How do you scale your product and team as you achieve product-market fit?

It’s also critical to reach out to stakeholders and SMEs to make sure you understand the problem. Including key advisors early is a great way to avoid going too far off course.

One thing I’ve found helpful is to just “go out” and give it a go! Having a clear vision and goals is important, but the game plan / playbook can only continue to improve when an effort of the action turns into a mishaps, and those mistakes are the golden nuggets of true visionary education. Just like the hypothesis of a Scientists, without factual evidence, the hypothesis can’t be proven.

Trying to “boil the ocean” is a common early mistake. While the company may go through several iterations and pivots, trying to do too much can make it hard for others to see your vision and purpose.

Resist the temptation to expand too quickly by adding numerous new features, as this can dilute your product's primary value proposition. Instead, double down on the features that have proven to resonate most with your users and drive growth. Streamlining your development efforts ensures you continue solving your customers' key problems effectively. On the team side, hire strategically by bringing in talent that strengthens your ability to deliver and support your core product. Focus on roles that enhance your capacity for scaling, such as operations, customer success, and product management.

Uno de los principales retos como founder técnico es que siempre quieres mejorar el producto. Esto se vuelve contraproducente porque en esta etapa aún no tienes claro para quién lo estás construyendo. De los mejores tips que me han dado es dejar de construir features y dedicar tiempo a U/X. El user led Growth o product led Growth nace de arreglarle algo muy bien a un usuario. Siempre habrá más funcionalidades que agregar pero hasta que no arregles algo eres una vitamina y no un analgésico. Recuerda siempre construir analgésicos porque las vitaminas son lo primero que cortas en a?os de ahorro.

There’s a saying in Brazil, when a person over fill’s a plate with food, “eating with yours eyes instead of your gut”. It’s easy to fall into the trap of shiny new opportunities when there are too many outside influence. This is why I find it important to remember the ‘why’ I decided to start a journey of no true paved path.

The right people at the right time is everything. Developing a shared language and culture as quickly as possible gets a team to the performing stage but keeping them there requires situational awareness as to when to specialise. “Agile generalists” are almost always better at operating amid uncertainty but inevitably hit a ceiling when just hard work isn’t enough and deep, specialist skills become required. A culture of ruthless truth, maturity and self awareness - where it’s okay for someone to say, “I don’t know how to do this, I need help” ensures a growth mindset over a “fake it” mindset.

This can be very daunting. But if your customer discovery is intensive and far reaching enough, you will see that you will begin to meet people who will become champions for yout solution of technology. Keep in touch with these individuals because you may be surprised to discover that some are willing to join your early team.

Automate all your repetitive tasks and processes to free up development resources and ensure efficient product delivery at scale. Leverage your user data and analytics to identify areas for improvement and prioritise future product development efforts for continued market fit.

To scale your product and team as you achieve product-market fit, leverage customer feedback and advocacy by creating robust feedback loops and engagement channels. Establish platforms for customers to share their experiences and opinions, ensuring you listen and respond promptly. Encourage and reward feedback and referrals to build trust and loyalty. Use this feedback to identify new opportunities and insights for product development. Engaging customers in this way not only enhances product refinement but also fosters word-of-mouth growth, driving further user acquisition and retention, and ultimately aiding in scaling your product and team.

The product journey is ongoing and if you're lucky, you will only ever hit a 'product market fit' for a specific point in time... as time moves on, the market and therefore you product must iterate. The reality is both the market and your product are in constant flux Embracing this dynamic reality is the key to remaining agile, adaptive, and consistently innovative.

While expanding key roles to drive growth is crucial, remember to prioritize keeping customers happy as you grow. Early customers who believed in you should be treated just as well as newer contracts. CS plays a significant role in this and should not be overlooked in any company.

To scale product generally (not just product market fit), keep product management aligned with the business. While outsourcing research, validation and even product owners (or BAs) is an option, retaining in-house product management is vital. This maintains a deep understanding of market and customer needs, ensuring agile scaling and a strong connection between product development and the ever-changing dynamics of the business landscape.

é importante n?o se esquecer de manter uma cultura de aprendizado contínuo, priorizando a agilidade e incentivando o feedback constante dos clientes. Lembre-se de sempre coletar dados ao otimizar o desempenho do produto, focando n?o apenas em corre??es mas em melhorias significativas. Assim, você garante a adapta??o constante do seu produto às necessidades do mercado.