The degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand — the point at which customers actively seek the product, adoption accelerates, and retention is high.
Deeper Explanation
Product-market fit is the qualitative signal that a business has found a genuine need and a solution that serves it. The evidence: unsolicited referrals, very low churn, customer willingness to pay premium prices without negotiation, and usage that feels indispensable rather than optional. Before PMF, sales is a grind — every customer must be convinced. After PMF, distribution becomes the constraint, not product quality. Growth investors seek companies past this point: businesses where the market is pulling the product, not the company pushing it. PMF is the prerequisite for operating leverage — you cannot scale a product efficiently until customers genuinely want it.
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