This style guide explains our guidelines for contributions to PostHog's documentation, tutorials, and blog. General principles Assume almost nothing…
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Copy pageStyle guideContentsGeneral principlesAssume almost nothingGet to the pointMake it easy to readAvoid hedgingStyle rulesUse American EnglishUse sentence case for titlesCapitalize product names and proper nouns as appropriateCapitalize acronyms and define where neededUse the Oxford commaUse "enable", not "allow"Add extra line breaks between long bullet pointsUse straight apostrophes and quote marks"Open source" vs "open-source"Use British-style en dashesAdding mediaImages, gifs, and short videosVideosYouTube embedsWistiaBest practices for images and videosTechnical and docs writingThis style guide explains our guidelines for contributions to PostHog's documentation, tutorials, and blog.Spiff up your articleBe sure to familiarize yourself with our library of MDX components that are supported in Markdown to make your article more scannable and engaging.General principlesAssume almost nothingAs you gain mastery of a product or feature, some things become second nature, but remember they weren't always so obvious. Call these out, and provide links to relevant docs or websites.Make it easy for your reader to implement their feature or solve their issue, whether they are an expert …
General principles 1. Start with search intent Don't obsess over exact-match keywords, ask: What is the searcher really trying to accomplish? For…
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Copy pageSEO best practicesContentsGeneral principles1. Start with search intent2. Make it easy to digest3. Headlines matter4. Demonstrate expertise and authority5. Be conversational6. Don’t put all our eggs in one keyword basket7. Write for our ICP8. Updates work / are important9. Internal linking isn't optional10. Optimize for LLMs11. Steelman competitorsAdditional tipsUseful SEO toolsAhrefsKeywords EverywhereGoogle Search ConsoleMangools Google SERP SimulatorAlsoAskedGeneral principles1. Start with search intentDon't obsess over exact-match keywords, ask: What is the searcher really trying to accomplish? For example, a user searching "difference between retention rate and churn" will likely also benefit from actionable insight on improving customer retention, not just definitions.We craft our content to address those underlying needs. Cover the main topic thoroughly, include related sub-questions and themes, and anticipate next steps a reader might take.Here’s what that might look like for "Retention rate vs churn"Quick answer first: Retention rate shows who stayed, churn shows who left. If churn is 20%, retention is 80%. Context next: Add formulas, a simple numeric example, and…
We have a merch store where our community can purchase high quality PostHog-branded merch. The People & Ops team is responsible for managing merch…
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Copy pageMerch storeContentsHow to reorder merchAdding new itemsShippingMerch giveawaysCustomersPostHog teamYC DealTroubleshooting customer ordersWe have a merch store where our community can purchase high quality PostHog-branded merch. The People & Ops team is responsible for managing merch inventory, fulfillment etc. even though multiple people contribute, and Kendal is the point person.We use Micromerch to manufacture and fulfill our merch. Anyone can suggest a product for us to sell or give away. The Brand team ultimately decide on what items we wish to sell or give away (including how many and sizes), and Lottie provide assets to produce and order these items in to stock.We generally try to launch new products in line with the typical fashion cycle (spring/summer and fall/winter). However, this doesn't mean we can't do fun side quests! If you are looking to do an off-cycle merch run, just make sure you keep Kendal in the loop so the admin side goes smoothly.How to reorder merchAll of our permanent merch items are reordered via Micromerch. To do this you need to:Request a restock quote for the item(s) in the Slack channel and enter the quantity you needApprove the estimate that…
Kudos Definition of 'kudos' (kjuːdɒs IPA Pronunciation Guide, US kuːdoʊz IPA Pronunciation Guide) Kudos is admiration or recognition that someone or…
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Copy pageKudosContentsKudosHow to give kudosKudosDefinition of 'kudos'(kjuːdɒs IPA Pronunciation Guide, US kuːdoʊz IPA Pronunciation Guide)Kudos is admiration or recognition that someone or something gets as a result of a particular action or achievement.As an all-remote team, we need to put extra effort into celebrating each others' achievements, as not being in the same physical location can often make good work less visible. We use Monday All-Hands as an opportunity to acknowledge cool things that people have done in the previous week. Can be anything - shipping a new feature, a great piece of content, fixing an issue, or just generally doing something nice for someone else. How to give kudosYou can use /kudos @person for [reason] to give someone kudos in Slack whenever you want. The kudos gift won't be visible in the chat for anyone else, but the gifted person will probably enjoy seeing themselves in All-Hands on Monday. To list all kudos from the last week, use /kudos show 7. This shows the previous 7 days of submissions. Alternatively, you can just write directly into the All-Hands doc, though this relies on you remembering things that happened the previous week. Was this pag…
