Community-led growth vs Product-led growth. Which is more important?

Question

I believe both a product and a community play a major role in the success of a business. But which should you spend more time on? Building a community or a product? I think a community weighs more in terms of the impact. What do you think?

Sebastian Karges · Accepted Answer

@jgani Totally agree, highly context-dependent on what's moving the needle.

Answer

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Gurkaran Singh · Answer

Building a flourishing community can be like watering the roots of a tree - it nurtures sustainable growth. However, a stellar product serves as the juicy fruit enticing everyone to gather around. So, why not aim for a thriving orchard by nurturing both? It's like having the cake and eating it too!

Aris Nakos · Answer

Having a community will inevitably lead to product growth or finding PMM.

Kayla Lafi · Answer

I think there should be a balance. Without a community, the product may go under notice. However, once that community is building you can trust the product to lead that growth. When starting out, I would focus on building awareness and trust so that your product when ready can take the lead.

Milli Sen · Answer

@jgani @sebastian_karges Yesss! Totally!

Milli Sen · Answer

@sebastian_karges @jgani That makes sense.

Milli Sen · Answer

@aris_nakos Absolutely!

Milli Sen · Answer

@priyankamandal Agreed! 💯

Answer

I can't tell which of the two is more important, they're like the left and right hands of product growth.

But I prefer my product to be product-led growth, and I believe that community-led growth is based on good products, or good products are easier to form good communities and build community-led growth.

Anastasia Liamets · Answer

Both! But I feel like the 2nd one is fuelling the 1st

Jonni Gani · Answer

I think it depends. Some products are better suited to one growth strategy more than the other.

Answer

Both are important for a successful product growth

PRIYANKA MANDAL · Answer

Hey Milli, personally, I see the value in both community-led growth and product led growth. While a strong product is essential for attracting and retaining customers, a supportive community can amplify its impact and foster long term loyalty. I believe finding the right balance between the two is key. What matters most is understanding your audience and meeting their needs effectively, whether through product innovation or community engagement.

Jonni Gani · Answer

@sebastian_karges Yup. It also depends on external constraints.

For example, I have an app that generates decent MRR, and is growing consistently. Despite being a healthy app, it cannot have product-led growth features in it.

In the case of this app, it's a plugin that sits atop of another platform, which imposes restrictions that block my ability to implement growth features.

Community-led growth vs Product-led growth. Which is more important?

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