# Leah Tharin

> Leah Tharin is a Swiss product management veteran, solopreneur, and one of the most influential voices on Product-led Growth (PLG) in B2B SaaS. With 25+ years of operator experience — scaling Smallpdf to 50M monthly active users and GotPhoto to 20M+ ARR — she left full-time employment in November 2023 to build an independent advisory and content business. Her newsletter 'Leah's ProducTea' on Substack, her podcast, and her 58,000+ LinkedIn followers have made her a go-to resource for product and growth leaders navigating the shift from sales-led to product-led business models.

- **Role:** Growth Solopreneur & Portfolio Advisor at Notion Capital
- **Organizations:** Notion Capital, GotPhoto, Toggl, Paddle, NorthOne, userled.io, Bedfables
- **Nationality:** Swiss
- **Education:** Matura in Informatics and Engineering, HMS+ (Switzerland), Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Usability and User Experience, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)
- **Known for:** Scaled Smallpdf to 50 million monthly active users in 3 years as Head of Product, Grew GotPhoto to 20M+ ARR as interim Chief Product and Growth Officer, Helped push Groupon out of the Swiss market while leading product at DeinDeal.ch

## Career timeline

- **~2011** — First Head of Product role at DeinDeal.ch (Switzerland) — helped push Groupon out of the Swiss market
- **~2013** — Product/Growth Leadership at GotPhoto (EQT-backed) — scaled to 20M+ ARR
- **~2018** — Joined Smallpdf as Head of Product — grew to 50M+ monthly active users in 3 years, built B2B and desktop product foundations
- **~2022** — Joined Jua.ai as Head of Product — AI-native weather prediction startup using ML
- **2023-05** — Co-founded Bedfables — AI-generated children's stories via LLM and generative AI
- **2023-11** — Left full-time employment to become independent solopreneur after hitting $16K Substack ARR + 40K LinkedIn followers
- **2024** — Took on Interim Chief Product and Growth Officer (CPGO) role at GotPhoto; joined as PLG Advisor at Toggl
- **2025** — Featured speaker at MTPCon 2025 and Userpilot Product Drive 2025; continued solopreneur advisory work

## Achievements

- Scaled Smallpdf to 50 million monthly active users in 3 years as Head of Product
- Grew GotPhoto to 20M+ ARR as interim Chief Product and Growth Officer
- Helped push Groupon out of the Swiss market while leading product at DeinDeal.ch
- Built a solopreneur career reaching 58,000+ LinkedIn followers and $16K+ Substack ARR
- Co-founded Bedfables, an AI-generated children's stories startup (May 2023)
- Published widely referenced 'Product-led Growth Guide 3.0' on Substack
- Ranked #5 in Marketing & Sales on LinkedIn in Switzerland; #29 overall in Switzerland
- Keynote speaker at MTPCon 2025, SaaSiest, Turing Fest, Impact Conference, and more
- Teaches Product-led Growth cohorts on Maven platform
- Portfolio Advisor at Notion Capital for European Series A+ SaaS startups
- 32,000+ subscribers across Substack publications

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Active on LinkedIn; participated in International Women's Day 2026 content
- **2025-06** — Featured speaker at MTPCon 2025 on Growth and Product Management in 2025
- **2025-01** — Featured speaker at Userpilot Product Drive 2025 on AI and its Impact on Product Management
- **2024-06** — Joined Toggl as PLG Advisor; continued solopreneur advisory and interim CPGO at GotPhoto
- **2023-11** — Left full-time employment to become solopreneur after hitting $16K Substack ARR and 40K LinkedIn followers

## Links

- Website: https://www.leahtharin.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahtharin/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/leahthar
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfAdvrVLhlEhLTJ1z7SApog

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/leah-tharin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-24