Growth Strategy Brief — February 2026
How I'd Build Fountain's
Land-and-Expand Engine
A lifecycle marketing framework for turning individual franchise operators into enterprise contracts. By Logan.
01 — The Opportunity
A decade of dominance.
Now, the next chapter.
Fountain has spent a decade building the definitive hiring platform for frontline workers — 8.7-day average time-to-hire, 1M+ applications monthly, clients like Chipotle and UPS.
But the next phase of growth isn't about adding more sales reps.
With Project Nova proving that a product-led approach can acquire customers without a sales conversation, the question becomes: how do you build the lifecycle marketing engine that turns self-serve signups into enterprise revenue?
That's a land-and-expand problem. And it's the most interesting growth challenge in HR tech right now.
The companies that master the PLG-to-enterprise handoff — Figma (132% NRR), Datadog (54% using 4+ products), Slack (93% of $100K+ customers started bottom-up) — all share one thing: lifecycle marketing is the engine, not a support function.
02 — The Framework
One operator becomes
an enterprise deal.
The land-and-expand playbook follows five stages. Each stage builds on the last — the output of one becomes the input of the next. That's what makes it a flywheel, not a funnel.
1
Acquire Franchisee
Targeted campaigns
PLG2
Activate First Hire
Product-led onboarding
PRODUCT3
Prove Value
Data-driven retention
DATA4
Build Champions
Lifecycle expansion
LIFECYCLE5
Expand to Corporate
Enterprise handoff
SLGThe Slack Parallel
Slack didn't sell to enterprises. They let teams adopt, spread internally, and create bottom-up pressure until corporate had to standardize.
Result: 93% of $100K+ customers started bottom-up. 143% NRR at peak.
Fountain's franchise play is the same motion — operators instead of teams, but identical dynamics. Adoption first, enterprise second.
03 — Applied: The McDonald's Play
Land One Location, Win the Network
Here's how the lifecycle engine would power that motion:
Seed the Network
- Targeted campaigns to McDonald's franchise operators in 2-3 high-density metros: Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta
- Channel mix: LinkedIn targeting by title + franchise association partnerships + QSR industry content
- Landing pages speak franchisee language: "Hire shift workers in days, not weeks. See it work at your location."
- Lifecycle trigger: Signup to immediate onboarding focused on posting first job within 15 minutes
Activate and Retain
- Behavioral emails based on product milestones, not time delays
- First hire made triggers: "You just hired 4x faster than the QSR average"
- Week 3 with no second posting triggers re-engagement with peer benchmarks
- Monthly ROI snapshots auto-generated from usage data
Champion Development
- Identify top-performing operators by hiring speed and retention
- Send shareable content: "You've saved 142 hiring days this quarter"
- Referral program: "Know other operators who need faster hiring?"
- PQA scoring triggers when 5+ McDonald's locations are active independently
Enterprise Handoff
- PQA threshold met — sales receives full account brief
- Brief includes: active locations, aggregate metrics, champion contacts with engagement scores
- Sales outreach: "12 of your franchisees average 9-day time-to-hire vs. your network's 34-day average"
- The conversation is about standardization, not discovery
04 — Metrics
Tracking the Flywheel
Each stage has a leading indicator that predicts momentum and a lagging outcome that confirms it. Here's how I'd know if the flywheel is spinning.
ACQUISITION
Signup Rate
Visitors to free accounts
Target: 4-6%
CAC
Cost per activated user
Target: <$200
Channel Mix
Attribution by source
Organic vs Paid
ACTIVATION & RETENTION
Time-to-First-Hire
Signup to first hire made
Target: <48 hours
Activation Rate
% reaching aha moment
Target: 30-40%
30-Day Retention
% active after first month
Target: >60%
EXPANSION & CONVERSION
Network Penetration
Locations per franchise network
Target: 5+ = PQA
PQA Score
Accounts hitting handoff threshold
Target: 50/quarter
Enterprise Conversion
PQA to closed enterprise deal
Target: 25-35%
05 — Explore
Ask Me Anything
This page covers the framework. But strategy lives in the details. I built this interactive layer so you can go deeper on anything — my thinking, my background, or how I'd apply this to a specific scenario.
I built this because I think better by building. Four years as a founder taught me that the best way to show how you think is to ship something.
This isn't a finished strategy — it's a starting point for conversation. I'd love to go deeper on any of this with you.