Don’t Scale Until the Market Pulls You

Before you grow, confirm that customers want what you’re building.
Product-market fit (PMF) is the foundation of any sustainable startup. It’s the point where your product resonates deeply with a specific audience, driving consistent adoption, engagement, and word-of-mouth.

Why it's Important

Confirms that your value proposition connects with real demand
Ensures product resources are used to deepen traction, not chase novelty
Reduces churn by aligning features with real-world workflows
Gives confidence to investors and stakeholders
Enables more effective go-to-market execution

How to Implement

Focus on a single customer segment to start
Track retention curves, daily or weekly active usage, and frequency of key actions
Conduct user interviews to understand emotional connection and daily relevance
Use Sean Ellis’s PMF test: ask users how they would feel if the product no longer existed
Identify your "must-have" users based on engagement and satisfaction
Create a list of leading indicators like activation rate, time-to-value, and feature adoption
Prioritize roadmap items that serve your most engaged user segment
Re-assess PMF with each major product or audience shift

How You Know You Got It Right

At least 40% of surveyed users say they’d be “very disappointed” if your product disappeared
You’re retaining users over multiple months without heavy reminders or discounts
Organic adoption is growing through referrals, SEO, or word-of-mouth
Feedback loops consistently reinforce the same core product value
Users describe your product as a necessity, not just a tool
Your metrics improve even before major marketing efforts begin
Investors and advisors comment that your traction is “pull, not push”

Real-World Examples

Slack

Saw teams self-organizing around the tool, with usage spreading organically before investing heavily in marketing

Figma

Focused on collaborative design for product teams and gained deep traction before expanding into agencies and enterprises

Dropbox

Used early waitlists and referral loops to validate real demand before rolling out at scale

Make It Better

Stay focused on one core use case before adding features
Use interviews to understand what keeps people coming back
Segment users by engagement to find your strongest fit
Monitor negative churn (users upgrading or expanding over time)
Share PMF insights with the entire team to align priorities

Don't Make These Mistakes

Assuming growth equals product-market fit
Ignoring high churn or low engagement in favor of top-line vanity metrics
Serving too many segments at once
Treating PMF as a static milestone rather than an evolving state
Launching GTM or paid campaigns before real user pull exists