7 Lessons from Andy Rachleff on Product-Market Fit

Execution Does Not Matter: If your startup addresses a market that really wants your product, you can screw almost everything up and still likely be successful. On the flip side, if you are really good at execution, but the “dogs aren’t eating the dog food”, you have no chance at winning.

To cross the chasm, startups must first dominate a niche or create a beachhead and then expand from a position of strength. Too often, startups try to skip the early adopter stage and move to early majority. The issue is that the early majority requires references, and they won’t buy the product no matter how valuable it is without them.

“When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins. When a lousy team meets a great market, market wins. When a great team meets a great market, something special happens.”

Look for Desperation: Product-market fit really means finding a group of customers who are desperate for your product.

Companies often mistakenly try to test their growth hypothesis (discovering how to cost-effectively acquire customers) before proving out the value hypothesis. Don’t put the cart before the horse. Most companies that nail the value hypothesis are highly likely to figure out their growth hypothesis.

Product 1st, Market 2nd: Most successful new markets begin with a market-sensitive technologist recognizing an inflection point that enables a new kind of product. The next question becomes: “who wants to buy my product?” Start with the product and search for the market as opposed to vice versa. Evaluating a market trying to find holes and developi... See more