Sequoia's Jess Lee explains how early-stage startups can identify product-market fit | TechCrunch

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the concept of product-market fit and how startups can be categorized into three archetypes - "Hair on Fire", "Hard Fact", and "Future Vision" - to help founders better understand their challenges and opportunities.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Startup Archetypes

1. What are the three startup archetypes described in the article?

• "Hair on Fire" - Startups that address an urgent problem
• "Hard Fact" - Startups that solve an existing problem better than what's already out there
• "Future Vision" - Deep tech, moonshot, and out-of-the-box startups

2. How can identifying the archetype help startups?

• It can help founders focus and develop their business
• It can help investors evaluate potential startup investments
• It can help founders better anticipate and articulate the challenges and opportunities in their space

3. What are the key considerations for each archetype?

• "Hair on Fire": Need for ruthless execution and high velocity to stay ahead
• "Hard Fact": Need to be good at marketing the problem as well as the solution
• "Future Vision": Fundraising may have been easier in a low-interest rate environment

4. What did the Sequoia partner say about the different archetypes?

• Sequoia does not have a favored category among the three
• Certain types of companies (e.g., deep tech, moonshots) may find it especially challenging to raise money in the current climate

[02] Founder-Market Fit

1. What is the relationship between founder-market fit and product-market fit? The article suggests that there is a "little bit of founder-market fit that goes into each of these product-market fit categories", implying that the founder's fit with the market is an important factor in achieving product-market fit.