product market fit

Crypto trading-focused blockchain Sei launches $50M ecosystem fund

While many layer-1 blockchains out there were built for a pretty general purpose, other networks were designed around very specific use cases. Sei, a layer-1 blockchain designed for trading, has launc

Stop spending so much time on your product when pitching to investors

It's natural for founders to live and breathe for their customers and product, but the dirty little secret of fundraising is that your investors are extraordinarily unlikely to care about your product

6 ways to make sure your startup is using the right GTM model

In a downturn, getting the timing and evolution of a GTM model right relative to the maturity of a business can make the business and getting it wrong can break it.

Some frank advice for open source startups seeking product-market fit

Unlike most software companies, open source startups have two journeys for finding product-market fit: building a product that users can use for free, and then building features that they will pay for

4 principles for building an MVP even if you can’t write a single line of code

If you haven’t found a technical co-founder or freelancer to build your MVP, here are four principles that will help in the meantime.

Seeking product-market fit in a down market? Hire freelancers to manage your burn rate

In today’s uncertain market, using freelancers is a way for companies to find or deepen product-market fit without betting the farm.

Fighting the ‘copycat’ stigma in SaaS: 3 tricks that work

It always stings to hear a prospect say, "Oh you’re like a cheaper/newer version of [your biggest competitor]." It stings even more when you know you have a superior product.

TechCrunch+ roundup: Creating financial models, UiPath’s plummet, pitch deck pro tips

Did UiPath's valuation get hit by the same shrink ray affecting other software companies, or are other factors at work?

TechCrunch+ roundup: Finding product-market fit, pitch deck teardown, getting into YC

"Trust me with what you don’t know or what’s not working," says GV investing partner Freerique Dame, "because once we invest, we’re going to have to work on this stuff anyway."

GV’s Frederique Dame on product-market fit: ‘You have one chance at a good experience’

"Understanding the user journey of your customers, and what you're doing with your product is really, really important,” said Frederique Dame. “Be obsessive and talk to customers as much as you ca

Study up on churn rate basics to set customer and revenue benchmarks

In the early stages of building a company, churn gives you quick feedback, which other metrics seldom do. Studying churn lets you run tests on your platform and get feedback in a few days or months.

3 ways deep tech founders can climb out of pilot purgatory

Big problems make room for big returns, and while I don’t presume to have a silver bullet solution, here are three ways deep tech founders can ensure their time in pilot purgatory ends in a rollout.

TechCrunch+ roundup: 3 customer experiments, Citrix-Tibco merger, building fundraising momentum

Early-stage startups that hope to refine their value proposition and triangulate target users can't sit back and wait for customer intelligence to just roll in.

3 experiments for early-stage founders seeking product-market fit

We interviewed three founders from our portfolio, all of whom ran discovery experiments to find their product-market fit at different stages of their company’s development.

Finding product-market fit, from the earliest stages through growth

Three VCs shared their perspectives on what makes for good product-market fit, how to spot it and how to use it to your best advantage for both your business' growth and for raising capital.

5 factors that can make or break a startup’s growth journey

Not all startup growth is equal, and there are a few key aspects that make the difference between a startup reaching its full potential or falling short.

Dan Olsen leads a product-market fit master class for the Startup Alley+ cohort

Yes Virginia, there are advantages to exhibiting in (the sold-out) Startup Alley at TC Disrupt 2021. Out of all the early-stage startups ready to exhibit on September 21-23, Team TechCrunch hand-picke

Sequoia’s Mike Vernal outlines how to design feedback loops in the search for product-market fit

"Finding product-market fit is not a deterministic process. Most of the time, it requires iteration. It requires constant adaptation."