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University System of Maryland

Achieving Product-Market Fit

University System of Maryland and University of Maryland, College Park via edX

Overview

Entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen coined the term product-market fit in 2007 when he said, “Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” While there are ample articles that mention the term, detailed guidance on how to actually achieve product-market fit is scarce.

Through our course we will explore an actionable model that defines product-market fit using five key components. From bottom to top, we will examine the layers of product-market fit beginning with your target customer and transitioning through your customer’s underserved needs, your value proposition, your feature set, and ultimately your user experience (UX).

Our process is an iterative, easy-to-follow guide through each layer to achieve product-market fit. This process helps you to articulate, test, and revise your key hypotheses about your product and the market so you can define and improve your product-market fit.

Using the principles of Lean Product Process, our course is structured in seven steps: determining your target customer, identifying underserved customer needs, defining your value proposition, specifying your minimum viable product (MVP) feature set, creating your MVP prototype, testing your MVP with customers, and iterating to improve product-market fit.

Syllabus

Module 1: Determining Your Target Customer

Module 2: Identifying Underserved Customer Needs

Module 3: Defining Your Value Proposition

Module 4: Specifying Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Feature Set

Module 5: Creating Your MVP Prototype

Module 6: Testing Your MVP with Customers

Module 7: Iterating to Improve Product-Market Fit

Taught by

James Green

Reviews

4.7 rating, based on 50 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at edX based on 12 ratings

Start your review of Achieving Product-Market Fit

  • Anonymous
    The instructor's deep knowledge and real-world experience shine through every module, providing invaluable insights into the elusive concept of product-market fit. The course is structured in a way that caters to both beginners and seasoned entrepreneurs, making it accessible and relevant to a diverse audience.
  • Anonymous
    It's comprehensive, clear, and presented in a logical sequence. I appreciate the bite-size segmentation of content and the real-world examples. I'm also a big fan of the playback speed functionality!
  • Anonymous
    Superficial content, I was expecting some 'wow' concepts as JTBD. Fortunately, I have spent a single penny on this. Also, the presenter's low-quality microphone makes it even harder to enjoy.
  • Anonymous
    I can't believe I paid $900 for this course....I could have learned about everything in this course for free elsewhere. I wish I could get a refund now...I don't care about the certificate at the end, my money back would be much more value than any certificate I can receive from this massive waste of time.
  • Anonymous
    Great course! Easy to follow and well structured. This course provides a lot of great insights for any new product manager.
  • Anonymous
    The course is solid in terms of presenting the theoretical underpinnings of the work but two things really annoyed me: 1) It's not at all practical - so there's no chance for application of the ideas that Dr. Green is presenting. He is even sparse…
  • Anonymous
    Generally speaking, this course is helpful.
    It's not for the experienced people, but it's enough to build up a knowledge system for a fresh hand.
    Better to have more real examples, and more introduction for the tools mentioned in the course, how to use it, practice, etc
  • Anonymous
    Good course. I loved the presentation. I wish they attached the course slide deck to the course. If the course had some exercises it would have helped solidify the learning.
  • Anonymous
    Have good material about product-market fit. Although, it have boring visualization with monotone of slide presentation.
  • Anonymous
    a very reliable and precise short course that provides adequate details on achieving product-market fit.
  • Anonymous
    I read the book Running Lean and many books or Lean startup series, but this course has much more condensation information and there are not long stories of 10 pages to teach something.

    With the books of that serie there still many gaps, but in this course I understand those gaps that I was missing.
  • Anonymous
    Course is clear and well-focused, providing guidelines to understand the development and launch of a product that will mainly, satisfy customer needs while streamlining the process to get there.

  • Anonymous
    Great course, I wish I knew it before
    I learned a lot of practical concepts and tools that help me to work as a product manager in a more professional way
  • Anonymous
    Great course on achieving product market fit. Particularly intrigued that youtube started as a dating site before pivoting to a videos sharing platform.
  • Anonymous
    Concise, yet thorough and helpful in understanding different intervals of discovery and feedback throughout the product design lifecycle.
  • Anonymous
    Thank you for this course. I liked that the processes described were divided and explained step-by-step, and the language was understandable. What I didn't like is that there was no practical work so that we can see theory 5 question tests given at the end of modules don't really challenge. There is a feeling that you understood everything and nothing at the same time. I am a 3rd-year bachelor from Business Administration, such that I am just starting the journey and hope the knowledge I gained here would help me in the future.
  • Anonymous
    Great course! Easy to follow and well structured. This course provides a lot of great insights for any new product manager
  • Anonymous
    Good course that explains in details how to obtain the best from your product and how to better meet your customers need.
  • Anonymous
    Very interesting course, the teacher is clear and never boring. :)

    I highly recommend it, can’t wait to start the next module!
  • Anonymous
    Talks exactly about product-market fit. Thank you so much professor for breaking it down to simpler chucks.

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