🚀 Some traction? Money buys growth.
💀 No demand? Money buys nothing.
Almost every founder finds out too late they wasted money chasing fit, either because they run out of money or the grave yard of features no one uses.
\nYes, one killer feature can unlock market fit. The trap is thinking that more features = better odds. The double trap is building features instead of asking tough questions.
\nA true 10x feature is the result of deeply understanding user pain. Startups don't fail because they're one feature short of greatness. They fail because they are not listening to the market.
\nWhen founders don't feel that pull from the market, they panic. Instead of asking tough questions, they start throwing money at the problem in the form of features, often without even realizing.
\nIf the demand isn't there, all you're doing is spending more to force what isn't working. Pushing harder on a door marked pull.
\nMarket fit isn't a cash problem.
Market fit is a pull problem.
This has been all of us at some point, spending more, something not working.
\nAnd deep down, you already know this, it's super scary.
\n
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It's easier to throw money at the problem than face reality. Building features feels productive. Hiring feels like progress. Spending money feels like you're doing something.
\nSo much easier than asking the hard questions. Easier than admitting your market isn't pulling you forward, or... that you might have built something no one truly needs.
\nSo you spend.
\nHoping volume hides the weakness is a strategy to convince yourself that if you just had more, did more, built more… then everything would click.
\nBut you don’t scale into market fit. You discover it, earn it, and prove it. Fit is an outcome the market gives you, it cannot be purchased.
\nBreaking the Paradox
\nThis is not chicken/egg. How do I know what creates demand without building features to test….
\nThe answer isn’t “never build features.” It’s “never build features for features sake.” (and certainly not outside core)
\nWe know this. Don’t build features. Build outcomes. Don’t focus on what to build. Focus on what behavior you want to enable.
\nThe diff between:
- “Let’s add a dashboard” (feature-thinking)
- “Let’s help users understand their progress” (outcome-thinking)
Your job is to create the most value with the fewest features. Finding the simplest possible path to that outcome.
\nThis isn’t about never spending on features.
\nEnterprise needs integrations. Competitive spaces need parity. Scale needs onboarding.
\nBut these accelerate an already working machine. They rarely fix a broken one.
\nSo. Chase necessity.
\nInstead of spraying and praying the market to get more beans into the top of your funnel, trying to get MRR up, figure out what’s keeping the ones inside.
\nYou cannot spend your way into market fit. You can only find it, earn it, and scale it. So... What are you going to do differently today?
\nAs always, if I can be of service, feel free to grab time.
\nLFG.
\n-- James
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