The Art of Building Lean: Sprig’s Path to $330M

2 min readNov 15, 2024

🤯 A 25-person product & engineering team used their own tool to reach a $330M valuation.

And they’re shipping features faster than teams at industry giants.

Here’s the inside scoop on how Sprig builds products, using Sprig:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻

They’re optimizing for a lean team:

→ With just 2 PMs, 20 developers, and 2 designers, everyone wears multiple hats.

→ Engineers are empowered to make decisions as product thinkers, avoiding endless specs, meetings, and micromanagement.

→ They walk the talk — using Sprig’s own tools for insights and skipping a dedicated research team.

Forget standard agile or waterfall; Sprig created its own development system:

→ Their “20/80” framework splits work into 20% planning and 80% refinement, speeding up timelines with greater accuracy.

→ Checkpoints at 20%, 40%, and 80% progress help catch issues early, making design reviews a breeze.

→ The whole team collaborates closely, with early feedback from CEO Ryan Glasgow, a former PM himself.

When it comes to major projects, Sprig forms dedicated “AI Squads.”

→ Each squad includes a PM, designer, and specialized engineers, working cross-functionally.

→ They start fast with proof-of-concept, then move to internal testing and selective beta trials.

→ Feedback and iteration fine-tune every detail before launch.

Want to dive deep into their 7-layer PLG strategy and how they positioned themselves in a crowded space? Check out the newsletter.

Sprig doesn’t just build tools — they live by them.

→ Every new feature has session replays enabled, so pain points are spotted within minutes.

→ Long-term studies and surveys track user sentiment, ensuring new features resonate.

→ This “dogfooding” approach grounds their process in real, firsthand insights.

What keeps Sprig’s engine running efficiently? Three core principles:

1. Anything over half a sprint goes on the roadmap, while quick fixes are handled separately.

2. Engineers and designers own their decisions, with PMs focused on outcomes.

3. With no dedicated research team, Sprig relies on its own tools and uses Mixpanel and Metabase for additional data.

Sprig is proving that with the right process and principles, a small, scrappy team can outpace the giants.