Forget What You’ve Been Told: The Perfect Product Doesn’t Exist
Since moving to Austin six years ago, I’ve immersed myself in this city’s vibrant tech ecosystem. But my skepticism about “product-market fit” dates back much further. After decades in business and five companies under my belt, I’ve come to a simple conclusion: product-market fit is more myth than reality.
Back in the late ’90s, when an investor first asked if we’d achieved product-market fit, I nodded confidently. Now, years later, I realize we were all chasing something that doesn’t truly exist – at least not in any permanent form.
Think about it like Texas weather. One day it’s perfect, the next day everything changes. That “perfect fit” between your product and the market is just as temporary and unpredictable.
Remember Blockbuster? They had product-market fit until they didn’t. Netflix arrived, and suddenly what looked perfect became obsolete. The world constantly changes. Your customers evolve. Your competitors innovate. Technology advances. That perfect alignment you’re celebrating today is already beginning to shift.
The real winners in business understand that the race never ends. They measure how quickly they can turn ideas into revenue-generating products, and they repeat this process continuously. They’re not searching for a mythical destination – they’re building organizations capable of adapting to constant change.
The most valuable metric isn’t whether you’ve achieved product-market fit. It’s how quickly you can identify new opportunities and pivot toward them. That capacity for continuous evolution is what ensures long-term success.
So next time someone asks if you’ve found product-market fit, consider a different response: “We’re focused on building a company that can evolve faster than the market.” Then get back to work.