How a MAC-fit will help you reach product market-fit.
All big early stage startup problems like raising funds, getting users and launching products are closely linked to one thing…
Startups know: if you don’t have a product market fit things can be pretty tough.
Since 80% of all companies fail because of not reaching product market fit before they run out of resources, one thing might help: the MAC-fit
START with the MAC fit
The MAC fit gives you a simple starting point. You will not start with building a technical product, but with a minimum viable content first.
(continue reading to understand how this will help you!).
It is important to understand that it is IMPOSSIBLE to reach product market fit if you didn’t reach MAC fit first. It is simply the pre-stage which you should first try to reach. It should be the first step of each new project you are doing. It will save you time and money and a lot of headache and open questions.
So: start with MAC and end with product market fit
THE MAC-fit
MAC stands for:
Message x Audience x Channel
And is, similar to a product markt fit, a certain validation/playbook/methology to work towards a common goal.
In one sentence the MAC-fit will help you understand your customers, validate your product or even figure out what product you could build. Easier than ever before. It’s (imo) the best starting point for building a successfull startup.
MAC is not a KPI, but it uses the concept of KPIs.
The MAC fit enables individuals or organizations to reach product market fit by creating contents, like medium articles, and learning what works and what doesn’t.
Who should use the MAC fit approach?
A) You have an idea and want to start a project -> start working on your MAC fit
B) You have already started but didn’t launch yet -> start working on your MAC fit
C) You already launched but you don’t get any traction -> start working on your MAC fit
D) You make money but you don’t have a great product market fit -> start working on your MAC fit
E) You are waisting time on discussing road maps and building features -> start working on your MAC fit
The MAC fit is not only the easiest starting point for founders and teams who want to build something great but also for those who want to speed up their go-to-market flow!
Example not using MAC:
Let’s suppose you are a startup and you are trying to build a product. Of course you want to do it FAST, CHEAP and with as little resources as possible.
So you are building a MVP, you launch early and you see if you get traction. Since you are a solo-founder it might only take 3 weeks to launch the very first version. And now: you are trying to show people your product. You try hard, but it seems impossible to get your critical mass onboard. The issue: you didn’t reach product market fit.
How does the process look like when beginning with MAC fit:
Firstly you are NOT building your initial product/service idea. You are starting by building a COMMUNICATIVE VERSION of your product (aka CONTENT).
It can be as simple as a facebook post or some medium articles.
You fully concentrate on your product and your product can only contain text and images (or stories and visuals).
These products you are building can be built within hours, mostly minutes, sometimes seconds by yourself or ANYONE in your team.
This product version is never “done” it is always “to be continued”.
Now you will define a KPI which will measure the success of your product. This might be Engagement-Rate (How many responses do I get on my medium article).
And now you continue with above. You repeat. Each time you build a new communicative version of your product, you will use a feedback loop which validates how well your a MESSAGE will be understood by an AUDIENCE on a specific CHANNEL.
You do this until you reach your critical mass of customers. Each time you change the communicative version of your product you found a better way of talking to your AUDIENCE and therefore you are building up your future customers.
Now when you reached a followership (your audience) it is clear for you what problems/solutions matter for them. Now you are ready to actually build your real product. The one your customers really want to use.
Now you don’t only have a MAC-fit, no, you are only one step away from reaching the so hard to reach product market fit!
If you are looking for help to get a better understanding of a MAC-fit, please comment below, tweet me @ lookingforDan or just connect with me on linkedin. I will be happy to help you on how you can use the MAC fit.
BTW. thanks to Max who finally made me launch this, Thomas Schranz for 1,2,3 ideas and J who is a perfect example for a MAC fit success (will update you on my linkedin about his success story).
