Product-Market Fit
The point where you've built something a specific group of people genuinely want and keep coming back for.
Product-market fit is the moment your product clearly clicks with a real market — enough people want it, pay for it, stick with it, and tell others — that demand starts to pull the business forward instead of you having to push it. Before fit, growth feels like hard, uphill work and customers tend to drift away. After fit, the problem shifts to keeping up with demand.
There's no single official measurement, but the signs are consistent: customers keep using and renewing, word of mouth spreads on its own, and people would be genuinely disappointed if your product disappeared. Most businesses reach it by talking to customers, adjusting what they offer, and repeating until the pull is unmistakable.
Why it matters
Pouring money into ads or hiring before you have product-market fit usually just amplifies a leaky business — fit is what makes growth spending pay off.