Do SaaS Companies spend differently for PLG-dominant vs. SLG-dominant GTM?

In the last two weeks, I met with 5 CEOs of Seed to Series-A startups and the oft-repeated question was

Traditional sales & marketing are not yielding great results, PLG is too R&D intensive to get started. Is there a faster way to get to Hybrid GTM?

ThriveStack.ai is being built to reduce the R&D efforts of a PLG self-serve initiative. However, it does not have the answers to fast-track HybridGTM. With no handy answer, I thought of doing some research, and this is what I found.

Here's what we learned (Summarized):

1. R&D spend is indeed higher for PLG-dominant GTM companies. And it continues to be so, even after they have accelerated their Sales-led operations.
2. Revenue split by GTM motions is interesting as they achieve a balanced Hybrid GTM approach
3. Adding product capabilities incrementally is the biggest culprit in high R&D costs for PLG-First companies.
4. Using a signal-based (data-driven) Sales GTM takes a toll on the Product and a lean/non-existent SalesOps team.

Read here for more details, check out https://resources.thrivestack.ai/p/rnd-vs-gtm-spend-for-saas-growth

References

• Growth Channels By ARR Stage: PLG vs. SLG | by Scott Barker
• PLG & Profitability : More Product Doesn't Necessarily Mean Greater Profits | by Tomasz Tunguz
• https://clearbit.com/resources/reports/product-led-growth-companies
• How to run a signal-based go-to-market motion | by Kevin White

• Tomasz Tunguz https://tomtunguz.com/plg-less-profitable/