Product-market fit (PMF) is the stage where your product satisfies a strong market demand—where you've found the right product for the right market. It's the difference between pushing a boulder uphill (no PMF) and riding a wave (strong PMF).

Marc Andreessen's Definition

"Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market."

When you have it:

• Customers are buying your product as fast as you can make it
• Usage is growing organically
• Press is calling you
• Money is flowing in
• You're hiring rapidly

When you don't:

• Customers aren't getting value
• Churn is high
• Growth is slow
• You're constantly pivoting

The Sean Ellis Test

Ask users: "How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?"

If 40%+ answer "very disappointed," you've likely achieved product-market fit. Below 40%, you're not there yet.

Signs You Have Product-Market Fit

Quantitative signals:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) >50
• 40%+ users would be "very disappointed" without product
• Month-over-month growth >10%
• Low churn (<5% monthly for B2B SaaS)
• Strong organic acquisition
• High activation rates (users stick after signing up)

Qualitative signals:

• Users tell others about your product unprompted
• People are willing to pay premium prices
• Customers push you to go faster
• Usage exceeds your expectations
• Users find creative ways to use your product
• Sales feels like you're pulling rope, not pushing

The feeling: You're overwhelmed by demand, not struggling to create it.

Why It Matters

Before PMF: Everything is about finding fit. You're flexible, willing to pivot, focused on learning.

After PMF: Everything is about scaling. You've found something that works and now need to grow it.

Building a company before achieving PMF is building on quicksand. Most startup failures come from scaling too early, before they've found fit.

Common Misconceptions

Myth: PMF is binary. Reality: It's a spectrum. You might have weak fit (some users love it), moderate fit (enough to survive), or strong fit (overwhelming demand).

Myth: Once achieved, you have it forever. Reality: Markets change, competitors emerge, user needs evolve. PMF requires continuous refinement.

Myth: PMF means your product is perfect. Reality: Your product probably has bugs and missing features. But the core value proposition resonates strongly enough that users tolerate imperfections.

Myth: PMF comes from great execution. Reality: PMF comes from building something people want. Execution matters, but for the wrong product, perfect execution doesn't help.

How Feedback Relates to PMF

Before PMF: Feedback helps you find fit. You're testing hypotheses, pivoting based on user input, searching for the right product-market combination.

After PMF: Feedback helps you improve fit. You're refining the product, adding features, removing friction—but the core value proposition is validated.

The pattern shift:

Before PMF, feedback is exploratory: "What if we tried...?" "Would this solve your problem?"

After PMF, feedback is refinement: "This works but could be better if..." "I love it, but I need..."

Finding Product-Market Fit

Start with a specific market. "Everyone" is not a market. "Series A SaaS companies managing customer feedback" is.

Talk to potential users constantly. Not to pitch, but to understand their problems deeply.

Build the minimum product that solves their problem. Not the full vision, just enough to test value.

Measure engagement obsessively. Are people using it? Coming back? Telling others?

Iterate based on feedback. Try, learn, adjust, repeat.

Look for the signal. When you hit PMF, you'll feel the pull. Users start demanding more, faster.

Don't scale before you have it. Premature scaling kills more startups than anything else.

PMF and Your Roadmap

Before PMF, your roadmap should be flexible and feedback-driven. You're searching, not executing.

After PMF, your roadmap becomes more strategic. You balance user feedback with vision, scaling considerations, and competitive positioning.

The transition is knowing when to stop listening to every piece of feedback and start driving toward a vision.