Jackson: 60% to 70% of startups stall before achieving strong PMF
Todd Jackson · A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital) · Apr 11, 2024 · at 1:05:53
Todd Jackson, partner at First Round Capital, shares empirical conversion rates across the four levels of product-market fit based on First Round's portfolio observations.
0:00 / 0:17exact quote · 17.0s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“The majority of companies, so greater than 50%, probably closer to 60 or 70% are gonna get stuck at L one or L two. And so that leaves, you know, roughly, let's say, 30%, make it to L three or L four, just in our experience looking broadly.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Todd Jackson
Jackson: Repositioning within existing categories is easier than category creation
“I think it's hard to create a category. Like it certainly works in some cases, but if you actually have like a really interesting spin on an existing category, like there's people are, there's already buyers spending money on that thing. They're already lookin…”
Jackson: The 'expensive' price in discovery is what customers will actually pay
“And like, generally when people tell you the fair price, it's a little bit of like, they're trying to get a deal. And the expensive price is the one, like if the price could, the expensive price is the one that they would actually pay. Right? That where they'r…”
Jackson: Sales-led B2B is more science than bottom-up or consumer products
“I think bottom up is its own kind of world. It's closer to consumer product development in my mind. And I have done, you know, consumer products, consumer product. I think there is a little bit more alchemy involved. It's about, you know, having great taste an…”
Jackson: Founders should sell before building to get customer signal
“I tend to gravitate towards the, like, I want to sell it before I build it because I really want the signal from customers. And I want that to sort of be the guide and the oxygen that drives what I'm building.”