Miro: Revolutionizing Remote Collaboration with a Digital Whiteboard Experience
Company profile
Company business details
Motivation to build the product
The founders were motivated by the need for effective collaboration tools in an increasingly remote work environment. They recognized that traditional methods of brainstorming and project management were inadequate for teams that were not physically together, which sparked the idea for Miro.Problem that their product solves
Miro solves the problem of ineffective collaboration in remote and hybrid work settings. The end users are teams and organizations that need to communicate and collaborate effectively, especially when they are not in the same location. Solving this problem is crucial for enhancing productivity and ensuring that teams can work together seamlessly, regardless of their physical distance.Their unfair advantage
Miro's unfair advantage lies in its user-friendly interface and comprehensive feature set that integrates various collaboration tools, making it easier for teams to work together effectively. Additionally, its widespread adoption by major companies enhances its credibility and user trust.Strategies
Pre-Launch (Product Development & MVP)
Pivoting to Productivity
Initially, Miro was focused on visual collaboration for various roles. However, they pivoted towards productivity and product engineering design teams after realizing that many users were leveraging the product for productivity goals. This pivot involved launching an HTML version of the product in 2015, which catered specifically to these new user needs.
Market Research and Product Development
In the early stages of Miro, Andre F. leveraged his experience from running a creative agency to identify a gap in the market for scalable and repeatable software solutions. He was inspired by a conversation with a friend who was a professor at MIT, which led him to explore the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This exploration resulted in the development of Miro, a product designed to address collaboration challenges faced by remote teams, thus transforming creative ideas into a scalable software product.
Launch Stage
Product-Led Growth (PLG) Model
Miro adopted a Product-Led Growth (PLG) model that emphasizes the product as the primary driver of customer acquisition and retention. Customers can sign up for free and utilize the product without any upfront payment, allowing them to experience its value firsthand. This approach was supported by two dedicated teams: one focused on delivering product value and the other on optimizing the monetization funnel. The teams collaborated closely to identify friction points in the user journey and enhance customer engagement, ensuring a seamless experience that encourages self-service and product adoption.
User Feedback Integration
Miro focused on gathering extensive user feedback from the very beginning. They collected data points from hundreds of thousands of support tickets and tens of thousands of lines of feedback through their product. This feedback was crucial in iterating on their product, ensuring it met user needs effectively. They also conducted interviews with customers to understand their usage patterns and expectations, which helped them refine their offerings continuously.
Viral Growth Strategy
Miro's growth strategy was heavily influenced by observing successful companies like Dropbox and Slack, which utilized a bottom-up adoption model. Andre and his team focused on creating a simple, intuitive product that could easily be adopted by individual users within organizations. This approach allowed Miro to gain traction among knowledge workers, leading to organic growth as users began to advocate for the product within their companies.
Learn more about Miro
The Importance of Experimentation and Iteration in Business Success
Finding Opps in Every Challenge: From Humble Beginnings to 30 Million Users with Miro CEO
Andrey Khusid: Co-Founder & CEO @Miro, From Agency to Global SaaS, Product-Led Growth | Slush 2024