Feature trailers are social-first videos designed to create excitement, interest, and awareness around new PostHog products and features. They can…
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Copy pageFeature trailer processContentsTypes of feature trailersHow to request a video1. Message the video team2. Talk through scope and timeline3. Agree on the example use case4. Create a storyboard5. Review the storyboard together6. Iterate on the script and visualsTimelineFeature trailers are social-first videos designed to create excitement, interest, and awareness around new PostHog products and features. They can also be used as short demo videos for product pages and docs. If you want one made, here's how the process works and what to expect.Types of feature trailersThere are two types of feature trailer, depending on how much time you have and what you're trying to achieve:TypeDescriptionProduction timeExampleTeaser (under 30 seconds)Pure vibes, not a story. It shows a single user experience and is designed to create buzz and excitement about a new feature.Up to a week and a halfPostHog Code teaserUse case video (30–90 seconds)Narrative-based, showing a single specific use case for PostHog product or feature. Ideally based on our own usage of the product.Up to two weeksSlack app feature trailerThe team can also make longer demo videos (e.g. 3 to 5 minutes or more), though …
We promote our newsletter across a variety of different channels. This page covers the paid options. Budget Budget plans can be viewed in this…
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Copy pageNewsletter adsContentsBudgetUploading emails to SubstackMeta AdsInstant Form adsPaid placements in other newslettersNewsletter sponsorship contentLinkedIn and Reddit AdsWe promote our newsletter across a variety of different channels. This page covers the paid options.BudgetBudget plans can be viewed in this spreadsheet.Uploading emails to SubstackAnnoyingly, Substack doesn't have an API, which means that we manually need to upload emails we capture via our website, InstantForm ads, and most other paid marketing channels. This means that we have to manually upload these emails to Substack. Andy VandervellAndy Vandervell does this once a week.The emails are to PostHog via an event called newsletter_subscribed, which are sent to the #newsletter-sub-alerts in Slack.If you wish to avoid doing this, an alternative is to send users directly to our Substack so they can sign up directly there. The drawback is that we're unable to send conversion events to 3rd parties (e.g. Meta, Reddit), so their algorithms won't know if their targeting is working (and we cannot send them the emails of people who signed up, because privacy).You can still track how campaigns on Substack by using th…
The Content team has two core goals: Increase awareness of PostHog, especially among people in our ideal customer profile Help developers and PostHog…
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Copy pageOverviewContentsWho is our audience?What kind of content do we produce?How we workContent distribution1. SEO2. LinkedIn3. Twitter / X4. Share internally5. Paid ads + newslettersThe Content team has two core goals:Increase awareness of PostHog, especially among people in our ideal customer profileHelp developers and PostHog users be more successful through great content, videos, and docsWe do this by:Building a reputation for world-class contentConstantly working to improve our documentationIdentifying where content can help users be more successfulHolding a high bar for quality in everything we doNever being satisfied with how high that bar isBeing weird, opinionated, and unafraid of being wrongReacting quickly to opportunities whenever they ariseNot being precious about our work and prioritiesHaving a team of talented, technically literate writers (and Andy)Not relying on freelancers or guest contributors for contentAvoiding tedious enterprise marketing nonsense (PDFs, gated content, webinars, etc.)Content is the main pillar of our marketing strategy. Our strategy is to go deeper and create better content as we grow. We don't rely on AI. We don't take content in exchange …
LinkedIn is the OG slop center, but it’s a popular channel with our ICP, important for recruiting, and our posts often do well there. Here's a few…
