At times like this, I wished I studied for an MBA
Facing troubles with my docassemble instance at work, I had to strategize somehow.
At work, I run a docassemble instance serving filled contract templates (I will call this an app because it’s easier to type). The app asks users a bunch of questions and produces an agreement that is ready to sign.
If it is not already clear from Love.Law.Robots, I am a firm believer in docassemble and the benefits of automating the contract drafting process. You don’t have to take it from me. In “Sign Here: The Enterprise Guide to Closing Contracts Quickly”, document automation systems like docassemble are described as a “must-have solution”.
Houfu
We’ve put the Legal Department’s weight on the solution. NDAs generated by the system for everyday purposes don’t require legal review or approval. It’s meant to lighten the department’s workload, but it’s also a vote on the technology.
I gave talks and demos and held several new users’ hands. (Not that I needed to) I was exhilarated to receive my first bug report.
Then I waited.
Recently, I read an issue from Mike Whelan Jr’s excellent newsletter “Selling to Lawyers” titled “Does Your Product Sell Itself?”. It talks about “Product Led Growth”, a strategy for selling products. You can describe it as “Build it and they will come”. A great example I can think of is the iPhone. It’s easy to use an iPhone, and the users “sell” the iPhone by telling their friends. Such users are willing to educate themselves on the product and champion it to all their friends.
Spoiler alert: Product-led growth is difficult in legal.
Mike Whelan, Jr.