{"id":142,"date":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/?p=142"},"modified":"2024-10-15T01:22:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T09:22:38","slug":"idea-mvp-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/idea-mvp-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Have a startup idea? Here are four proven ways to determine and measure product market fit early"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Have a great startup idea that’s keeping you up at night? We thought so. After you’ve<\/em> validated your idea<\/em><\/a> and<\/em> developed your user persona<\/em><\/a>, now it’s time to check for early indicators of product market fit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Studies show that a lack of market need is the leading cause of startup failures, but you can avoid this fate by investing time and effort early to find out if there’s a real monetary demand for your product. In other words, don’t wait to find out if your target customer is willing to pay you or if your solution or is just a ‘nice to have.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can validate product market fit early by focusing on these four principles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step is to determine your customer needs and how your product address that. Having clarity about your key value proposition will make it easier to communicate what you bring to the table when customers ask you, “What’s in it for me?” An accurate representation of what you offer will provide accurate response of willingness to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fidel Ion, founder of SWEN<\/a>, a news platform for journalists powered by AI, knew early on that he was going to create a value-driven business with a clear mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We want to empower humanity with information by making the news searchable, personalized, and transparent. That means creating a world where every human on planet Earth has access to high-quality, accurate information,” Ion said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having deep clarity about his value proposition gave Ion an edge to secure SWEN 50 beta users who identified strongly with the values he laid out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) can help measure and track your performance even when you are in initial customer conversations. The Pirate Metrics framework is a popular framework that consists of five measurable components that are handy for founders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the previous blog post on customer personas<\/a>, Ryan Lee, who founded Kurvv<\/a>, shared how he was able to secure paying customers while conducting research. Based on his success, he advises early founders to pitch their product early to potential users and get them to sign and commit to contracts on the spot, even before the product is ready. This builds momentum and attracts other customers and investors who are willing to fund the building of your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Get clear on your value proposition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Determine KPIs to measure product market fit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3. Get customers to commit early<\/h2>\n\n\n\n