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Copy pageLinkedInContentsAdvice on LinkedIn postingBoosting posts from the PostHog brand accountLinkedIn posters and their newslettersLinkedIn is the OG slop center, but it’s a popular channel with our ICP, important for recruiting, and our posts often do well there. Here's a few best practices to have your posts seen more on the platform.Advice on LinkedIn postingThe hook is everything. Get people to click “show more.” What works:Money - “We spend $X and here are the best things we learned”Dilemma - “What would you choose X or Y?”Provocative statements - “Collaboration sucks”Transformation stories, before and after - “This product helped us go from X to Y”Data reveals - “PostHog has seen an ~8x increase in traffic from ChatGPT in the last year”Resource lists - “Here are the 10 best posts on X”Takeaways - “After weeks of researching X, I’ve published Y deepdive. Here are Z interesting things I learned along the way.”Work - “I wrote a 2000-word long article on how AI impacts performance of software and systems.”Use lists and numbers.Be specific with numbers. Say “$8,500” not “around 8k.” This feels more credible, like you aren’t making it up.Ask yourself if there’s a story or anecdo…
PostHog is structured for speed, autonomy and innovation. Many traditional organizations have big, separate functions. You have a product team, an…
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Copy pageSmall teamsContentsHow it worksWhat does owning an area of the product mean?What actions should the small teams be doing for their area?What is the role of the team lead?Setting up support processesLaunching new products and featuresAdding ideas to the roadmapLaunching a new betaLaunching a new productLeading quarterly goal settingHow do small teams and product managers work together?How do small teams and designers work together?Managing larger cross-team projectsSmall teams introsList of small teamsForming new small teamsFAQWho do small teams report to? How does this work with management?Can someone be in multiple small teams?Who is in a small team?Will this lead to inconsistent design?Can I still step on toes?Can people change teams?Aren't most small teams way too small?How does hiring in the small team work?How do we create new teams, or make changes to existing teams?Does a small team have a budget?How do you keep the product together as a company?How do you stop duplicate work?Can a small team "own" another small team?PostHog is structured for speed, autonomy and innovation.Many traditional organizations have big, separate functions. You have a product team, an engin…
If you plan on recording a demo, a screen share, or the PostHog UI for use on the PostHog website and/or YouTube channel, the PostHog YouTube team…
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Copy pageScreen recording guideContentsVideo:1. Download Screen Studio2. Set Recording Settings3. Set Up 16:9 recording area4. Prepare to record5. Do a final test6. Record7. Save as a Screen Studio Project8. (Optional) Export and upload to CloudinaryIf you plan on recording a demo, a screen share, or the PostHog UI for use on the PostHog website and/or YouTube channel, the PostHog YouTube team kindly asks you to watch the video below and follow the corresponding instructions for your recordings.Important! While Loom is great for personal use videos, it does not meet our quality standards for videos that will be going on the PostHog website and/or YouTube channel. Please use Screen Studio for such recordings, steps listed below.Feel free to ask any questions in the #team-youtube Slack channel.Video:You like cookies? Then watch this video. Plus, you’ll learn about how to properly set up Screen Studio and your recording area aspect ratio for PostHog videos:1. Download Screen StudioDownload Screen Studio. Screen Studio is free to record and edit with, but exporting now requires a paid subscription. If you just need to hand a .screenstudio project to the YouTube team (see step 7), the f…
See also how we do video at PostHog . We experimented with YouTube from November 2022 to July 2023, but have paused creation and publishing for now…
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Copy pageYouTubeContentsLearningsTypes of videos we madeYouTube commentsThumbnailsSee also how we do video at PostHog.We experimented with YouTube from November 2022 to July 2023, but have paused creation and publishing for now. We may try again in the future.Although videos were driving X00s of views each (some hit X000s), and we received some positive feedback, we didn't see an increase in signups, traffic, or mentions from the videos. For example, the video on why and how we use GitHub as our CMS got 3,000 views in 1 one week, but made no noticeable impact on signups.We also were starting to run out of obvious tutorial and SEO blog content to turn into videos. Basically, we ran out of low-hanging fruit. New videos would have taken increasing amounts of time.LearningsThe less PostHog-related videos did better across all three types.Title and thumbnail matter more than video content. YouTube growth compounds heavily, but it requires multiple years and 100s of videos to reach the scale we'd need for a meaningful impact.Lighting is what makes the most difference in video quality.The PostHog demo is the most important and popular video we have. It should be updated at some point.OBS …
