Episode 19: Episode 19: Product Market Fit

Akylles Talks

Product/Market Fit is a common concept in the startup world. While widely applied in conversations around new high-growth companies, it doesn’t seem to have caught on in the rest of the business world yet. It deserves to be more widely understood because it’s a useful Mental Model for the interplay between a business, its products, and its customers. Learning about Product/Market Fit will help you see the world differently, and inspire new ways to create value for your customers and growth for your business. Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market. You can always feel when product/market fit isn’t happening. The customers aren’t quite getting value out of the product, word of mouth isn’t spreading, usage isn’t growing that fast, press reviews are kind of “blah”, the sales cycle takes too long, and lots of deals never close. And you can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it — or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is piling up in your company checking account. You’re hiring sales and customer support staff as fast as you can. Reporters are calling because they’ve heard about your hot new thing and they want to talk to you about it. Myth #1: Product market fit is always a discrete, big bang event Myth #2: It’s patently obvious when you have product-market fit Myth #3: Once you achieve product-market fit, you can’t lose it Myth #4: Once you have product-market fit, you don’t have to sweat the competition In a Nutshell, This is a product-market fit. Make sure to check the guides on www.startupkudos.com If you need any workshop or lecture on startup-related matters, go to www.akylles.com Be Organized, Be Passionate, be Structured IG: @ramialame www.ramialame.com