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⚠️ Note: This log is free written. It might contain thoughts in progress, mistakes, errors and logical fallacies. It is not thought leadership.
THE ARC PMF FRAMEWORK
Product-market relationship dynamics are fluid. The point of this framework is not to irrevocably set your path in stone; it would be a mistake to identify yourself too narrowly with any one of them.
Sequoia PMF Framework
Sequoia PMF Framework
Product-market fit is about your product’s place in the world.
There are different ways products fit into the world can be honed in on—competitive landscape, the technical merits of your product, etc. (Positioning)
This framework argues that the best way is to hone in is to start by focusing on how the customer relates to the problem your product solves.
Great ( Product + GTM)
Great ( Product + GTM)
Solution + Selling + Speed
Educate + Capture
Educate + Capture
E.g. Hubspot's Inbound Marketing.
"In 2006, marketing mainly consisted of advertising, mailers and telemarketing. This put small businesses at a disadvantage, as these were all high-cost channels. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah realized there was a new way: small companies could leverage the properties of the fast-maturing internet—blogs, social media, SEO, email newsletters—to reach audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional channels. HubSpot’s suite of content, SEO and email management tools solved this problem for customers. But in order for customers to believe in their approach and begin adopting their product, HubSpot needed to crystalize the new way in customers’ minds—to make them aware that the old way was broken and could be replaced with something better. They did this by coining a term for their new way—“inbound marketing”— and even wrote a book about it. They were so effective at educating the market that the idea caught on and started a marketing revolution in the small business world, propelling HubSpot to product-market fit and beyond."
Endurance + Top Talent
Endurance + Top Talent
finding pit stops with commercial traction along the way is critical. Oftentimes finding the right path means embracing unexpected turns, both with the technology you produce and the market you serve.
The Arc PMF Terrifying Questions Framework
This new companion framework is about application: Once you understand the three archetypes and your company’s place in the world,
what steps can you actually take day-to-day to pursue PMF,
and how do you know you’re on the right track?
Each terrifying question has positive indicators that mitigate your fear and indicate you’re headed in the right direction, and a resolution that confirms you’re ready to tackle the next terrifying question.
Practice is always messier than theory, and it’s possible you’ll confront multiple questions at once, and move fluidly between them over time.
At this stage your work is to understand the category, the competition and your unique advantages.
As you refine your idea, there will be positive indicators that suggest you’re heading in the right direction.
You can articulate why it’s a compelling category and market, and why now is the moment to capture it
Your wedge or entry point into the market opportunity becomes clearer
You can articulate your unique advantage in seizing this specific opportunity—why you have founder-market fit
Ideation compounds as you hone your direction—information and conversations result in “productive pivots” that build sequentially; you feel progress, not just motion
They need to care about the problem not only in the abstract, but they need to be willing to pay for the solution.
Speaking with potential customers gives you this information. You need a critical mass of conversations to produce enough evidence.
Positive indicators that the problem resonates with customers:
High hit rate on cold outreach (which is more likely to reflect truth vs. warm leads predisposed to “be nice”)
More people than you invited show up to calls and demos
Customers’ eyes light up at your pitch and they lean in; your idea represents an unlock for them: “I want this now!”
Customers express clear willingness to pay for the solution
Customer responses help you refine the idea and sharpen what a differentiated solution might look like
The ultimate resolution you’re seeking through these conversations is a set of design partners—initial customers who are excited to co-create the solution with you.
At this stage, the terrifying question becomes: Does your product actually change behavior? It needs to not only work but to delight customers enough to transform their behavior.
Your primary task at this stage is iterating on your product and evolving features to find positive indicators that users are consistently engaging with at least one feature.
A product feature becoming “sticky” signals that it’s adding enough value to change users’ behavior, in addition to other positive indicators:
A clear “lightbulb” moment in your demo that makes your product click for people
Short activation period: users are able to on-ramp and get immediate value from the product, which you can measure as engagement
A specific feature in your product becomes durably sticky, even if it’s not the entire product surface
Customers make nuanced feature requests, point to a compelling feature set
Power user behavior emerges as an outlier pattern among a subset of customers
Evangelism and virality emerges—users start telling peers about a specific feature or capability
Will people pay enough for it to build a real business? Scaling a meaningful business requires an exchange of value: customers have to be happy to pay your asking price.
As you strengthen the value exchange with customers, you’ll see positive indicators:
Discovery process confirms your assumptions about budget availability
Customers don’t balk at your asking price or slow roll the deal
High ratio of engaged users upgrading from the free tier to the paid tier
Contract reviews happen quickly; you don’t get stuck in procurement purgatory
You don’t find yourself in a knife fight with competitors based on price
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