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Sequoia’s Product-Market Fit (PMF) Framework PMF is not a single “aha!” moment. It’s a spectrum. Sequoia studied thousands of early-stage startups and realized most founders fall into one of 3 PMF archetypes. The big questions: - Where are YOU on this path? - What should you actually prioritize right now? 🎯 The 3 PMF Archetypes 1. Hair on Fire (Urgent Problems) When customers already feel the pain, they’re actively searching. This is the “drop everything and fix it” category. Cloud security startup Wiz nailed this: → $0 → $2.8M ARR in 1 quarter → $100M ARR in 18 months Here, speed beats everything. Ship fast. Be visibly better. Close quickly. Miss the window and someone else eats your lunch. 2. Hard Fact (Latent Problems) Pain exists but people are used to it. Think of early FinTech infra pre-UPI: clunky, broken, but accepted as normal. Your job? Show them why staying the same costs more than changing. Case studies, ROI, pilot wins, you need to build credibility brick by brick. This is slower. It tests your patience. But once converted, these customers stick. 3. Future Vision (Unseen Problems) Here, customers don’t even know they have a problem. AI copilots in 2016? Most shrugged. Fast-forward: today it’s obvious. Your edge? Conviction and storytelling. You’re evangelizing a future no one else sees yet. Experts, thought-leadership, early adopter proof points..these matter more than revenue early on. This is the hardest path. It’s lonely. You need to sell the dream long before the data catches up. Signals to Watch Hair on Fire: Inbound leads spike, short sales cycle, urgent “take my money” energy. Hard Fact: Slow, steady converts. ROI proofs drive word-of-mouth. Future Vision: Media buzz, ecosystem validation, early believers over metrics. How to Apply This: ✅ Identify your archetype. Stop copying SaaS benchmarks that don’t fit your reality. ✅ Align roadmap & GTM: Hair on Fire? Blitz. Future Vision? Evangelize. ✅ Ask Sequoia’s “Terrifying Questions”: – What gives us the right to win? – Is customer urgency obvious? – Are our beliefs compounding into proof? Why it matters: Most founders fail not because they lack grit or vision, but because they chase the wrong signals. PMF isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your metrics, your story, your pace, all depend on the path you’re on. Get clear on that, and both your team and investors will finally understand what “good” looks like for you. Full framework here 🔗