Scaling DevTools Product Market Fit - the only thing that matters
Jan 31, 2026
A deep dive into why market size trumps team or product when startups succeed. Discussion of how markets can pull products to success and why great products fail in weak markets. Practical signs that real product-market fit exists like explosive usage and customer pull. Tips on launching fast, iterating around customer demand, and how AI shifts PMF dynamics.
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Market Trumps Team And Product
- Market quality drives startup outcomes more than team or product in most cases.
- A great market pulls product out of a startup and often makes success easier than perfect execution.
Baseline Competence Plus Market Matter
- A great team can't save a startup in a bad market, and a weak team can succeed in a great market.
- Baseline competence plus market opportunity usually determines outcome more than stellar execution.
VMware Created Its Own Market
- VMware created a new market by shipping a transformative product that catalyzed virtualization.
- That rare outcome shows product can create markets, but founders shouldn't rely on it.