Gingiris B2b Growth

🇺🇸 B2B SaaS Growth — PLG vs SLG Playbook — Diagnose whether your problem is distribution, pricing, or PMF. PLG/SLG selection by ACV and sales cycle, the 5-stage path from $0 to $10M ARR, NRR discipline, affiliate & channel motion, enterprise tiering. Built from HeyGen, Deel, Vercel, Supabase, Snowflake patterns. 🇨🇳 B2B SaaS 增长 — PLG vs SLG 决策手册 — 诊断你的瓶颈是分发、定价还是 PMF。按 ACV 和销售周期选 PLG/SLG，$0 → $10M ARR 的 5 阶段路径，NRR 纪律，联盟与渠道打法，Enterprise 分层。提炼自 HeyGen、Deel、Vercel、Supabase、Snowflake。 🇯🇵 B2B SaaS グロース — PLG vs SLG プレイブック — 課題が流通・価格・PMFのどれかを診断。ACVとセールスサイクルでPLG/SLG選定、$0→$10M ARRの5段階パス、NRR規律、アフィリエイト＆チャネル。 🇰🇷 B2B SaaS 성장 — PLG vs SLG 플레이북 — 병목이 유통·가격·PMF 중 무엇인지 진단. ACV와 세일즈 사이클로 PLG/SLG 선택, $0 → $10M ARR 5단계 경로, NRR 규율, 제휴 & 채널. Triggers: "B2B growth" | "B2B SaaS" | "PLG" | "SLG" | "product-led growth" | "sales-led growth" | "PLG or SLG" | "SaaS pricing" | "ARR growth" | "NRR" | "go to market" | "enterprise sales" | "affiliate" | "PMF" | "B2B 增长" | "PLG 还是 SLG" | "SaaS 定价" | "渠道合作" | "PLG/SLG 선택"

B2B SaaS Growth — PLG / SLG Playbook

🌍 Language / 语言: English | 中文

"People like it but revenue isn't growing" is rarely one problem. It's usually a mis-matched motion: a PLG product run with an SLG playbook, or vice versa. Start by diagnosing the motion, then walk the staged path.

---

English Version

Pick your motion (the flywheel)

text

        PLG (product-driven)
              ↑
   existing traffic + short decision
   ←─────────────────────────────────→
   needs trust + long cycle
              ↓
        SLG (sales-driven)

Signal	Motion	Reference
ACV < $1k/yr and decision < 1 week	PLG	Vercel, Supabase
ACV > $10k/yr and decision > 1 month	SLG	Snowflake, Databricks
In between	PLG-to-SLG hybrid	HeyGen, Deel

The 5-stage path

Stage	ARR	Key move
Pre-PMF	$0–$100k	10–30 user interviews; confirm the must-have before anything else
Early PMF	$100k–$1M	Invest in 1–2 channels deeply — do not spray
Growth	$1M–$5M	Add affiliate + integration partners; PLG gets sales-assist
Scale	$5M–$10M	Enterprise team, compliance (SOC 2), channel acceleration
Ecosystem	$10M+	Open platform, investor / agency distribution

Enterprise deal execution (private deployment & custom 2B)

Winning the contract is half the job — getting paid in full is the other half. Distilled from a Multi-Agent open-source commercialization project retro.

Payment structure & final-installment defense

Rule	Detail
Staged payments	Private deployment splits 3:4:3 or 4:4:2 — first features live / full deployment / final payment after 3–6 months of ops
Collect on signature	30% due the day the contract is signed
Late penalty	Written into the contract: 0.5% per day overdue
Final-payment leverage	Keep 1–2 features deployed on your own servers until the last payment clears — say it before signing, write it into the terms
Who to chase	Chase the tail payment with the highest-ranking contact; if your champion stalls, escalate to the CEO once or twice
Long-term direction	Every new deal: prepayment up, tail payment down

Scope control: SOR / SOW / CCB

• Keep SOR (customer's raw asks) separate from SOW (acceptance criteria + delivery milestones + change terms); sign the SOW together with the contract.
• All changes go through a CCB: customer initiates in writing → both PMs assess impact (cost / schedule) → both sides sign a change confirmation.
• Leave a paper trail for everything; name the acceptance contact in the contract.
• Customer gets excited on a call and promises the moon? Only paperwork counts.

Commercial push-pull

• Customer asks for 50 features and you could do 40 → "we can commit to 10, and because we want this to succeed we'll stretch to 15." Turn concessions into favors.
• Requests you don't want → price them up (pad the person-days) instead of refusing outright.
• Private deployment has only two legitimate drivers: data privacy + internal permission-system integration. Everything else belongs on SaaS.
• SaaS customization → sell a License. SSO and similar integrations → open API + standard docs, let the customer build it themselves.

Revenue & channel math

Path to $1M ARR	Breakdown
Enterprise route	9 × $100k 2B customers
Subscription route	~~5,000 × $200/yr subscribers (≈500 per $100k) per $100k (≈5,000 for $1M)

Channel tier	Terms
Reseller	10–20% referral fee
Silver (>$100k/yr sales)	15%
Gold (>$300k/yr sales)	20%

Reseller due diligence — three questions: what did you resell before? where do your customers come from? reseller or service partner?

2B content formula: 80% how you helped customers succeed + 20% about the customer. Deck narrative: pain first, then the fix.

