Apr 16, 2024
A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital)
Todd Jackson is a Partner at First Round Capital. Before moving into venture capital, he played a crucial role as VP of Product and Design at Dropbox, guiding the company until its IPO in 2018. Prior to Dropbox, Todd led product management for Twitter’s Content and Discovery teams after selling his startup, Cover, to Twitter in 2014. Before Cover, Todd oversaw product development for Facebook’s Newsfeed, Photos, and Groups. He kickstarted his career at Google as an associate product manager and eventually led product for Gmail, witnessing its growth from beta to 200 million users. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Why product-market fit (PMF) matters
• First Round Capital’s four-part PMF framework
• Level one: Nascent product-market fit
• Level two: Developing product-market fit
• Level three: Strong product-market fit
• Level four: Extreme product-market fit
• Examples of companies at each level
• How to know if you’re stuck at a level, and how to get unstuck
• What to change if you’re stuck: persona, problem, promise, and product
• The goals and challenges at each stage
