Article · ~20 min read

How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit

Rahul Vohra · First Round Review Free Intermediate

Turns the vague feeling of product-market fit into a number you can move. Ask users how they would feel if they could no longer use the product, then track the share who say 'very disappointed'. Under 40 percent means keep working. A test you can run on an idea long before you scale it.

  • The 40 percent 'very disappointed' benchmark for product-market fit.
  • Segment to your high-expectation customers and build for them.
  • Make the fit score a metric you improve quarter by quarter.
Open on review.firstround.com ↗

It answers 76 questions

  1. What does 'validating an idea' actually mean?
  2. How do I talk to customers without them just telling me what I want to hear?
  3. What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with?
  4. How do I decide what to build next?
  5. How do I know if my idea is any good?
  6. How do I decide which features to cut from v1?
  7. Isn't doing things that don't scale a waste of time, shouldn't I automate from day one?
  8. My launch flopped and nobody cared, did I mess it up?
  9. How do I validate an idea without building anything?
  10. Should I solve a problem I personally have, or chase a bigger market?
  11. How many customer interviews do I need before I trust the signal?
  12. How long should building an MVP take?

And 64 more across the hub.

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  3. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  4. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  5. The essay that put 'product-market fit' into the startup vocabulary. Read it for the gut-level description of what PMF feels... pmarchive.com Essay · ~15 min read The Only Thing That Matters Marc Andreessen
  6. Video · ~50 min How to Evaluate Startup Ideas Kevin Hale, Y Combinator
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →