Aidi — Debunking the Biggest Myths About Product-Market Fit

“Just build something great, and the users will come.”
“Once you find product-market fit (PMF), every other thing just clicks.”
“Investors will be interested once you have PMF”

We’ve all heard statements like this thrown around in startup gatherings or discussions like it’s some founder hack. But are they really true?

One word you will hear, as a founder, most of the time or maybe every single time is “Product-Market Fit” (PMF). Some founders talk about it like it's a glorious moment every new or upcoming founder should look forward to– like it’s the only moment that determines whether you know what you’re doing with your startup or not. Some even treat it like a magical moment where everything just aligns and works, and your life as a founder suddenly becomes easier.

But here’s the truth: Product-market fit is not a defining moment or milestone, it’s not a destination, and it doesn’t guarantee you will have smooth sailing and everything will begin to align like magic. 

There are a lot of myths around product-market fit that could set you back if you’re not careful. In this article, we will be debunking some of the biggest myths about PMF, so you can approach it with the clarity (and humility) it requires.

“Product-Market Fit Is a One-Time Milestone.”

Product-market fit is not a one-time milestone. It’s not something you achieve once and never have to worry about again for as long as your startup exists. Rather, it is a moving target because the market can shift, competitors can emerge or existing competitors can evolve, your customers’ behaviours can change. The product that worked beautifully for your target users six months ago might not be what they want now. Even the big products we all know today like Facebook, Amazon, etc are constantly iterating on their products to adapt to the new behaviours of their customers. PMF is something you have to keep earning over time by studying changes in your customers’ behaviours so your product remains relevant in the market.

“You’ll Know You Have PMF When Investors Start Showing Interest.”

LOL!

Investors being interested in your product or deck is not a sign that you have product-market fit. Some investors may get excited by a compelling pitch, a viral moment, or market trends, but that doesn’t mean you’ve built something people actually want or are willing to pay for. How you’ll know you have an actual product-market fit is determined by your customers. If your customers stick around regardless of competitors, refer your product to others, and are always willing to pay without much convincing, then you have product-market fit. Attention from investors should never be your main metric for PMF. Focus on your users first.

“Once You Hit Product-Market Fit, Everything Else Will be Easy."

If only. Many founders believe that once they find PMF, their startup immediately starts running on autopilot– money begins to flow in, investors begin to line up, customer growth hits the skies, and so on. Attaining product-market fit is a gradual process, and when you eventually get it, you’ll just be starting a whole new set of challenges. Once you’ve validated your product with a group of users, you’ll need to scale. This means building a stronger team, improving your infrastructure, handling customer support, navigating competition, and still building new features. Hitting PMF doesn’t mean you can relax; it only means you’re ready to go even harder.

“You Can Only Find PMF When the Product is Perfect.”

Wrong. You can find product-market fit before your product is polished or ‘perfect’. Some founders often obsess over making the product perfect before testing it with real users. But product-market fit is not about perfection. It’s about value. Are you solving a real problem? Are people willing to use or pay for your imperfect product because it solves that problem better than anything else? You don’t need to launch a fully-featured product to find PMF. In fact, many successful startups started with an MVP that solved one problem really well. Focus on identifying a painful, recurring problem and deliver a simple solution that works rather than building the “perfect” app.

“Product-Market Fit Means Building a Product for Everyone.”

When you build a product that people like, it can become very tempting to want to immediately shift focus and expand the product to serve everybody, every possible use case, and every demographic. But trying to build for everyone usually means building a product that doesn’t deeply serve anyone. PMF often happens when you focus on a specific customer segment and solve their problem really well. Once you’ve won that segment, you can then start to think about expansion.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, finding product-market fit is very important while building your startup but it is not a finish line. Rather, it is a continuously evolving relationship between your product and your customers. So, instead of obsessing over PMF and chasing vanity metrics, focus on listening to your users, solving their problems, and measuring what really matters.

And whatever you do, don’t fall for the myths.