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Comment on A Quantitative Approach to Product Market Fit

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Interesting, but seems pretty complex. I prefer the model employed by Superhuman: https://firstround.com/review/how-superhuman-built-an-engine...

Yeah I know, they're the joke of last week, but that methodology is pretty simple (just ask four questions) and (importantly) is trackable over time, while working for businesses of all kinds.

Is anybody else using that at the moment? How has it worked out?

I like that approach. To me the essential question of product-market fit is whether you are delivering sufficient value to your users. But I think "sufficient" has at least three characteristics that one can measure.

One is whether the user likes it enough to keep using it. I think that's well captured by the "how disappointed" approach (and actual usage stats). Another is whether they'll be evangelical about it, and I think that's measurable with Net Promoter Score (and actual viral behavior). And a third is whether you can build a sustainable business, which early on can be pretty simple, but eventually requires a fairly complex numerical analysis.

I think a numerical approach like this one is especially valuable if the business isn't self-funding. Because a) you need to be able to prove the value of the equity you're selling, and b) if you don't price your equity properly, it's just a gift to the VCs who do that work.

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