The founder of Superhuman, Rahul Vohra, shares his step-by-step process to measure and achieve product market fit. He discusses the importance of understanding and measuring product market fit, analyzing user feedback, and improving user experience. The chapter also explores how measuring product market fit can help in prioritizing features and the need for constant evolution.
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Quick takeaways
Measuring product market fit can now be achieved through a step-by-step process outlined by Raoul Vora, allowing founders to quantitatively assess and optimize their product's fit with the market.
Achieving and maintaining product market fit is a continuous effort that requires ongoing monitoring, adaptation, and balancing efforts to address user needs and concerns.
Deep dives
Understanding the Need for Measuring Product Market Fit
Product market fit is a crucial factor that every startup founder obsesses over, but it has always been difficult to measure. However, Raoul Vora, the founder and CEO of Superhuman, has developed a step-by-step process to quantify and achieve product market fit. In his seminal essay, he outlined a method to measure product market fit by asking users how they would feel if they could no longer use the product. If more than 40% of users would be very disappointed without the product, it indicates initial product market fit. This metric provides a more objective and actionable way to measure and optimize product market fit.
Applying the Product Market Fit Process to Your Business
Raoul Vora's process consists of five steps: survey, segment, analyze, implement, and track. In the survey step, four questions are emailed to users to gauge their level of satisfaction and identify the high expectation customer (HXC). By analyzing the responses to question two, the HXC persona can be developed. The segmentation step helps narrow the market focus based on the HXC, leading to an increased product market fit score. The analyze step involves understanding why users love the product and what holds them back. This insight guides the implementation step, where the focus is on doubling down on what users love and addressing their objections. Finally, ongoing tracking ensures continuous improvement and adjustment to maintain and increase the product market fit score.
Prioritizing the Right Inputs and Leading with a Plan
The product market fit process presented by Raoul Vora helps entrepreneurs prioritize the right things for their business. By intentionally ignoring feedback from customers who are not in the high expectation customer segment, founders can focus their efforts on addressing the needs of the most passionate users. This process also provides a leadership tool, allowing founders to lead with a plan rather than simply recognizing an absence of product market fit. By constantly surveying and tracking the product market fit score, entrepreneurs can proactively ensure their business is on the right track.
The Ongoing Nature of Product Market Fit
A key takeaway from Raoul Vora's process is that achieving and maintaining product market fit is an ongoing process. As the business evolves, the target market may expand, requiring adjustments to the product's market fit strategy. The product market fit score may fluctuate over time as the customer base grows and the product evolves. It is crucial to continuously work towards increasing the product market fit score by balancing efforts to double down on what users love and addressing their concerns.
Episode 93: Today, we’re talking about product market fit. Product market fit is one of those things that every startup founder obsesses over, but it’s always been this elusive thing that can’t be measured or quantified. Until now. Rahul Vohra, the founder & CEO of superhuman, which is the fastest email app ever, felt strongly that there had to be a better way to measure product market fit. A way to quantify it and use it as a proactive tool to dictate how you run your business and build your product. So in 2017 he wrote a seminal essay on a step by step process for testing, measuring, and achieving product market fit in your business, an essay that has now become the most read article ever on the popular startup blog First Round Review. In this episode Rahul breaks down his product market fit process, so you can learn how to apply it to your own business.