SKILL.md
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Response
Meaning
Very disappointed
Strong PMF signal
Somewhat disappointed
—
Not disappointed
—
N/A – I no longer use
—
Threshold: 40%+ answering "very disappointed" = PMF achieved. Below 40% = iterate.
Score
Action
Below 25%
Significant changes needed
25–39%
Close to PMF; iterate and improve
40%+
PMF achieved
Best practice: Survey 40–50 active users (used product 2+ times in last 14 days). Segment by user type—some segments may have PMF while others don't.
Limitation: Combine with retention curves, engagement, organic growth; avoid false positives in early stages.
Vitamin vs Painkiller
Type
Definition
Adoption
Painkiller
Solves urgent, acute problems; users actively seek solutions
Fast adoption; high retention; willing to pay
Vitamin
Nice-to-have; incremental benefit; users can live without
Slow adoption; expensive marketing to succeed
~99% of failures: Solving vitamin problems instead of real pain. Validate: Would users be genuinely inconvenienced if your product vanished?
Validation: Talk to users; listen for frustration; run pre-sells; check frequency and time-sensitivity of the problem.
Key Indicators
Indicator
Strong PMF
Retention
High; low churn
CAC vs CLTV
CAC decreasing relative to CLTV
Activation
Strong conversion to paying customers
Growth
Organic; word-of-mouth
NPS
High; enthusiastic advocacy
Common Failures
Failure
Avoid
Vitamin problems
Solve urgent pain, not nice-to-have
Vanity feedback
Use retention data, not polite opinions
Premature scaling
Validate PMF before scaling acquisition
Misalignment
Customer-problem fit before product-build
Product Research & SaaS Context
Area
Notes
Product positioning
Target audience; core value; competitive differentiation
Market research
Competitor analysis; surveys; interviews to validate assumptions
SaaS form
Cloud delivery; subscription; ease of use; dependency on industry standardization
Enterprise / ACV
Customization; data security/private deployment; procurement cycles; buy vs SaaS trade-offs
Use: When discussing PMF for SaaS or enterprise—factor in product research rigor and ACV-specific challenges. See gtm-strategy for enterprise GTM.
PMF as Continuous Process
PMF is increasingly a continuous validation—markets evolve; re-measure as you expand. Target "PMF for a niche" first (40%+ in one segment) before broadening.
Output Format
- PMF assessment (current signals, Sean Ellis score if available)
- Vitamin vs Painkiller diagnosis
- Validation approach (interviews, pre-sells, metrics)
- Next steps (iterate vs scale)
Related Skills
- cold-start-strategy: First users; avoid large-scale paid before PMF
- indie-hacker-strategy: Indie hacker PMF; monetize day one; Ramen profitability
- paid-ads-strategy: PMF testing (small budget) vs conversion-driven (post-PMF)
- google-ads: PMF testing with landing page + $47–500
- gtm-strategy: GTM framework; PMF validation before scaling GTM
- product-launch: Launch execution; validate PMF before scaling
- retention-strategy: Retention as PMF signal; churn as anti-signal