Every piece of writing we do has metadata included in it. URLs and content folders The URL is defined by the folder it's placed in and the filename…
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Copy pageWriting metadataContentsURLs and content foldersFrontmatterTagsFounder's hubProduct engineer's hubBlogGuides & tutorialsCreating new tagsEvery piece of writing we do has metadata included in it.URLs and content foldersThe URL is defined by the folder it's placed in and the filename.md of the markdown file - e.g. a post in the founders folder with the filename i-love-hedgehogs.md would have the URL /founders/i-love-hedgehogs.Folders also decide where on the website articles appear.The main folders are:/contents/docs - Docs./contents/blog - A catch-all posts section. Company announcements, technical deep dives, SEO-focused comparisons, and more./contents/founders - Posts written for founders./contents/product-engineers - Posts written for product engineers./contents/newsletter - Newsletters republished from build mode./contents/tutorials - Tutorials/contents/customers - Customer stories/contents/spotlight - Startup spotlight/contents/handbook - The PostHog company handbookImportant: Some articles can rightfully belong in both the founder hub and the product engineers hub. In this case, choose the most appropriate hub folder and then add the crosspost: field to your frontmatt…
Writing for PostHog? Be sure to check out our full writing style guide . The core principle Write the way you'd explain something to a smart friend…
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Copy pageVoice & toneContentsThe core principleWhat to avoidHedge words and weasel phrasesPassive voiceFeature-first headlinesForced humorDos and don'ts with examplesHeadlinesBody copyError messagesEmailsSocial MediaWriting for PostHog? Be sure to check out our full writing style guide.The core principleWrite the way you'd explain something to a smart friend, not a business associate you're trying to impress or a prospect you're trying to close.That means:Clear and simple. If a simpler word works, use it.Specific. Concrete nouns and real examples beat abstract claims every time.Direct. State what the thing is. Don't make the reader infer. Don't use filler words.Honest. Including about limitations. Developers trust honesty more than polish.Conversational. Contractions are fine. Starting a sentence with "But" or "And" is fine.No jargon for jargon's sake. Technical precision when it helps. No buzzwords.No emojis. Emojis come off as try-hard and cringe. Avoid them, and prioritize using plain English.If there's an industry-standard phrase, question if it's actually the best way to describe something – or if somebody came up with it once and then everyone else followed suit. Maybe it mak…
There are three key principles here: Anyone can propose a change by creating an issue suggesting the change. Decisions should be made quickly – i.e…
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Copy pageTeam changesContentsHow to propose a team change1. Create a team change proposal issue2. Share your proposal widely3. Share the final decision in Slack4. Execute the changeFAQWhat if I want to move teams?What happens after a decision is made?There are three key principles here:Anyone can propose a change by creating an issue suggesting the change.Decisions should be made quickly – i.e. less than a week.Team Blitzscale ultimately own the decision to make a change or not.Complete consensus isn't necessary, but there should always be time for people to share feedback, and alternative solutions, before a decision is made.We should never run lengthy consultations, or individual meetings with all those affected by a proposed team change, but a group meeting to make a final call can be useful provided you follow the process below first.How to propose a team changeFollow this process whether you're proposing creating a new team, splitting up an existing team, or even closing down a team.1. Create a team change proposal issueYou can use the team change proposal template in company internal to do so. A good proposal should:Tag all those directly affected by the change, and the Blitz…
We want to build a self-sustaining and scalable community of engaged users because it will enable us to own our audience in a way that third party…
