andreas jonsson

I like to think of product-market fit in 2 ways:
 
 Repeat usage and repeat sales.
 
 1/ Repeat usage
 
 Do people keep coming back for what you offer right now? This suggests you're better than whatever came before. No matter how frustrated they are with your scrappy solution. (Usually it's a good sign when users share their frustrations. It shows that they care.)
 
 2/ Repeat sales
 
 First sale is a great signal. But the renewal, or repeat sale, is way stronger. It wasn't just an oopsie or a one-off. Your customer came back. You're on to something.
 
 Put the two together and you get an idea of where your product-market fit is at.
 
 High usage + repeat sales? Strong product-market fit.
 
 Low usage + no repeat sales? Weak product-market fit.
 
 Somewhere between? Figure out what's going on, and how to remove friction and improve the situation. From your customer's point of view.
 
 BONUS: Word of mouth and referrals. Someone may not need your thing themselves right now, but they think others would benefit. So they talk about you and what you do. Great signal too.
 
 PS raising money is not product-market fit