The Fundamentals of Traction

What is Traction? Where does it come from? And, most importantly, how do you generate it?

Startups are in an endless pursuit of product-market fit. If they are very young, they might still be defining their vision of what the world will look like should they find it. If they are more mature, they are justifying to their next round of investors and strategic hires that they are strengthening their understanding of the early fit they’ve already established. This road is so well-traveled that the industry has adopted a name for the story of this pursuit: traction.

Just having product-market fit isn’t enough. A startup needs to prove it can achieve venture-scale.

Marc Andreessen eloquently defines product-market fit as “being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” This sounds straightforward enough, but it takes time, money, trial, and error to prove a venture has found its fit. Furthermore, if a company wants to raise capital from professional venture capitalists, just having product-market fit isn’t enough. A company needs to prove it can achieve venture-scale. That’s why those in the startup ecosystem have invented the concept of Traction.

I’ve found myself thinking about the meaning of traction constantly as I lead a team that researches and coaches growth strategies to VC-backed startups. The importance of traction cannot be understated…