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Copy pagePostHog communityContentsResponsibility for communityContent hubsCommunity forumsAsking a questionAnswering questionsPoints & achievementsWe want to build a self-sustaining and scalable community of engaged users because it will enable us to own our audience in a way that third party social media platforms do not. Like brand or content, building a thriving community is a (very) long term bet, so we will need to both invest a lot of time up front and then wait to see what works and what doesn't.Our approach to building community at PostHog differs from most devtools in two ways:We are building our community around our website and content, rather than the product itself. This is because a) PostHog is a product that you add after you have already built something, and b) 90% of community activity turns into support queries, which is not what we want community to be.We are focusing on building the community platform itself - creating the tools that enable the community to interact with each other, rather than hiring a community manager whose job it is to go out and talk to everyone on other platforms/social media - this is not scalable.We run several channels, and they each hav…
Our newsletter is called build mode. It's owned by Ian. Sent and managed via Substack , we put together an issue planning content for each…
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Copy pageNewsletterContentsHow to write a good newsletterTopicTitleIntroStructureStyle & tonePublishing detailsOur newsletter is called build mode. It's owned by Ian. Sent and managed via Substack, we put together an issue planning content for each installment of the newsletter. One person writes it and Andy edits and publishes it.The newsletter is long-form, original copy, often based on blog posts we already wrote. It focuses on product and business lessons and information for engineers. We run ads to drive subscriptions for this newsletter.Art from previous newsletters is in Figma and diagrams are in FigJam.How to write a good newsletterThese aren’t rules, just things that have worked well in the past. They provide some guidance on writing a successful newsletter.TopicWrite about ideas, practices, and experiences unique to PostHog. Challenge conventional wisdom (ChatGPT is good for discovering what “conventional” is). For example, “Product management is broken. Engineers can fix it” goes against standard practice and details the way product management works at PostHog.Help our audience directly. Our audience is engineers, founders, aspiring founders. Helping them get a job or la…
We learned an interesting fact recently: only 20% of our users track their marketing website and their product using PostHog. This is our fault. We…
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Copy pageHow (and why) our marketing team uses PostHogAndy VandervellSep 28, 2022Guides, Product analytics, MarketingContentsThe goals of our marketing teamMarketing dashboardCore KPIsCircuit breakersWebsite dashboardSEO performance trackingThings we don't measure.Content marketing effectivenessWhat is 'Showed Intent'?Content + intent = effectivenessHow did we do in Q3?What's next?Quality signals for new usersImproving how we track attributionMarketing experimentsFinal thoughtsWe learned an interesting fact recently: only 20% of our users track their marketing website and their product using PostHog. This is our fault. We market to engineers at PostHog, so it's not a surprise we're less used for marketing.But here's another fact: all the things that make PostHog great for understanding your product also apply to your marketing website. To demonstrate, we're sharing how we use PostHog for marketing.The goals of our marketing teamTo start, let's talk about our goals as a marketing team. In Q3 2022, these were:Average 420 weekly 'new organization signups'Increase Organic SEO traffic to 5,000 unique users per weekAcquire 20 new reviews on our G2 profileOf course, these are just top-lev…
We're organized into multi-disciplinary small teams.
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Pineapple on pizzaNo data availableFeature ownershipActionsfeature/actionsActivity logfeature/activity-logsActivity viewfeature/eventsAgent proxyfeature/agent-proxyAgent runtimefeature/agent-runtimeAgentic provisioningfeature/agentic-provisioningAI gatewayfeature/ai-gatewayAI playgroundAI plugin (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI)Georgiy Tarasov is the point owner.Alertsfeature/alertsAnnotationsfeature/annotationsAPI structurefeature/api-structureShared responsibility, with features owned by the relevant small team.Authenticationfeature/authAutocapturefeature/autocaptureBase currencyfeature/currencyBatch exportsfeature/batch-exportsBillingfeature/billingCache warmingfeature/cache-warmingCLIfeature/cliShared with: Error Tracking TeamSelf-Driving TeamChris Volzer is the point owner for agentic use cases. Error tracking owns the symbolication/upload pipeline and symbol/sourcemap upload internals.Client librariesSee SDKsCloud agentsfeature/background-agentsCohortsfeature/cohortsCommand palettefeature/command-barComments/Discussionsfeature/commentsCSP trackingfeature/csp-trackingCurrency rate datasetfeature/currency-rateCustomer Analyticsfeature/customer-analyticsDashboard template…
The single platform for engineers to analyze, test, observe, and deploy new features. Product analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, CDP, and more.
