Transmission #2: Focus and precision leads the way 🛣️

The matrix of product market fit and how to reach your goals laser focused

Mar 28, 2024

`Read Time: 5.20 Minutes`

This is a ‘Transmission’ from the Jupiter Dispatch, featuring curated links and stories to provide you with new ideas, growth tactics, and frameworks tailored for european entrepreneurs.

Servus Friend,

In today’s ‘Transmission’ we’ll have look into two key topics you need to starting out with a startup or a new project.

Understanding how and when you “fit” into a market, and how you hold your focus to the right priorities.

Both are essential boosters for your career.

So listen up…

The Things we are digging in Today:

🍷 The holy grail of product market fit 💰
⚡️ How to get Laser focused and meet your Goals 🎯
#Domi's favourite 5 - Random Laser Edition 🔦

#1 🍷 The holy grail of product market fit 💰

Finding the famous product market fit, or in short PMF, is maybe the most debated topic in recent business history.

Stories over stories, arguments after arguments about when its achieved or how you measure it. Many of us may had these talks themselves. But so many get PMF wrong.

So I bring you today a great visualization, to get a better understanding of this concept at all:

Here is how to understand it…

You see on the Y-axis the vision for company. Means in this case the customer story. Why the customer needs a good story, and more important an idea what problem you solve. You need a strong one here to achieve PMF.

On the X-axis you see the customer engagement. Means, how demanding your potential customers are for your idea/product. Therefore you need a strong pull from customers to achieve PMF.

If you have a great vision but less engagement, then you have a great story but nothing more. A lot of funded startups go out of business here. (left up)

If you have a shitty vision but great engagement, then you may have “currently” good revenue streams, but you won’t be future proof. A lot of legacy companies go out of business here. (right bottom, think of Kodak 📸)

If you in both categories bad, then you may just produced a product or service you may like, but no customer likes. This is the famous technology-first approach and then looking for a problem to solve with it. A lot of tech nerds fall victim to this. (left bottom, like IBM with Watson)

PMF means to find both, a compelling vision and customers which are dying to get your stuff. (right up)

The holy grail of PMF. 🍷

To go down the rabbit whole for understanding PMF, continue here…

This is why everyone is preaching you to start with a problem and be customer centric. Doing this first ensures, that you will be on the right path later on.

#2 ⚡️ How to get Laser focused and meet your Goals 🎯

My favourite Friend I never met, Shaan Puri, preached his words of wisdom again. And I liked them so much that I want to share them with you as well.

This is real usable advise from a great (and lazy) Doer…

That lazy part is important, because I think lazy people are more effective in doing stuff.

But to be effective, you also need to be focused. Maybe THE key factor to move fast.

So here his idea to be laser focused in short:

Define your Yes Threshold: Write down what you want to achieve and what you not want to get into on the way.
Manager schedule vs. Maker schedule: You have to plan and block time to “make” things. (read this in addition, a must read)
The Pyramid of Clarity: You have to know your mission first, then strategy, then objectives and key results, and after all of this you have to define the way to get there. (see this blog in addition)
Floor goals and F*ck Yeah Goals: Define goals you would be proud of in retro-perspective. And define goals you not excited about, but must reach.
Write it out: Be specific. Writing them down helps you to understand your goal in its core. This way you can size it down to better reachable points.
Input vs. Output: Think of your input, how you work, first. Because your output is tied to this.

So be wise with your time.

If you want to dig deeper here’s the Video…

I personally implemented already a lot of this stuff and it really helped me to do more in less time. So can be more lazy again as well. (regarding “maker” schedule)

I also recommend you Cal Newport - Deep Work.