Product Habits - How Segment found product-market fit

Scaling a Startup to Unicorn Status

I came across a Twitter thread last week where a founder shared a list of things he thought would be easier when scaling his second startup to unicorn status. But, they were just as hard as the first time. The big three are recruiting, sales, and finding product-market fit. Here's why they are challenging no matter how often you've done them at other companies.

Open Business Models and Strategies

If you're curious about how open business models and strategies work, this master list of resources is helpful. You can learn about anything—from a course series on open source management to a curated list of monetization approaches for open-source software. Check it out here. 

Fundamentals of a Calm SaaS Business

Once you identify a viable software solution to a critical problem, SaaS is a great business to run because it's easily scalable. This was an interesting read about the fundamentals of building a foundationally sound, calm SaaS business. If you run a SaaS startup or you're thinking about starting one, this is a must-read. 

How Segment Found Product-Market Fit

In 2020, Segment was acquired for an eye-popping $3.2B. Every startup founder dreams about that level of success. But it often happens when you stumble on an idea by accident. That was the case for the Segment team. After trying two other product ideas and having both of them fail, the third idea stuck. This is how it happened.

You Can't A/B Test Yourself to Product Transformation

Google's new Gmail design is out, and many people are wondering why the design seems haphazard and non-cohesive. The tech giant is infamous for its culture of A/B testing, but it can only get you so far. A/B testing can help you go from good to great, but you can't rely on it to build a foundation or transform a product. 

The Pageview Paradox

Many things we do to improve marketing metrics can sometimes hinder long-term business growth. Problems arise when the pursuit of metrics stops helping our ability to deliver value and instead blinds us to the better opportunities that are harder to measure. Be careful not to get caught up in the false certainty of metrics.

How To Make Product Demos Exceptional

Most product demos are subpar. They tend to focus on features, but not why the features matter or how the product is differentiated from other solutions in the market. If you give product demos in your role, here are things you can do to make them exceptional and close more sales. 

Grow Your Company Like a Tree

I've heard countless founders talk about "building" a business. But startups are less like building and more like growing. The business idea is the seed, and the effort you put into growing it is like watering it and waiting for fruits. Stay patient. Keep watering.