“Illusion and Reality in Product Market Fit” was the first tactical session to hit SaaStr Annual 2016. And it brought a standing-room only crowd to the Nob Hill Masonic Center’s lower level. The audience of SaaS executives and founders stood three rows thick behind hundreds of chairs, to listen to these three experts for 30 minutes:
- Hiten Shah, Co-Founder, Quick Sprout (@hnshah)
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David Cancel, CEO, Drift (@dcancel)
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Alison Wagonfeld, Operating Partner, Emergence Capital (@awagonfeld)
Following is a glimpse at the tips they offered.
3 Product Market Fit Questions, Answered by the Experts:
- When have you felt that you hit product/market fit?
- David: “For us, it’s really been revenue. Revenue’s been our measure. When we’re getting repeatable measure over time has been that moment of realization…”
- Hiten: “The first thing I actually look for is inbound emails, tweets…that reflect that we are solving the problem [we set out to solve].”
- As product founders, are you hiring product people? What does your product organization look like?
- David: “Most of the early team is just product people. Over time as we’re getting to fit and we’re understanding how the model works, then we’re bringing people into marketing and the sales side as we need it.”
- Hiten: “Early stage, I think, I would hit on one of the main things David said, which is we’re designed around learning. The key for us is even as you grow, you want to optimize your team around learning and staff it accordingly.”
- Before you’ve reached product/market fit, how do you know how long to persist in continuing with your vision?
- Hiten: “If you’re in a situation where you’re questioning that, you probably haven’t been deliberate about your learnings. So in that scenario that you’re describing, I’d go get research…instead of just blindly moving on.”
For more from Hiten and David on product market fit, catch the recorded session after the conference. In the meantime, stay tuned for more content snapshots from SaaStr Annual.
