GTM 157: How ClickUp Scaled 17x and Cut CAC 3× — GTM Systems, Building Incrementally and Going from PLG to SLG | Gaurav Agarwal

Episode notes

Gaurav Agarwal is the COO of ClickUp, where he’s helped scale the company 17x in two years and cut CAC by 3x—all while leading across marketing, product, sales, and services. Formerly in banking and product roles, Gaurav brings a rare systems-oriented mindset to growth. He’s known for connecting the dots across GTM, scaling PLG engines, driving incrementality with rigor, and building cultures of experimentation, ownership, and speed. Discussed in this episode Why growth is more about systems than marketing How ClickUp scaled 17x while reducing CAC by 3x The cultural shifts required to align GTM teams Incrementality testing vs. attribution modeling Building a true sales motion on top of PLG Input KPIs as a driver of experimentation speed How ClickUp is using AI across marketing and sales The concept of GTM as demand creation vs. harvesting Episode Highlights 00:00 — Everyone is doing all the work—but you're winning by chance, not by design 02:01 — Gaurav on seeing growth as a systems function, not just marketing 13:33 — Culture alone delivered roughly half of the 3× CAC reduction at ClickUp 15:53 — Gaurav defines incrementality testing vs.