Vanta: https://vanta.com/lenny — Referenced: • Snyk: https://snyk.io/ • Weekly Team Impact & Learnings Review Template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GibNaJ4aONgp5Kg824NCionr1citHIDk3FLvMdkpX_Q/edit?usp=share_link • Monthly Group Impact & Learnings Review Template: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nQ18OTuRtc8urBnUWEObD_BlfdGDKlDDMFg8-G2GK7E/edit?usp=share_link • Experiment Plan Template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18LiGXKphGe1tUpZCQA20i4bJqf-S3kDbYnY4Pls_9kQ/edit?usp=share_link • Vision & Mission Framework: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CiRwscu-50lBr2c7yRLY_zXVzv5DCnYqNnS5Au83WC8/edit?usp=share_link • Ed Sim’s newsletter: https://whatshot.substack.com/ • Tamar Yehoshua on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tyehoshua • Julian Shapiro on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/growth-tactics-retention-strategies-and-becoming-a-better-writer-julian-shapiro-demand-curve-hyper-webflow-techcrunch/ • Annie Duke’s website: https://www.annieduke.com/ • Elena Verna on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/elena-verna-on-how-b2b-growth-is-changing-product-led-growth-product-led-sales-why-you-should-go-freemium-not-trial-what-features-to-make-free-and-much-more/ • Growth loops: https://www.reforge.com/blog/growth-loops • Brian Balfour on using learnings: https://brianbalfour.com/growth-machine/maximize-learning • Adam Fishman on Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/how-to-build-a-high-performing-growth-team-adam-fishman-patreon-lyft-imperfect-foods/ • Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/ • FullStory: https://www.fullstory.com/ • User Interviews: https://www.userinterviews.com/ • User Testing: https://www.usertesting.com/ • Sprig: https://sprig.com/surveys • Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/home/toolkit • How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of “Intangibles” in Business: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470110120/ • Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days: https://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Solve-Problems-Test-Ideas/dp/150112174X • Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078QSCM3V/ • This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race: https://www.amazon.com/This-They-Tell-World-Ends/dp/1635576059 • Acquired podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/ • Turning Red on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/turning-red/4mFPCXJi7N2m • Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/curb-your-enthusiasm • Christine Itwaru’s blog: https://prodops.blog/ — In this episode, we cover: (04:44) Ben’s background (07:27) What is Snyk, and what’s the current scale? (08:45) Why Ben joined Snyk (09:29) How Snyk got their first 100 users (15:14) How Snyk used developer conferences and in-person meet-ups to launch (19:23) How Snyk used GitHub as a growth lever (23:50) Snyk Advisor, and other growth loops Snyk successfully used (26:56) Snyk’s failed attempt at self-serve monetization (31:21) How to win the hearts and minds of developers (33:38) How adding sales and marketing teams helped Snyk gain momentum (35:11) The evolution of Snyk’s growth team (37:26) Snyk’s key areas of growth and how Ben solved tension between teams (39:32) What is Snyk’s decision science team? (40:59) Why Snyk has a growth marketer embedded on each team (43:39) The importance of having an amazing SEO person (46:21) Advice on building growth teams (51:32) Ben’s vision and mission framework (53:53) More on the growth process and experimentation (56:04) Using learnings as a path to impact (57:32) Growth strategy (1:02:26) Data in growth teams (1:06:33) How Snyk socializes learnings (1:10:05) How Snyk structures their product org (1:13:15) Free vs. paid features and how to approach trials (1:18:57) Activation milestones at Snyk (1:23:05) The most valuable tools for Snyk’s growth team (1:25:21) Lightning round — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. You’re a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Key phrases
Older messages
Lessons from one of the world’s top executive recruiters | Lauren Ipsen (Daversa Partners, General Catalyst)
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Listen now (69 min) | Lauren Ipsen is one of the most well-known and respected executive recruiters in the industry, having placed over 90 senior product leaders at companies including Twitter, Reddit,
Building Substack | Sachin Monga (Substack, Facebook)
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Listen now (61 min) | Sachin Monga is the Head of Product at Substack, a platform that I personally use every day, and love. Before Substack, Sachin co-founded an app called Cocoon, which he ended up
Category creation and brand building | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Listen now (56 min) | Barbra Gago is the founder and CEO of Pando, where she's democratizing career progression. Previously she worked as the Chief Marketing Officer and Global Head of Marketing at
What is a good activation rate
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Good and great activation rates based on the results of our benchmarking survey
How to build trust and grow as a product leader | Fareed Mosavat (Reforge, Slack, Instacart, Zynga, Pixar)
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Listen now (65 min) | Fareed Mosavat is Chief Development Officer at Reforge, where he leads production, content, and new-product experiences. Previously, he led growth and product teams at Slack and
You Might Also Like
The Growth Newsletter #167
Friday, March 29, 2024
Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions Demand Curve Read on demandcurve.com The Growth Newsletter #167 Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions Copywriting is one of the most
The maturation of Munich
Friday, March 29, 2024
Does Europe need the "next Silicon Valley"? The frantic search for buried hydrogen and a big raise for industrial automation. View in browser Morgan Stanley flagship logo Good morning there,
Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users
Friday, March 29, 2024
The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024
Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users
Friday, March 29, 2024
The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024
SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28 Featured and useful products Loach logo Loach Say goodbye to unachieved OKRs with Loach, an OKR management solution that empowers your team to seamlessly align their daily work
84 new Shopify apps for you 🌟
Thursday, March 28, 2024
New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 Week 12 Mar 18, 2024 - Mar 25, 2024 New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 What's New at Shopify? 🌱 New login requirements for the Order Status Page Changed ⸱
We've Been Tinkering
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Join Our Beta! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
AMA with Chiedo John, Director of Growth @ GitHub
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Live on Wednesday, April 3rd, starting at 9 AM PST͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
red hot startup intel
Thursday, March 28, 2024
FULL SWOT analysis on Ramp, Databricks, Cohere, Devoted Health, and Coalition inside Scouting Reports on 🔥 Startups Download Now Hi there, Psst. Want competitive intel on the top 5 industry leading
The Ultimate Amazon Guide: Strategies For Sellers In 2024
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Learn from Melisa Vong for FREE in the Start Your Ecommerce Business Summit ! Another day, another exciting opportunity to introduce you to one of our 20+ ecomm trailblazers in the Start Your Ecommerce