Every week I have the opportunity to mentor at 1776, an incubator and seed fund helping startups in energy, education, sustainability, health, transportation and cities. I love meeting with startup founders and hearing about their great ideas. I learn something new from each and every startup I mentor. Most of these startups are in early stages of development. One mistake I constantly see many founders making is putting all their money and effort in development before customer discovery and finding the product market fit. It’s important to create a product market fit before going into development.
Finding the Product Market Fit is a 4 step approach —
Step 1: Stating the hypothesis and draw the business model canvass
Step 2: Get out of the building and test the problem your customer is facing
Step 3: Develop a working prototype
Step 4: Verify and pivot to understand if there is enough customer need to start a business
You need to keep repeat these four phases until you have find the Product Market Fit. Once you find your product market fit, you have a viable business model. Do you have a product that everyone is going crazy over putting their money into?
