Demand validation is crucial, but it doesn’t guarantee product-market fit.

Why? Because initial interest doesn’t always translate to customers who are willing to pay or to scalable adoption.

Here’s why initial interest can be misleading:

🐣 Market size: Even if you identify the right personas and get good traction with your target audience, if the market is too small, then you won’t get the scale you need to realise your dreams of being a Unicorn. Make sure that there’s a big market to serve and grow into. 

🍃 Willingness to pay: People might love your product and give you super positive feedback. But, they might balk at the price. Positive feedback doesn’t always translate into payment. Always be testing price sensitivity early on because you need to know what customers will pay.

🚧 Early validation limitations: First, initial validation is only a proxy for understanding whether you’re on the right track; it is not the end result. The real validation of your idea is the actual product launch. Get it out there as fast as possible. Perfection doesn’t exist. The first real feedback will help you understand whether you’re on the right track to reach product-market fit. 

As a founder, you want to get out there, get feedback, and iterate quickly. You can do that like this: 

🎈 Launch early: Get it to market as soon as possible. Real-world data will help you improve your product and learn from genuine customers. 

🪢 Iterate quickly: Use the feedback to make quick improvements. The faster you iterate, the quicker you can improve your product and fix what’s broken.

🫀 Ask the right questions: During validation, dig deeper. Will people buy it? Under which circumstances? What are the obstacles they face? Use this to fine-tune your product and pricing strategy.

Keep in mind that the road to product-market fit is an endless loop of launch, measure, and relaunch. Real success lies in getting your product into buyers’ hands and then iterating based on their demand. The iterative process is the only way to actually discover and sustain product-market fit.