Product-Market-Fit: Eight female founders give their top tips on how to find PMF

Although the word "product market fit" is part of the startup scene's established vocabulary, its meaning (or the question of whether and when you've achieved it) is diffuse for many founders.

There are probably as many answers to the question of how best to achieve it as there are startups, too. Hopefully, the answers of the following eight female entrepreneurs will shed some light on the subject:?

You can listen to the full episode here (German).

Julia B?sch (CEO and founder of OUTFITTERY ):?

Founded in 2012, the start-up Outfittery serves over one million customers as the European market leader in online personal shopping.?

"From my point of view, the most important thing is not to lock yourself away for months and work on your concept alone, but to develop the product on the customer and with the customer,"

says founder Julia B?sch:

"For example, we stood in the Starbucks and offered people that we would pay for their coffee in return for ten minutes of going through the user experience with us. We learned an extreme amount in those 1:1 conversations."

At the same time, she says, it's extremely important to process customer feedback in a structured way:

"We've since created a prioritization framework to create strategic goals and also measure them."

Lisa Rosa Br?utigam (CEO and founder of nuwo. ):?

Nuwo is a startup founded in 2020 that specializes in home office equipment for hybrid workplaces.

"Our first business model failed after about eight months,"

the entrepreneur openly admits. The reason: instead of first figuring out what the customer actually wanted, she built the platform and even onboarded vendors before going into outreach:

"I had overengineered the platform and then found out relatively quickly that our customers wanted something completely different. For this reason, I advise other young entrepreneurs to go to market with an MVP as early as possible, get feedback, and incorporate it."?

Emilia Theye (Co-Founder clare&me ):?

Clare & Me is a voice-based artificial intelligence that allows people with Mental Health issues to discuss their concerns in a safe space.

"You should first and foremost define for yourself what the product market fit is what metrics do you want to measure in that regard,"

the founder says:

"You should take your ego out, do as many interviews as possible and figure out who the power user is and where the benefit is."

In addition, she says, it may be that the product is ready, but the market isn't yet:?

"Testing the product against different markets is as much a part of it as developing the product."

Dr. Kati Ernst (Co-Founder and CEO ooia ):?

Kati Ernst, founder of period underwear startup Ooia also has quite a bit to say about product market fit:?

"We've built a community on Instagram from the beginning and involve our customers when it comes to deciding how to evolve our product."

In the case of Ooia, a crowdfunding campaign proved to be a good way to find out that there was interest in the product:?

"Crowdfunding is a good way to test whether there is a market for a product at all. Thanks to our campaign being five times oversubscribed, we knew there was mega interest and we could go full steam ahead with production."

[Advertisement] Colette Bloom (Director Of Brand Media Fiverr ):

Founded in 2010, Fiverr is a freelancer marketplace. In terms of product market fit, Director Of Brand Media Colette Bloom advises founders to work with freelancers, especially in the beginning, to be flexible to customer needs, necessary pivots and changes in the market:?

"Markets are moving faster than ever before. That's exactly why you should work with freelancers to stay resilient."

This newsletter issue is sponsored by Fiverr. If you are looking for outstanding freelance talent, you get 10% off your first order by using the code "UNICORN10". Click here.

Alessa Kristina Vogler Vogler (Founder and former Director of Brand Marketing dropp ):

Last-mile delivery startup Dropp went bankrupt this year. According to founder Alessa Vogler, the biggest mistake was not focusing enough on sales:?

"It's important to go to market early and find customers. Our commercial team was too weak in terms of headcount."

Maria Piechnick (Co-Founder Wandelbots ):

Wandelbots founder Maria Piechnick also advises testing the product early and staying close to the customer:?

"You should do tests and interviews and make decisions based on that,"

the entrepreneur says:

"Technologically, the product doesn't have to be perfectly solved at the beginning."

Laura Bornmann (Managing Director of STARTUP TEENS ):

Laura has some important advice on leadership and delegation:?

"It's extremely important to look for people you like to work with, trust and share the same values with. Of course, skills are also critical, but they can be acquired."

She also recommends that young entrepreneurs find a coach and take a leadership seminar:?

"Leadership can be learned. It is far too often assumed that you are automatically a good leader. But leadership is a craft that must be learned."

Want to learn more about product market fit? Listen to the podcast if you want to benefit from the experiences of these eight women from the start-up scene...

You can listen to the full episode here (German).