Don’t scale before PMF validation

“PMF means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market. Don’t scale until you have PMF”

Product/market fit rarely happens holistically or by accident.

To hone in on the perfect combination, one must :

• tweak the different dimensions : products, target markets, and sales tactics ;
• uncover new demands and find customer patterns

PMF is ultimately driven by knowledge, research, and efforts.

You reach PMF once you have :

1. Stable retention : Do people keep coming back ? Customer Lifetime Value

2. Natural sustainable growth : Can you consistently acquire, retain, and resurrect more people over time ? Business impact

3. Deep engagement : Do people use your product often and/or for long stretches?

   User satisfaction, usage

PMF means it's safe to scale !

Beware of premature scaling before PMF : scaling is a Choice, Growth isn’t

If you decide to scale-up a SaaS company without proven Product/Market Fit, you're taking a huge risk. There's no guarantee that a market for your product exists. Even if it does, it might not be able to sustain your business.

Without PMF, major investments into marketing, sales and customer success are premature.

If it catches you completely flat-footed, your growing pains might just drive away more customers than you gain.

You must identify the right timing to invest in scaling measures of a proven model.