WIP: Re-thinking “Product Market Fit”

The term PMF or Product Market Fit is used rather loosely in discussing and deliberating customer resonance. What’s interesting about this term is the genesis and use of this started largely with and for technology companies back in the 2000s. But what happens when technology today, unlike as it was in the 2000s, is an omnipresent enabler at large versus being the “product” itself?

It’s been fashionable for VCs and Founders alike (up until the recent D2C wave) to describe all kinds of consumer companies as technology companies.

I remember listening to Emily Weiss of Glossier, a much loved beauty brand, describing Glossier as a tech company at a conference. Maybe it was a schtick to raise more money, maybe she actually believed it, I don’t know. But to me, what makes Glossier delightful is a. their products *actually* work and b. their products’ form (Boy Brow, & their Solid Perfume being 2 great examples.) Not their website/software.

A way to think through this as an example- Is Zomato a technology company, or does their “product” excellence lie in operational proficiency and leveraging technology for the same? So, is their “product” therefore their app, or is it their ability to meet timely deliveries?

Is Airbnb’s product their app/web or is it their unique supply? And therefore, while evaluating Airbnb’s PMF in its early years, what was important to measure- their software retention cohorts, or their ability to continue pulling unique “travel” supply? Which they’ve been able to do vis a vis short-term stays and experiences, and now long term stays as well.

Point being- when describing if a company has truly found PMF, “product” shouldn’t only be defined through a technological/software lens and perhaps should be looked at through the lens of what part of the product gives the end customer delight- even if the initial point of consumption for a consumer may be technological/the software. This applies especially to companies in EComm & Marketplaces, Media-Tech startups and consumer brands that may be straddling in between what their consumers buy & where they make the purchase.

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I haven’t distilled this down to the t- but would love your thoughts on how to re-think PMF.

Other stuff I’m thinking through:

• does PMF matter early on or do moments of momentum?
• Is choosing the right market the G.O.A.T business moat- where your product can and should keep evolving?

But more on this another day.