Essay · ~4 min read

The Real Product Market Fit

Michael Seibel · Michael Seibel (Y Combinator) Free Beginner

Seibel's whole point is that a market only counts once real customers are grabbing the product as fast as you can make it and paying for it, not because a report says the category is big. That is the exact test for your situation: a huge paper market with almost nobody paying is the opposite of the hair-on-fire demand he describes. Read it as a gut-check on whether you have found a real problem or just a large-sounding one.

  • Real product market fit shows up as customers desperate to use and pay for the product, not as a big total-addressable-market slide.
  • If usage is calm and nobody is paying, you almost certainly have not found the burning problem yet, however large the market looks.
  • A small group of customers who love you beats a large group who kind of like you.
Open on michaelseibel.com ↗

It answers 5 questions

  1. What is founder-market fit and how do I know if I have it?
  2. Should I solve a problem I personally have, or chase a bigger market?
  3. How do I know if I've found product-market fit?
  4. When should I pivot vs. persevere?
  5. How do I know when I've validated enough to actually start building?

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 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
  3. 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
  4. 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... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit Rahul Vohra
  5. Once you are testing an idea, this piece gives you concrete signals that tell you whether it is actually working, from... Lenny's Newsletter Article · about 15 min read How to Know If You've Got Product-Market Fit Lenny Rachitsky
  6. The nuanced counterweight: PMF isn't a single binary moment, it can be lost, and 'market' is doing more work than founders... a16z.com Article · ~20 min read 12 Things About Product-Market Fit Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
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