What We Get Wrong About Product Market Fit (And How To Fix It)

What We Get Wrong About Product Market Fit (And How To Fix It)

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: “We just need to find product-market fit, and then we’re golden!” But here’s the thing—PMF isn’t a one-and-done achievement. It’s not a trophy you can dust off and admire once you’ve won it.

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PMF is more like a relationship than a milestone. You don’t just “find” it and then coast. Customers’ needs change. Industries evolve. Technology advances. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. And if you’re not constantly listening, adapting, and iterating, you’ll plateau faster than you can say “disruption.”

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So, how do you stay ahead of the curve? Let’s break it down.

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1. PMF Isn’t Static—It’s a Moving Target

Imagine you’ve built a killer app that helps people find answers to their questions online. A few years ago, your customers might have loved it because it was faster than Googling. But now? AI chatbots are answering questions in seconds, and your app feels outdated.

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This is why PMF isn’t a “fit” you achieve—it’s a process you maintain. You’ve got to keep talking to your customers, week after week, to understand how their needs are changing. What problems are they facing now? How are they using your product in ways you didn’t expect? And, crucially, what’s making them unhappy?

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Yes, talking to unhappy customers can feel uncomfortable. But it’s also where the gold is. Those tough conversations often reveal the insights you need to stay relevant.

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2. The Road to PMF: Slow Down to Speed Up

Here’s a common mistake: rushing to build the next big feature before you’ve nailed the basics. It’s tempting to think that more = better, but that’s not always the case.

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Instead, focus on the smallest possible thing you can build to solve a real problem for your customers. 

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This could mean starting with a letter of intent or a simple prototype. The goal is to validate three core things:

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• Viability: Can you actually build this?
• Commercial Viability: Will people pay for it?
• Product Viability: Does it solve a real problem?

Slowing down at this stage pays off later. It’s like building a house—you want to make sure the foundation is solid before you add the fancy roof.

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3. Scaling Is Hard (But It Doesn’t Have to Be a Mess)

Scaling a product is where things get tricky. Suddenly, you’ve got multiple teams, competing priorities, and a lot of moving parts. Sales might be overselling the product, while the product team is scrambling to keep up. Or, the product team might be building features that sales don’t know how to sell.

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The key to good scaling? Keep your customer service team close. They’re the ones on the front lines, hearing directly from customers about what’s working (and what’s not). By maintaining strong links between teams, you can ensure everyone stays aligned on the real problems you’re solving.

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4. Distribution: The Unsung Hero of PMF

The simple truth of it is: even the best product won’t succeed if no one can find it. That’s why distribution is just as important as the product itself.

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For digital products, this often means playing nice with Apple and Google, who control the app stores. But distribution channels change over time, just like customer needs. Maybe TikTok is the new discovery platform for your product. Or perhaps your channel partners are shifting their strategies.

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The point is, you’ve got to stay on top of these changes. Ask yourself:

• What new distribution channels will you use in the future?
• How are your existing channels evolving?
• How are your channel partners changing, and how will that affect you?

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5. Metrics That Matter: LTV, CAC, and Retention

If you’re not tracking your Lifetime Value (LTV) to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio, you’re flying blind. These metrics are a leading indicator of how sustainable your growth is.

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For subscription businesses, retention is especially critical. Look at cohort trends—how many people are renewing? If retention is slipping, it’s a red flag that your product might not be delivering the value customers expect.

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And don’t just track these metrics quarterly. Make them a regular part of your weekly meetings. The sooner you spot a problem, the faster you can fix it.

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6. Ditch the Personas, Talk to Real People

Customer personas look nice on a slide deck and provide some helpful simplification, but they are often too much of a simplification to be helpful. They’re often a crutch that keeps you from talking to real customers.

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Personas are, by definition, fake. They’re a distillation of real people into neat little boxes. But real people are messy, unpredictable, and full of surprises. If you want to truly understand your customers, you’ve got to get out there and talk to them.

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And when you do, make sure their voices are heard throughout your organization. Use frameworks to communicate their feedback in a way that’s engaging and actionable. Don’t let their insights get lost in sanitized documents or secondhand summaries.

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The Bottom Line: PMF Is a Journey, Not a Destination

If there’s one thing to take away from this, it’s this: product-market fit isn’t something you achieve—it’s something you maintain. It’s about staying curious, staying close to your customers, and staying adaptable.

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