Paths to PMF
The real behind-the-scenes breakdowns of how companies found product-market fit. Learn from what founders actually did in their earliest years — from false starts and painful pivots to the tactical steps that finally unlocked growth.
Todd Jackson
First Round Partner Todd Jackson interviews startup founders about the most pivotal moments on their path to product-market fit. Before joining First Round, Todd helped build now-familiar products like Gmail's user interface, Facebook's Newsfeed, Twitter's timeline and Dropbox's bottom-up revenue engine.
Read his kick-off to the PMF series
Case studies & examples from companies like:
Product-market fit isn't a black box.
Dive deep into the four levels of PMF in our seriously detailed essay. We share specific benchmarks for each stage, company case studies, and unprecedented access to Looker's actual metrics.
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Rewind: See how today's breakout companies got started
Kubecost’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How the Co-Founders Validated Their Idea with 100 Customer Conversations
In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, Webb Brown sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he and his co-founder validated the idea for Kubecost.
Binti’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Lessons in Immersive User Research
In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, Binti’s co-founder and CEO Felicia Curcuru sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how her time spent shadowing family social workers in San Francisco empowered her to build a product.
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X1's Path to Product-Market Fit — How the Consumer Credit Card Company Pulled off a Pandemic Pivot
In our "Paths to Product-Market Fit" series, X1 founder and CEO Deepak Rao sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to share the dramatic story of how his company pivoted during the pandemic and found product-market fit with a bold launch strategy.
Live Tinted’s Path to Product Market Fit — How to Build a Loyal and Passionate Community Before You Even Have a Brand
Live Tinted co-founder and CEO Deepica Mutyala sits down with First Round Partner Todd Jackson for a behind-the-scenes look at how she built a loyal and powerful customer base long before she ever had a product to sell.
The Rounds’ Path to Product-Market Fit: Accelerating the Eco-Friendly Delivery Startup through Gut Intuition
In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, The Rounds’ Alex Torrey sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he came up with the idea for his eco-friendly delivery service, and what signals guided him along the way.
Even more PMF advice
Demystifying this critical — yet often unstable — stepping stone for every startup.
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