Finding Fit: The Five Pieces of the Product Puzzle

Finding Fit:
The Five Pieces of the Product Puzzle

"It is hard to define but when you find it, you know."

Surprisingly, this answer wasn't in response to, "What is true love?" or "How do you know if you found the mythical 'one'?" This was the response to someone on Twitter who asked, "What is Product : Market Fit?"

In my experience, chasing Product : Market Fit can be as confusing and elusive as finding "true love". It can feel as mythical as a unicorn holding a hockey stick (iykyk) and be one of those things you just have to experience to understand.

But Product : Market Fit (PMF) is one of many pieces of the puzzle that you need to figure out how to fit together to create successful products– it is the natural by-product of properly fitting the building blocks of market, customer, problem, solution and product together.

What is Product : Market Fit?

There are many definitions but among my favorites is Dan Olsen's, "The degree to which your product satisfies a strong market demand" which is often paired with the pyramid visual below. Others will describe a scenario where your product starts to generate pull or achieve organic (dare I even say viral) growth. Creating a situation where you target customers are using, buying and sharing about your product in such a way that is profitable and scalable.

Product : Market Fit is the magical unlock that is often illustrated in images of messy middle squiggles and hockey stick growth charts. The promise of Product : Market Fit is a moment of clarity that translates the unknowns for a glimmer of predictable growth.

Making the Pieces Fit

Finding Product : Market Fit doesn't start with product. Starting with product is a sure fire way to find yourself in the Build Trap or Product Death Cycle. The common traps of building things and adding feature without knowing; a.) who it serves, b.) the problem it solves, or c) how it should best solve those problems. So where do you start?

I prefer to think about this as pieces of a puzzle rather than a process to follow. I am skeptical of anything that says– "Just follow these steps to success"– because building great products is hard and rarely, if ever, perfectly linear. The odds are long and pivots are nearly inevitable.

Unfortunately, there isn't a specific formula to follow that automatically spits out a winning product. However, most winning products have all of these elements fitting together nicely. So don't see this as steps to follow but rather what to look for when trying to make sense of building great businesses.

It is my hope and plan to share much more about each of these including some of my favorite tips, tricks and templates that can serve as your tool belt as you make your way through this puzzle. But to get started I only plan to cover each of these five puzzle pieces at a high enough level that you can see how they all work together.

Market : Customer Fit

A market is a collection of customers who share similar enough attributes, needs or Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) to be grouped together. While each of the customers is unique their reasons for buying will be similar enough that solving for one will solve for many.

Favorable market conditions can take many forms but typically you want a market that is some combination of large, growing and not overly saturated, but just seeing a big market isn't enough. It is important to understand the ecosystem of the market and everyone involved.
We are on the hunt for a significant and/or growing market that has a clear customer target you can know, reach and serve. Which brings us to…

Customer : Problem Fit

Armed with the knowledge of the market and the customers that comprise it, it is time to go looking for the valuable, unmet customer needs that you are well-positioned and motivated to solve.

I have often called this the "perfect problem" that sits at the intersection of the consumer needs, category shifts, cultural trends, and company strengths. Unlike Market : Customer Fit you probably can't find this fit sitting at your desk. As Steve Blank often says– get out of the building. Talk to customers. Learn what matters most to them. Don't jump to solutions. Don't ask if they want what you are making. Just learn about the problems they have and what it would mean for them to have it solved.

Problem : Solution Fit

Now the fun part. The piece of the puzzle that most people start with– the ideas. But we aren't looking for novelty or the latest trendy topic. We are looking to create solutions that meaningfully address the customers unmet need and jobs to be done.

However, at this point it is often best to limit the constraints. In the realm of desirability, viability and feasibility it is best to focus on creating solutions that will be create maximum desirability by solving the biggest customer problems. Don't get lost in a long list of features. Focus on the problem, the benefits and the few killer features that might set you apart.

Solution : Product Fit

Ideas are often easy. Great products are typically hard. This is where the rubber meets the road on turning an idea into a great product. Here we are looking for the right mix and delivery of features that best satisfy the desired solution.

Solution : Product Fit is often about taking big ideas and translating them to actionable, testable products. Simplicity will be a superpower to identify the features that deliver the most value. MVPs, experiments and ruthless prioritization will be the modus operandi to ensure that the product you build is the best way to deliver the solution and its intended benefits.

Product : Market Fit

Coming full circle we arrive at the desired Product : Market Fit. As defined before, we looking for a product that satisfies a significant market demand such that growth is organic, profitable and scalable.

Even if we have all the other pieces of the puzzle that doesn't mean this is as simple as pushing a huge marketing campaign. Hypotheses, experimentation and pivots will still be required at every step. Product features, usability, positioning and distribution will all be key elements in finding Product : Market Fit.

A Puzzle Not a Process

I want to end with a reminder. This is a puzzle not a process. There are pieces to find and fit together. I don't recommend starting building without having the other pieces, but no matter where you are in your journey you can find the right fit and keep moving, iterating and evolving.