The Four Fits of Growth
by Brian Balfour · read the original
Why product-market fit alone doesn't build a $100M company. Balfour's framework: market-product fit, product-channel fit, channel-model fit, and model-market fit must all align and work as one system, illustrated with HubSpot as the running example.
- 1
Product-Market Fit Is Not Enough
Growth problems that feel like execution problems are usually fit problems. PMF is one of four fits, not the finish line.
- 2
Market-Product Fit: Market First
Start with the market and its problem, then build the product. Product-first thinking means designing a solution before you understand who it's for.
- 3
Product-Channel Fit: Products Are Built to Fit Channels
You don't choose a channel and force your product through it. You shape the product to exploit the rules of a channel you don't control.
- 4
Channel-Model Fit: The ARPU-CAC Spectrum
ARPU determines which channels you can afford, and channels determine what ARPU you need. Mismatched channel and model quietly caps your growth.
- 5
Model-Market Fit: Does the Math Reach $100M?
Run the equation: ARPU x market size x realistic capture rate. If it doesn't reach your target, no amount of execution fixes it.
- 6
The Fits Work as a System
The four fits succeed or fail together. Tactics transplanted from another company's system rarely work because fit lives in the whole, not the parts.
- 7
Fits Break: Revisit Them Continuously
Fits decay as markets and channels shift. When growth gets hard, diagnose which fit broke before adding effort or budget.