Our mission Equip every developer to build successful products. Why is that our mission? Since the beginning, we've believed that engineers should be…
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Copy pageWhy does PostHog exist? Our mission and strategyContentsOur missionWhy is that our mission?Our strategy1. Be the source of truth for all product context2. Provide every tool engineers need to build successful products3. Get in first4. Automate the iteration processSecret master planOur missionEquip every developer to build successful products.Why is that our mission?Since the beginning, we've believed that engineers should be way more involved in making product decisions than they've been historically. In order to help them do that, we've built a collection of tools for engineers. Similar tools to the ones we've built have existed for a long time, but they were always built with other users in mind. By building things like product analytics, session replays, feature flags and a data warehouse for engineers first, we give engineers the ability to make product decisions themselves. This massively increases the speed at which engineers can make good decisions.The other way PostHog helps engineers is by combining all the tools they need into one product. This avoids a ton of work integrating and linking up various products, both when integrating and ongoingly.We try to help en…
Data sources & import (ELT)Let AI connect your sources for youSkip the manual setup — run this in your project and the wizard auto-detects your databases and APIs and connects them to PostHog.npx @posthog/wizard warehouseLearn moreLet AI connect your sources for youConnect your external databases, SaaS tools, ad platforms, and more to sync data in bulk into your PostHog warehouse for analysis and modeling. All events and user data captured via PostHog SDKs are automatically available in your warehouse as well.1PasswordAblyActiveCampaignAdjustAdobe AnalyticsAdobe Commerce (Magento)AdRollAdyenAfterShipAgileCRMAha!Aha! IdeasAirbrakeAircallAirOpsAirtableAirwallexAivenAlgoliaAlgunaAlpha VantageAmazon AdsAmazon SESAmplitudeAnthropicApify DatasetApitallyApolloAppfiguresAppFollowApple (App Store Connect)Apple AdsAppLovinAppsFlyerAppSignalAppstackApptio Cloudability (IBM)Argo CDAsaasAsanaAshbyAskNicelyAssemblyAIAtlassian Bitbucket CloudAttentiveAttioAutomoxAutumnAvalara AvaTaxAviationstackAviatorAwinAWS BudgetsAWS Cost Anomaly DetectionAWS Cost ExplorerAWS OrganizationsAzure BlobAzure DevOpsBabelforceBack Market (Back Market SAS)BambooHRBaserowBatonBeamerbeehiivBetter StackBettermodeBigComm…
The single platform for engineers to analyze, test, observe, and deploy new features. Product analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, CDP, and more.
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CustomersHere are some customers who use PostHog.You can use the filters below to read how they use different products.ProductCase studyFeatured[data-radix-scroll-area-viewport]{scrollbar-width:none;-ms-overflow-style:none;-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch;}[data-radix-scroll-area-viewport]::-webkit-scrollbar{display:none}Company nameProduct(s) usedCase studyNotes1Product Analytics, Session Replay, Feature Flags, ExperimentsLink World's premier startup accelerator2Product Analytics, Feature FlagsOpen source LLMs3Product Analytics, Feature Flags, Experiments, Surveys, Error Tracking, CDP, Managed warehouse, PostHog AILink Postgres in the cloud4Product Analytics, Web Analytics, Session Replay, Feature Flags, Experiments, Surveys, Error Tracking, AI Observability, CDP, Managed warehouse, Workflows, PostHog AILink AI voice generator5Product Analytics, Feature Flags, Managed warehouse, PostHog AIThe MacOS Spotlight that Apple should have built6Product Analytics, Web Analytics, Session Replay, Feature Flags, Surveys, Error Tracking, Logs, CDP, Managed warehouse, PostHog AIThey make airplanes7Product Analytics, Web Analytics, Feature Flags, Experiments, Surveys, Error Tracking, CDP, Manage…