Build Successful Products
The four variables you need to get PM Fit
When looking to build a new product there are an infinite number of things to think about. Luckily, in the early stages most don’t matter. Here are the four variables that matter most:
- Market: Is it big enough to support your business goals?
- Customer Segment: Who are you selling to? What customer types are involved in buying and using your product? Can you reach them?
- Pain: What problem are these people actively trying to solve?
- Solution: What can you offer that will solve the Pain for the Customer Segment to the extent that they will pay you?
Without these figured out, everything else is pretty much moot. For example, you can’t test pricing if you don’t know who your customer is.
Where to start
If you want to get to Product Market Fit faster you should solve the four variables in the order I presented. Here’s how:
- Pick a Market and a Customer Segment. Hold these two constant leaving you two variables to solve for. I call this the opportunity.
- Interview for Pain. Research (i.e. run customer development interviews) to discover their worst served needs.
- Iterate on Solutions. Test early signs of Product Market Fit with a value proposition. If a high percentage of your Customer Segment bites, start increasing the fidelity of your solution starting with the simplest ways to meet customer needs (i.e. minimum viable product).
Lots of entrepreneurs try to go backwards. Starting with a Solution they hunt for a Customer Segment with Pain. This takes longer and you run the risk of ending up with a tiny Market.
This is what you should do but how do you it well? There are four roles to play, each requiring a different skill set. Read Four Hats Product-Focused Founders Have.
Are you starting a business?
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