Tweet

Fred's Five Rules for Product/Market Fit

Guest post by: Paul Kedrosky

Article Overview: Love this: Fred Wilson's five rules for product/market fit at startups. I can almost always spot the MBAs pitching me -- there's zero obsession.

Fred's Five Rules for Product/Market Fit

Love this: Fred Wilson's five rules for product/market fit at startups. I can almost always spot the MBAs pitching me -- there's zero obsession.

1.Early in a startup, product decisions should be hunch driven. Later on, product decisions should be data driven.

2.Hunches come from being a power user of the products in your category and from having a long standing obsession about the problem you are solving.

3.Domain expertise to the point of obsession is highly correlated with the most successful entrepeneurs in our portfolio.

4.Ideas that most people derided as ridiculous have produced the best outcomes. Don't do the obvious thing.

5.Monetization should be native and improve the experience for users.

Related Articles
  Rule 20 Rules are Made to be Broken
  Failure Comes From Not Following Your Additive Rules
  Q: How can I make my employees accountable?
  Letting go of our rule books
  Mobile Home Parks - How to Properly Enforce the Rules
  The Rules Apply
  E-Mail Tip #11 - Create a Set of Rules for Your Organization
  Are Your Rules Made To Be Broken?
  The Ten Golden Rules
  Can We Really Get Salespeople to Change?
  Losing Control
  Don't Let Social Media Give You a Bad Hangover, Says Leading Recruiter
  Underwater Mortgage Advice: The New Financial Rules of Home Ownership
  BE DiFFERENT Rules System
  Location is Not Everything
  Create your own opportunities
  Simple Rules or Stupid Rules? Which type is running your business?
  Home Based Business or Internet Income; Earning Income While You Work At Home
  Intellectual Property Protection Minimum Standards
  Innovating by Breaking the Rules

Article Tags: mbas, startups, zero obsession



Related Forum Posts
Trump and Stewart - I really enjoyed Trump: The Art of the Deal and The Martha Rules. I think the best advice you can get is from people who have made it and not just consultants who haven't been there. Evan's site is great because of all the famous entrepreneurs and their advice directly from them. Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are 2 great examples of successful entrepreneurs and the books are written in their own words which I find extremely valuable and motivational.
AFL + Soccer Athletes - In Australia one of the most popular sports is Aussie Rules Football, but the principle I'm about to talk about is the same in all sports. The reason athletes get paid so much is because of competition between clubs. For example Club A will offer $1000 a week for an athlete to play for them but then Club B will offer $2000 until one club reaches a figure that they consider to be "reasonable" and obviously higher than the other club is prepared to pay. In saying this if a soccer athlete is worth the $4,000,000 transfer fee and $7,500 a game the management of the team obviously believe they are going to gain more revenue for the club in terms of more wins, supporters, media spotlights and higher morale in the team.
How She Does It - Interesting to see what are the most popular threads in this folder, judging by how many hits each thread gets. There must be a lot of moms out there who want to start businesses. I'm currently reading How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs are Changing the Rules of Business Success, by Margaret Heffernan. Some interesting statistics: Between 1997 and 2006, privately held businesses owned by women grew at 3 times the rate of all American privately owned firms, women's companies are creating jobs and growing profits at twice the rate of all firms and are responsible for more payroll than all of the Fortune 500 companies combined. This book tells the stories of a few women who have made it big...recommended reading so you know that "you can do it, too."
She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswo - She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswoman Needs to Know Gail Evans, 2003 Also author of Play Like A Man, Win Like A Woman Inside jacket: Every time a woman succeeds in business, every other woman's chances of succeeding in business increase. Every time a woman fails in business, every other woman's chances of failure increases. Gail realized that one of the most important elements of the men's game, which was missing from the women's, was support: The boys know how to take care of one another. In order to create lasting success, women need to help one another and band together as a team. TOC The Woman's Team Why you must play on the woman's team How to join the team Tips for the team 1. Be a mentor 2. Rainmake 3. Uncover and share information 4. Keep quiet 5. Unite with all women at all times 6. Make team-related choices 7. Weave a female web Challenges of the Team Twelve team members to watch out for The eleven most common team questions (and answers) Conclusions Acknowledgements My own view Haven't read this yet, but it seems like she's advocating an "Us against them" mentality. Neverthless, networking with fellow women - and men! - only makes good sense.
Protect yourself from Hackers - I received this from a newsletter from FXpro that I subscribed to. Please read and apply In the 21st Century internet is widely used for everyday job. Despite the "ease" and free time offered from internet use, one should be aware of the dangers and be prepared to avoid and safeguard him/herself from any attacks his/her computer may accept or even from the "unwanted" e-mails received. Golden Rules of Protection When using the internet make sure you have an antivirus program installed in order to avoid intrusions in your Computer, If you are using wireless internet connection make sure you have your connection locked, Do not save any official documents on your Computer, such as Copy of Passport, ID, Bank account numbers, copy of cards in case your Computer is hacked or even stolen, Keep all access codes/passwords in a safe place, Do not share an e-mail address with any person, Do not reveal any access codes, passwords to any person, If you are using a public Computer, ie in an internet cafe, make sure you log out any internet sites you have visited before leaving and deleting the cookies in order to minimize the risk of someone following your tracks, Regularly change your passwords on your e-mail accounts, or any other account that requires passwords, Be careful of e-mails received. Always check the e-mail address and in case you believe that this does not come from a person, Company, Organization you might be dealing with always send an e-mail to an e-mail address stated on the person's business card, Company's, Organization website requesting them to confirm that the e-mail address on the e-mail received belongs to them, before you reveal any information, Always have in mind that an established Company/Organization never uses an e-mail address such as g-mail, yahoo, hotmail etc thus always be careful when you are receiving such e-mails, even if it appears to be from a Company/Organization you are dealing with, Always remember that a Company or Organization will never require you to send them your login/password/access codes, When using a website that requires an access code, do not allow the browser to remember your passwords


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Clues to Increase Sales -- Listen to the Buyer

The new marketing question. Will they follow?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.