Our vision is to make it effortless for individuals and teams to discover, activate, and expand enduring value in GitLab by running a full-funnel growth system that connects acquisition, activation, retention and monetization into measurable, self‑served loops.
Growth turns GitLab's self-serve funnel into a reliable, compounding source of new paid customers by removing what stops people from buying, rather than by generating more traffic.
Our north star is **Web Direct first orders across GitLab.com and self-managed**. A Web Direct first order is a [first order](https://internal.gitlab.com/handbook/enterprise-data/data-governance/data-guides/gtm-operating-performance/first-orders/) (GitLab internal) that a customer places through self-service, without sales assistance. We rank work by its impact on first orders, not signups.
Each funnel stage has one input metric that the roadmap is built to move:
```mermaid
flowchart TD
ACQ["Acquisition\nSignup"]
ACT["Activation\nGet value from the product"]
MON["Monetization\nPay for the product"]
ENG["Engagement\nContinue using the product"]
RET["Retention\nContinue paying for product"]
INV["Invite Velocity\nInvite others to the product"]
flowchart LR
ACQ["Acquisition\nValuable trial starts and free signups"]
ACT["Activation\nValuable Aha activation within 14 days"]
MON["Monetization\nValuable activation to first order"]
FO["Outcome\nWeb Direct first orders"]
ACQ --> ACT
ACT --> MON
ACT --> ENG
ENG --> RET
ENG --> INV
MON --> RET
INV --> ACQ
ACQ --> MON
MON --> FO
```
For more details on Growth's mission, direction, and product strategy, see the [Growth product handbook](/handbook/marketing/growth-marketing/).
Growth owns the in-product path from first visit to first purchase: registration, onboarding, in-product upgrade and purchase entry points, the trial experience, in-product notifications, and [experimentation tooling](/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/) ([GitLab Experiment (GLEX)](https://docs.gitlab.com/development/experiment_guide/) and the [Experimenator](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/work_items/22589)). Key partners are Fulfillment, Pricing, Digital Experience, Lifecycle Marketing, and Enterprise Analytics.
For Growth's principles, metrics, ownership, and current priorities, see the [Growth direction page](/handbook/product/groups/growth/direction/) and [how the growth section works](/handbook/product/groups/growth/).
## How We Work
Working inline with our [values](/handbook/values/), we focus on [iteration](/handbook/values/#iteration) and [collaboration](/handbook/values/#collaboration), working with and across areas of the product our development department counterparts maintain.
We work on the issues prioritized by our product teams including running [experiments](/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/) on GitLab.com. Growth stage teams have Fullstack Engineers. The reason for this is that the Growth stage has a need for both Frontend and Backend skill-sets, but as a small team, has optimized for team member efficiency to adopt the Fullstack role.
We work on the issues prioritized by our product teams including running [experiments](/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/) on GitLab.com. Growth is one team with one roadmap, and engineers are assigned to the highest-ranked work on the roadmap. Growth engineers are Fullstack Engineers. The reason for this is that Growth needs both Frontend and Backend skill-sets, but as a small team, has optimized for team member efficiency to adopt the Fullstack role.
## Growth Leadership & Teams
@@ -55,14 +54,15 @@ We work on the issues prioritized by our product teams including running [experi
### Teams & Communication
All Growth teams share one Slack channel: [#s_growth](https://gitlab.slack.com/channels/s_growth).
Growth uses these Slack channels:
-[#s_growth](https://gitlab.slack.com/channels/s_growth) - the main Growth channel
@@ -81,13 +81,13 @@ Our teams collaborate using shared processes and tools:
## Experimentation
Growth teams contribute to GitLab [experimentation](/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/) to make it easier to run experiments and make data driven product decisions on GitLab.com.
Experiment velocity is Growth's top-ranked problem, because it multiplies the impact of all our other work. Growth owns GLEX and the [Experimenator](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/work_items/22589), our AI-assisted experiment pipeline. Every experiment is read out before we decide whether to ship it. See [Growth experimentation](/handbook/engineering/development/growth/experimentation/) for the process.
## Resources
Some useful links to see how and what we are working on include:
Growth is driving a pooled staffing model which contains a prioritized list of initiatives focused on impacting Self-Serve (Web Direct) First Orders. Instead of maintaining traditional group boundaries, Product Management, UX, and Engineering resources will be flexibly assigned to top priorities using an agile kanban approach.
Growth is one team with one roadmap, focused on Self-Serve (Web Direct) First Orders across GitLab.com and self-managed. The roadmap ranks customer problems by how directly each one drives a first order. Instead of maintaining traditional group boundaries, Product Management, UX, and Engineering resources are flexibly assigned to the highest-ranked work using an agile kanban approach.
## Weekly Cadence
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ Assignees are expected to provide updates using the bot's comment template and
DRI: Product Manager (gathers input), Engineering Manager and UX (contribute updates and demos)
1. Post in `#s_growth` with key wins for the week, demos and successive priorities
2. The FY26 Growth Section Roadmap status is updated the designated Internal doc.
2. The status of the Growth 12-month roadmap is updated in the designated internal doc.
**Friday 20:00 UTC (EOD)**
@@ -27,5 +28,5 @@ PMs publish Growth Weekly Report with key themes and priorities, issues delivere
**Friday 18:00 UTC (CXO Meeting)**
1. Executive summary is prepared with PLG metrics and operational priorities
1. Executive summary is prepared with Web Direct first-order pacing, PLG metrics, and operational priorities
2. Once the CXO meeting is concluded, CXO feedback and action items are posted in `#s_growth`
