Tathagat	Varma	
Knowledgepreneur	
http://thoughtleadership.in
90%
http://qz.com/682517/after-analyzing-200-founders-postmortems-researchers-say-these-are-the-reasons-startups-fail/
https://steveblank.com/2014/06/28/
customer-discovery-the-search-for-
productmarket-fit-2-minutes-to-see-why/
—  Marc	Andressan	(2007):		
—  Product/market	fit	means	being	in	a	good	market	with	a	product	that	
can	satisfy	that	market.	
—  When	you	are	BPMF,	focus	obsessively	on	getting	to	product/market	
fit.	Do	whatever	is	required	to	get	to	product/market	fit.	Including	
changing	out	people,	rewriting	your	product,	moving	into	a	different	
market,	telling	customers	no	when	you	don't	want	to,	telling	
customers	yes	when	you	don't	want	to,	raising	that	fourth	round	of	
highly	dilutive	venture	capital	--	whatever	is	required	
—  Paul	Graham	(2008):	
—  Make	things	people	want.	
—  Sean	Ellis:		
—  Achieving	product/market	fit	requires	at	least	40%	of	users	saying	they	
would	be	“very	disappointed”	without	your	product.	
—  PMF	as	a	pre-condition	to	scaling	up	business!	
—  Michael	Seibel	(2016):	
—  Focusing	on	market	first!
“You	can	always	feel	product/market	fit	when	it's	
happening.	The	customers	are	buying	the	product	just	
as	fast	as	you	can	make	it	--	or	usage	is	growing	just	as	
fast	as	you	can	add	more	servers.	Money	from	
customers	is	piling	up	in	your	company	checking	
account.	You're	hiring	sales	and	customer	support	staff	
as	fast	as	you	can.	Reporters	are	calling	because	they've	
heard	about	your	hot	new	thing	and	they	want	to	talk	
to	you	about	it.	You	start	getting	entrepreneur	of	the	
year	awards	from	Harvard	Business	School.	Investment	
bankers	are	staking	out	your	house.”	–	Marc	Andreessen
You	can	always	feel	when	product/
market	fit	isn’t	happening.	The	
customers	aren’t	quite	getting	value	out	
of	the	product,	word	of	mouth	isn’t	
spreading,	usage	isn’t	growing	that	fast,	
press	reviews	are	kind	of	“blah”,	the	
sales	cycle	takes	too	long,	and	lots	of	
deals	never	close.	–	Marc	Andreessen
1.  Determine	your	target	customer	
2.  Identify	underserved	customer	needs	
3.  Define	your	value	proposition	
4.  Specify	your	MVP	
5.  Create	your	MVP	
6.  Test	your	MVP	with	customers	
	
It	is	an	iterative	process.	Iteration	leads	to	feedback	
on	MVP,	which	gets	revised.	When	you	MVP	is	
valuable,	easy	to	use,	etc.,	you	have	found	PMF!	
http://medium.com/lean-startup-co/a-playbook-for-achieving-product-market-fit-434a644a9b91#.k8b6q93dp
—  The	Value	
Proposition	Canvas	
zooms	into	the	
details	of	two	of	the	
building	blocks	of	
the	Business	Model	
Canvas	
—  Helps	you	create	
value	for	your	
customer
— Customer	Profile:	clarify	your	customer	
understanding	
— Value	Map:	describe	how	you	intend	to	
create	value	for	that	customer	
— You	achieve	“Fit”	when	value	map	meets	
your	customer	profile	–	when	your	products	
and	services	product	pain	relievers	and	gain	
creators	that	match	one	of	more	of	the	jobs,	
pains,	and	gains	that	are	important	to	your	
customer.
http://www.slideshare.net/rishi12/finding-product-market-fit-introducing-the-pmf-matrix-presentation-by-rishi-
dean-to-mit-sloan-breakfast-club
1.  Product	market	fit	is	always	a	discrete,	big	
bang	event	
2.  It’s	patently	obvious	when	you	have	
product	market	fit	
3.  Once	you	achieve	product	market	fit,	you	
can’t	lost	it	
4.  Once	you	have	product	market	fit,	you	
don’t	have	to	sweat	the	competition	
http://blog.pmarca.com/2010/03/20/the-revenge-of-the-fat-guy/
1.  Your	product	is	NOT	“the	product”	
2.  Brainstorm	multiple	models	and	prioritize	where	to	start	
3.  Understand	the	three	stage	of	a	startup	
4.  Focus	on	the	right	macro	metrics	
5.  Formulate	falsifiable	hypotheses	
6.  Architect	for	learning	
7.  Architect	for	speed	
8.  Go	only	as	fast	as	you	can	learn	
9.  Validate	qualitatively,	verify	quantitatively	
10.  Systematically	test	your	model	
http://www.slideshare.net/ashmaurya/10-steps-to-productmarket-fit
http://torgronsund.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Slide1.jpg
GET OUT OF THE BUILDING…
—  Product-Market	Fit	is	all	about	finding	the	
“resonance”	between	your	customer’s	needs	and	your	
value	proposition	
—  You	start	with	sketching	your	assumptions	on	paper.	
A	tool	like	VPC	or	PMFC	could	be	useful.	
—  However,	you	need	to	validate	your	assumptions!	So,	
you	build	an	MVP	and	test	it	rigorously.	
—  When	you	see	your	BMC	is	checked	all	green,	you	
have	no	“guesswork”	left	unvalidated	anymore.	
—  At	that	point,	you	have	achieved	PMF	and	have	a	
playbook	for	next	phase	of	growth.
—  http://web.archive.org/web/20070701074943/http://
blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the-pmarca-gu-2.html	
—  http://productmarketfitcanvas.com/	
—  http://rishidean.com/2010/03/15/finding-product-market-fit-
introducing-the-pmf-matrix/	
—  http://blog.pmarca.com/2010/03/20/the-revenge-of-the-fat-guy/	
—  https://leanstack.com/achievingproductmarketfit/	
—  http://www.startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/	
—  http://www.slideshare.net/ashmaurya/10-steps-to-
productmarket-fit	
—  https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-define-Product-Market-
Fit	
—  http://www.themacro.com/articles/2016/06/the-real-product-
market-fit/

Identifying Product Market Fit