Ask HN: How do startups find their product-market fit? - theforceawakens
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jewelblute
Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can
satisfy that market.

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.

And 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. You could eat free for a year at Buck’s.

I am also a part of a startup and owned by a website
[http://resumeplus.us](http://resumeplus.us). I think this answer helped you
and I wish all the success for your bright future.

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JacobAldridge
Talk to potential customers. Then talk to more of them. Ask "Would you buy
this?"

I reference patio11 on this topic a lot: You'll generally get one of 3
responses when you ask.

1) 'No'. This is useful - why not? What would need to change? 2) 'Yes'. This
is the most dangerous response. It's impossible to tell a polite response from
a promising prospect. Plenty of new businesses chase the wrong product
development strategy because "people _said_ they would buy _this_ ". What
people say and what people do, especially when it comes to money, are
different things. 3) "Can I buy this from you right now? How much?" This is
the only 'good' response for the state of your current product. If people
don't want to buy it now (sign up, whatever) then you haven't found the fit
yet.

I'm going through this again with a new business. Lots of the second response
- not enough of the third, so much as I'd love to ramp up the marketing I know
the product and how I'm explaining it just aren't ready yet.

~~~
theforceawakens
Great practical advice! I like the way you have distilled it down to 3
responses - No, Yes, Hell Yeah!

Two questions: 1)And how do you convert Yes to Hell Yeah!? 2)What strategies
would you apply to find those potential (or initial) customers?

~~~
JacobAldridge
If you don't already know who your target audience is, then you've probably
put the cart before the horse and there's a good chance you're building a
'Solution in search of a Problem' rather than the other way around.

Who are your ideal clients? pg's section on finding the 'Well' \- a small
group with a deep problem, not a large group with a shallow problem - is
relevant here
[http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html](http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html)

Be as specific as you can - geographically, demographically, what do they look
like, what do they do etc (Google 'personas' for a slightly more complex take
on this). Are you building something for black lesbian vegetarians? College-
educated Donald Trump supporters? When you're super clear about this, ask
yourself where these people hang-out - where can you find them? (That also
helps with channel strategies in the future.)

Converting from Yes to Hell Yeah! involves asking open questions and doing a
lot of listening. If your solution addresses a pain, have them explain that
pain to you over and over - when does it show up, how does that impact them,
what do they currently do, what does it currently cost them, who else do they
know with a similar experience, what hasn't worked in the past, what are their
concerns, how important is this to them, what will their life be like when
it's resolved, how much time and effort do they put into resolving it now etc
etc.

And if necessary (and you're comfortable doing so) be direct. "Based on our
conversation, I'm going to add xyz in the next week and sell it for $x. Can I
take a pre-order from you right now?"

If they say 'yes', you might have backtrack a little on timeframes
("Fantastic. Now, in reality I need to scope that and it may take longer than
a week. However I'm going to give you an x% discount / bonus something if we
proceed") or if it's a big change let them know that that was a market
research question (they know this is a market research interview, so don't
worry about that).

If they say No, ask "If I may, can I ask why not? What is still missing?".
Keep in mind, the most common answer here is also one many people won't
recognise or share - your solution just isn't worth that much to them. You've
dug a broad hole, not a deep well. That's why you need more conversations (I
recommend at least 10 - you could easily do hundreds, but let's be realistic).

Creating these conversations isn't hard - most people, even business owners,
are quite happy to give you an hour of their time if you introduce yourself
and ask for help. For programmers in particular, however, leaving the garage
and talking to people is outside their comfort zone - and the result is a lot
of products built based on assumptions, not conversations with actual
customers.

Conversely many massive businesses developed from first identifying the pain
and solution - either because of deep experience in a boring industry
(something most coders in their 20s lack), or because it was scratching their
own itch (reasonable advice, unless your solution is to build something every
other 20-something coder would build because then none of them will value it).

Hope that helps!

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relaunched
Put your product in the hands of users and watch what happens. Product /
Market fit is that magical moment when users get the intended experience out
of your product, and not only keep coming back for more, but also help you
grow your userbase.

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palidanx
At least for b2b, my 2 cents is that charge for your product upfront. Putting
that paywall in front of your product can help you immediately assess how
interested they are.

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percept
[http://giphy.com/gifs/hole-square-
peg-G2MPcSmq0DZcs](http://giphy.com/gifs/hole-square-peg-G2MPcSmq0DZcs)

