Joanna Lord, CMO at BigDoor, shared her lessons learned from a few BPMFs (before product/market fits), a few APMF (after product/market fits) and some NFPMFs (never found product/market fits). Lesson #1: The market wins Lesson #2: Realize your product is not the product Lesson #3: Start at the pain point Lesson #4: Ask all the questions Lesson #5: Be skeptical Lesson #6: Minimum sellable product Lesson #7: Double back…a dozen times Lesson #8: Repeat after me: activation & retention Lesson #9: Architect for speed Lesson #10: Validate qualitatively, verify quantitatively Joanna shared this presentation at the NEXT Program in Seattle (swnext.co)

1. Finding
Product/Market
Fit
[OMG.PMF.ASAP.]
Joanna
Lord
CMO,
BigDoor
@joannalord
NEXT
:
April
30,
2014

2. What
is
product
market
fit?

3. Product/market
fit
means
being
in
a
good
market
with
a
product
that
can
saUsfy
that
market.
hXp://www.stanford.edu/class/ee204/ProductMarketFit.html
-­‐
Marc
Andreessen

4. A
repeatable
and
scalable
sales
model.
-­‐
Steve
Blank

5. Achieving
product/market
fit
requires
at
least
40%
of
users
saying
they
would
be
“very
disappointed”
without
your
product.
-­‐
Sean
Ellis

6. It’s
what
you
need
to
hit
before
you
focus
on
growth.

7. But
wait…how
will
I
know?

8. But
wait…how
will
I
know?
Oh
trust
me.
You’ll
know.

9. BPMF.
Wondering
where
the
value
is?
Customers
are
confused?
No
organic
trac8on.
Hard
to
pitch
startup
press.
Long
sales
cycles.
…they
don’t
want
it.

10. APMF.
Customers
buying
as
fast
as
you
can
build.
Your
understaffed.
WOM
is
on
fire.
Random
emails/feedback
thanking
you.
Investment/press/general
buzz.
…they
need
it.

11. So
how
do
you
get
there?

12. Lessons
learned
from
a
few
BPMFs,
a
few
APMFs,
and
some
NFPMFs.

13. Lesson
#1:
The
Market
Wins*
*Every
damn
Ume.

14. Team
Product
Market
What
maXers
most.
Let’s
talk
about
it.

15. Team
Product
“In
a
great
market,
the
product
is
pulled
out
of
the
startup”
-­‐
Andreesen
What
maXers
most.
Let’s
talk
about
it.
Market

16. [important
liXle
side
note]
1. ExisUng
market
2. Resegmented
market
3. New
market
4. Clone
market
4
Types
of
Market

17. Recession
=
high
unemployment.
High
unemployment
=
job
search.
Job
search
=
need
for
job
search
sites.
Need
for
job
search
sites
=
opportunity.
Opportunity
=
Success.
Success
=
lots
of
fun
and
money.
Lots
of
fun
and
money
=
speedboats.
ASSUMPTIONS:
#realtalk:

18. Recession
=
high
unemployment.
High
unemployment
=
filing
for
unemployment.
Job
search
=
need
for
job
search
sites.
Need
for
job
search
sites
=
opportunity.
Opportunity
=
Success.
Success
=
lots
of
fun
and
money.
Lots
of
fun
and
money
=
speedboats.
#realtalk:

19. #realtalk:
I
lost
two
years*
trying
to
force
a
market.
*all
my
savings
*angel
investment
*all
my
relaUonships
*poliUcal
currency
*confidence
*about
a
million
other
things

20. #2.
Realize
your
product
is
not
the
product.*
*your
business
model
is.

21. #realtalk:

22. #realtalk:

23. #realtalk:

26. #3.
Start
at
the
pain
point

27. Forget
the
vitamin,
be
the
painkiller.
#realtalk:

28. #realtalk:
Help
you
connect
with
customers
in
new
ways.
Help
you
engage
them
throughout
their
lifecycle.
Help
encourage
social
advocacy.

