35% Very Disappointed if they could no longer use my product
I'm at 35%, how do I get to 40%?
Dropbox/Superhuman defines PMF if 40% (or more) of respondents replied that they would be "very disappointed if they could no longer use the product."
Does anyone have lived experience, advice, or intro they could share about how they got from 35% to 40% very dissapointed?
Right now I'm interviewing happy users, finding what value they're getting, and trying to double down on that. Would love any hacks, tips, tricks, pitfalls, etc. I am scared of feature creep (over complicating the product by overfitting to feedback)
For context my product is: https://founderscafe.io
Hi,
May I ask how you interview them?
ask them about main benefit/value and challenges
-> double down on value, get rid of challenges
Why is 40% the threshold of successful PMF in your book, and why is it measured by disappointment? I'm asking because as an avid proponent of the "Jobs To Be Done" approach, I think this only applies to solutions that can't be hired elsewhere (and Dropbox maybe qualifies).
I believe people are only "very disappointed" if they know can't hire the solution to the job they want to do elsewhere. Would I be very disappointed if Uber goes out of business? Not really; I can use another ride-sharing service to fulfill the same need.
I doubt – but haven't measured it – that more than 35% of my customers would be very disappointed if they could no longer use our product. There are other tools that would get the same job done (in a different way, but get it done nonetheless). I don't think that means we don't have PMF, but merely that other solutions on the market do too.
My point is: maybe challenge what defines PMF for the job you're doing for your customers and whether that's a job that only you can do for them? If there are alternative ways to scratch their itch, they may never be very disappointed, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
What do you think PMF means, and how it should be measured?
I was using the metric based on articles from Super human , dropbox etc.
I think what youre saying makes sense @RoyTomeij -- Uber is PMF but some might not be very dissapointed if it ceased to exist cuz they could use Lyft
"It depends." I know it's not helpful, but I think it depends on your market, the competition in that market, etc.
Per the traditional definition, "Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market" (Andreessen). The 40% doesn't work for me, because it ignores the first half; if you'd be in a niche market with only 100 potential buyers, 20 are your customer and 100% would be very disappointed to see you go, that might seem like PMF. But because you wouldn't be in "a good market," you'd still only be able to grow by a max of 400%. You'd dominate the market, and still be stuck in the long run (unless you expand to more or broader markets by changing what you have to offer).
I don't know anything about your current revenue or customer count, but if you did have that 40% "very disappointed" rate and – supposed – PMF, how would that influence your growth? Would you have a better understanding of how and where to reach your potential buyers? I'd say that knowing why that 35% would be very disappointed is more useful than making that 40% without knowing why. That's what I'd focus on for now.
PS: I'd not interview only the happy users, but also the others. Apparently, despite them not being "very disappointed" if you were to shut down, they are still willing to pay you. This means you're doing a job for them that they could get done by someone else, but instead they chose you. I'd try to find out what those jobs are, and target potential customers in the same market looking for the same jobs to be done. Unless your churn rate is out of bounds, getting more customers of which 65% is the "pretty happy but not ecstatic" one, is fine too.
Hey Maddie,
I love your idea and was even gleefully jealous of it the first time I came across it!
One approach you may want to try is examining what characteristics define the 35% that LOVE Founders Cafe and explore what it would look like to get in front of more people in that psychographic.
This approach would be less about “adding more value/features” and more about finding people that love it for its core feature – human connection.
Thank you that seems actionable
Rn thinking about Solo Founders in more remote locations and work on their startup 20-50 hours per week and have a smaller network