Deep dive: references/deal-execution.md. The full operator layer (contract-clause quick cards, the 12-question pre-signing checklist, negotiation scripts) ships with the Gingiris paid field manual → gingiris.tools

B2B content is different from B2C

• Must have a case study (ROI / time saved / headcount saved).
• Must have verifiable numbers ("customer X saved Y hours/month").
• Must have a CFO-friendly pricing page (ROI calculator, annual discount, compliance docs).
• ❌ No B2C hype words ("amazing", "magical").

Anti-patterns

• ❌ Paid acquisition before PMF — you burn cash 10× faster than you learn.
• ❌ Forcing PLG → SLG at $1M just because. Vercel held PLG to $100M.
• ❌ Watching ARR but ignoring NRR. NRR < 100% = a leaking bucket.
• ❌ One contract template for everyone — split startup / mid-market / enterprise.

What to do next

• Pre-PMF → run formal user interviews to find the must-have.
• Post-PMF, need content → move to the blog/SEO workflow (B2B voice: data > story).
• Going global → localize the listing and pricing.
• Benchmarking a rival → run a competitor teardown.

---

中文版

选你的增长引擎（飞轮）

text

        PLG（产品驱动）
              ↑
   已有流量 + 短决策
   ←─────────────────────────────────→
   需要信任 + 长周期
              ↓
        SLG（销售驱动）

信号	引擎	对标
ACV < $1k/年 且 决策 < 1 周	PLG	Vercel、Supabase
ACV > $10k/年 且 决策 > 1 个月	SLG	Snowflake、Databricks
中间	PLG-to-SLG 混合	HeyGen、Deel

5 阶段路径

阶段	ARR	关键动作
Pre-PMF	$0–$100k	10–30 次用户访谈，先确认 must-have
Early PMF	$100k–$1M	投 1–2 个渠道做深，不要广撒网
Growth	$1M–$5M	引入 affiliate + 集成伙伴，PLG 加 sales-assist
Scale	$5M–$10M	Enterprise 团队、合规（SOC 2）、渠道加码
Ecosystem	$10M+	开放平台、investor / agency 分销

2B 打单与交付（私有化 & 定制）

签下合同只是一半，全额收回款才是另一半。提炼自某 Multi-Agent 开源商业化项目复盘。

付款结构与尾款防御

规则	细节
分段付款	私有化部署 3:4:3 或 4:4:2 —— 第一批功能上线 / 全部部署完 / 运维 3–6 个月后付尾款
签约即收款	签合同当天收 30%
违约金	直接写进合同：拖一天多付 0.5%
尾款筹码	交付时留 1–2 个功能部署在自己服务器，尾款结清才迁 —— 签合同前说清楚、条款里写清楚
找谁要	尾款直接找对接的最高的人；对接人推诿可问 1–2 次 CEO
长期方向	每一单：预付款越来越高、尾款越来越少

需求边界管理：SOR / SOW / CCB

• SOR（客户原始输入）与 SOW（验收标准 + 交付节点 + 变更条款）分开；合同和 SOW 一起签。
• 变更一律走 CCB：客户先书面发起 → 双方项目经理评估影响（金额 / 工期）→ 双方签变更确认文件。
• 一切留痕（会议 / 对话 / 验收记录）；合同指明"项目验收对接人"。
• 客户聊嗨了拍胸脯？只有 paperwork 有效。

商务推拉

• 客户提 50 个需求、内部判断 40 能做 →"先答应 10 个，因为想帮你所以做到 15 个"——把让步做成人情。
• 不想做的需求抬价过滤（人/天多标几天），不用直接拒绝。
• 私有化需求只有两个真点：数据隐私 + 接内部权限系统，其他都该买 SaaS。
• SaaS 二开 → 直接卖 License；SSO 等集成 → 开放 API + 标准手册，让客户自己做。

营收与渠道账

$1M ARR 拆解	组成
2B 路线	9 个 $10 万企业客户
订阅路线	每 $10 万 ≈ 500 个 $200/年订阅用户（$1M ≈ 5,000）

代理分层	条件
Reseller	10–20% 推荐费
银牌（年销 >$10 万）	15%
金牌（年销 >$30 万）	20%

代理尽调三问：之前代理过什么产品？客户从哪来？Reseller 还是 Service Partner？

2B 内容公式：80% 讲自己如何帮客户成功 + 20% 讲客户；deck 叙事"先讲怎么痛，再说怎么好"。

B2B 内容特殊要求

• 必须有 case study（ROI / 省时 / 省人力）。
• 必须有可验证数据（"customer X saved Y hours/month"）。
• 必须有 CFO 友好的 pricing 页（ROI 计算器、年付折扣、合规文档）。
• ❌ 不用 ToC 话术（"amazing"、"magical"）。

反模式

• ❌ 没 PMF 就投流（烧钱比学习快 10x）。
• ❌ 到 $1M 就盲目 PLG → SLG（Vercel 坚持 PLG 到 $100M）。
• ❌ 只看 ARR 不看 NRR（NRR < 100% = 漏水桶）。
• ❌ 只给一个合同模板（分 startup / mid-market / enterprise 三版）。

---

By Iris (生姜 Iris) · ex-COO @ AFFiNE, 150+ AI startups advised · Install: npx skills add Gingiris-1031/gingiris-b2b-growth