29. #realtalk:
Help
you
connect
with
customers
in
new
ways.
Help
you
engage
them
throughout
their
lifecycle.
Help
encourage
social
advocacy.
Feed
your
CRM.
Increase
your
VPC.
Drive
referrals.

30. #4.
Ask
all
the
quesUons

31. • Who
needs
your
soluUon?
• Who
would
pay
for
your
soluUon?
• Who
approves
that
charge?
• What
are
they
doing
now
to
solve
for
that?
• What
is
the
dream
soluUon?
• The
minimum
soluUon?
• What
other
problems
stem
from
this
problem?
• How
would
they
feel
if
it
was
solved?
• How
much
of
their
monthly
budget
would
they
put
toward
a
soluUon?
• If
presented
with
a
soluUon,
what
could
stop
them
from
using
the
soluUon?
• What
are
their
shooUng
for?
• What
are
their
professional
goals?
• What
roadblocks
are
they
facing
when
aiming
for
those
goals?

32. #5.
Be
skepUcal.

33. #realtalk:

34. What
do
I
mean
“skepUcal?”
• What
if
they
aren’t
right?
(you
know
who
I
mean)
• What
if
that
one
person
is
right?
• What
if
your
first
three
validaUng
points
didn’t
exist?
• What
if
the
most
constant
thing
vanished?
• What
if
your
primary
persona
didn’t
exist?
• 10th
man
rule/argumentaUve
theory/odd
man
out
theory
:
do
it
For
the
love
of
goodness
gracious:
Embrace
and
reward
skepUcism.

35. #6.
Minimum
sellable
product.*
*
Versus
MVP.

36. #realtalk:
THE
DREAM.

37. #realtalk:
MVP.

38. #realtalk:
MSP.

39. #7.
Double
back…a
dozen
Umes.
…aka
checking
your
hypotheses.

40. #realtalk:

41. What
do
I
mean
“validate?”
• Troll
feature
request
forms
(yours
and
others)
• Visit
tradeshows,
shake
hands,
ask
them
what
challenges
they
are
facing
• Get
a
CAB
early,
grow
it
steadily
• Get
your
prototype
into
customer
hands
as
quickly
as
you
can
• Do
retros
on
market
failures
–
awkwardddd,
but
valuable
• Do
retros
on
lost
deals,
cancelled
customers
• Write
your
assumpUons
on
a
wall
and
revisit
them
frequently
For
the
love
of
goodness
gracious:
Don’t
base
anything
on
what
is
listed
a
trend
to
watch.

42. #8.
Repeat
arer
me:
acIvaIon
&
retenIon.
Everything
else
comes
arer
PMF.

43. AcquisiUon
AcUvaUon
RetenUon
Revenue
Referral
hXp://www.slideshare.net/Startonomics/startup-­‐metrics-­‐for-­‐pirates-­‐presentaUon
McClure’s
Startup
Metrics

44. AcquisiUon
AcIvaIon
RetenIon
Revenue
Referral
hXp://www.slideshare.net/Startonomics/startup-­‐metrics-­‐for-­‐pirates-­‐presentaUon
McClure’s
Startup
Metrics

45. #9.
Architect
for
speed

46. #realtalk:

47. What
do
I
mean
“architect
for
speed?”
• Plug
and
play
plauorms
as
much
as
you
can
• Don’t
build
too
deep
too
early
• Think
flexibility
from
the
get
go
• Your
first
processes
should
be
around
iteraUon
• Your
first
hires
should
pride
themselves
in
their
ability
to
adapt
• Culture
should
reward
fluidity
For
the
love
of
goodness
gracious:
Don’t
build
for
progress
sake.

48. #10.
Validate
QualitaUvely,
Verify
QuanUtaUvely

49. #realtalk:

50. So
you
have
PMF,
now
what?

51. Growth
&
Product
Vision
Next
up…

52. Growth.

53. Product
Vision.
hXp://svpg.com/product-­‐market-­‐fit-­‐vs-­‐product-­‐vision/

54. Don’t
forget…it’s
not
opUonal.

55. Thank
you!
QuesUons?
Joanna
Lord
CMO,
BigDoor
@joannalord
NEXT
:
April
30,
2014