Users buy products because they solve 1, 2, 3 of 3 problems

The more you solve, the more exponential is your product market fit

Here’s a super simple framework to think value: people choose, buy and use products because they do 1, 2 or 3 of 3 things. How many of these your product is able to offer defines how fast it grows, how easy it fends off competitors, and how much you can charge for it.

Reid Hoffman often talks about successful products being faster at solving problems, more convenient (easier) to use, and generally solving a problem in a cheaper way than whatever solution you you’re currently using. 

Some of the most successful companies tick these boxes: Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox. They all made solving their key problems cheaper, easier and faster when compared to the main players before them.

Cheaper, Faster, Easier are the 3 pillars of making a product achieve explosive market fit:

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫: people are spending X to solve a certain problem. What mechanics can you change so they spend less to solve the same issue?

𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫: people take Y amount of time to solve a certain problem. How can you make them spend less time?

𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫: people invest Z amount of effort to solve a problem. How can you make it more convenient i.e. less effort?

Now it doesn’t mean you can’t build a great product tackling only just two, and maybe even one:

1. Cheaper + Faster = some people are willing to put the effort if they value this more vs their current solution.

2. Cheaper + Easier = many are willing to wait a bit longer and choose your product

3. Faster + Easier = the most common, many are willing to pay more to have these two

But if you do crack a way to deliver all three, product market fit will likely look unstoppable 🚀