How Today’s Product Builders Achieve Product/Market Fit
In a recent discussion with Fareed Mosavat, Chief Development Officer at Reforge, we explored how modern product builders are finding product/market fit. While the Lean Startup methodology is still widely used, it has some shortcomings that seasoned builders have overcome with more advanced techniques.
Avoiding Confirmation Bias in Customer Discovery Interviews
One crucial step in finding product/market fit is conducting customer discovery interviews. However, confirmation bias can be a trap that blinds us to feedback that doesn’t align with our assumptions. Successful builders circumvent this bias by acknowledging their assumptions while seeking out dissenting opinions. This way, they can ascertain the true needs of their target market.
Exploring the Idea Maze Upfront to Avoid Unsuccessful Paths
Another technique to achieve product/market fit is to deeply explore the idea maze upfront. This process involves mapping out all possible paths from idea conception, testing them, and abandoning the unsuccessful ones. By doing so, product builders can narrow their focus to the path with the most likelihood of success.
Leveraging a Portfolio of Validation Techniques
Building MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) is still a crucial validation technique in finding product/market fit. However, product builders now rely on a portfolio of validation techniques beyond MVPs. These techniques include concierge MVPs, where the team provides human support and does manual work to simulate an automated solution. Another technique is Wizard of Oz MVPs, where the product facade is artificially created to test how users interact with the product.
Measuring Product/Market Fit via Retention and Growth
Measuring product/market fit is crucial for builders to ascertain if their product appeals to the market. Measuring retention and growth is an effective way to gauge product/market fit. When retention is high, it means users find the product valuable enough to keep returning. Similarly, growth shows there is a growing user base and interest in the product.
Using a Two-Pronged Approach to Grow Users
To grow users, builders rely on a two-pronged approach. First, generating early traction to attract early adopters and build buzz. Second, developing a sustainable growth loop that will keep the users coming back and attract new users consistently.
Conclusion
While Lean Startup continues to be a popular methodology in finding product/market fit, seasoned builders rely on more advanced techniques to avoid confirmation bias, explore the idea maze upfront, leverage a portfolio of validation techniques, measure product/market fit via retention and growth and use a two-prong approach to grow users. These techniques have been proven effective in achieving product/market fit, a crucial step in building successful products. To gain in-depth knowledge on these techniques, check out the course Finding Product/Market Fit by Sachin Rekhi.
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