Minimum Viable Product (MVP)vsProduct-Market Fit (PMF)

An MVP is the smallest version of your product that delivers real value to early users and generates validated learning. The goal isn't a 'crappy first version' — it's the fastest path to proving whether customers will pay for your solution. 74% of startups fail because they build something nobody wants.

Product-Market Fit is the degree to which your product satisfies a strong market demand. When you have PMF, customers are actively pulling your product from you rather than you pushing it onto them. Marc Andreessen defined it as 'being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.' The Sean Ellis test quantifies it: if 40%+ of users say they'd be 'very disappointed' without your product, you have PMF. Before PMF, nothing else matters — marketing spend is wasted, hiring is premature, and features are guesses. After PMF, everything gets easier: organic growth appears, retention improves, and word-of-mouth starts compounding.

The trap is building too much. Founders spend 6-12 months building a 'complete' product before showing it to a single customer. By then, they've burned through runway and assumptions. Dropbox's MVP was a 3-minute demo video — it validated demand before writing a single line of code.

Founders declare PMF too early based on vanity metrics — sign-ups, press coverage, 'exciting conversations' with potential customers. True PMF means users would be genuinely disappointed if your product disappeared. The second trap: assuming PMF is binary and permanent. PMF exists on a spectrum and can erode as markets shift (Blackberry had PMF until iPhone changed the market). Also: PMF for one segment doesn't mean PMF for another — you might have PMF with startups but not enterprises.

Define the ONE core problem you solve. Build only the features needed to test if users will pay for that solution. Launch within 4-6 weeks. Your MVP should be embarrassingly simple — if you're not embarrassed by v1, you launched too late.

Run the Sean Ellis survey: ask existing users 'How would you feel if you could no longer use [product]?' with options: Very Disappointed, Somewhat Disappointed, Not Disappointed. If 40%+ say 'Very Disappointed,' you likely have PMF. If not, interview the disappointed users to learn what they love, and double down on that specific value. Track the PMF score quarterly — it should improve as you refine the product.