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What questions are in a product-market fit survey?

Updated · by Vouch

Short answer

The Sean Ellis product-market fit survey asks four questions: (1) How would you feel if you could no longer use this product? (very / somewhat / not disappointed), (2) What type of person would benefit most? (3) What is the main benefit you get? (4) How could we improve it for you? Score the share of 'very disappointed' answers; 40%+ is the benchmark.

Step-by-step

  1. 1
    Choose the right respondents

    Send only to people who used the product at least twice in the last two weeks. Including inactive signups drags the score down and hides real fans.

  2. 2
    Ask the disappointment question

    'How would you feel if you could no longer use [product]?' with answers: Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed, I no longer use it.

  3. 3
    Ask who benefits and why

    'What type of people do you think would most benefit?' and 'What is the main benefit you receive?' These reveal your best segment and its words.

  4. 4
    Ask how to improve

    'How can we improve [product] for you?' Read this mainly from the 'somewhat disappointed' group — they are the easiest to convert into fans.

  5. 5
    Score and segment

    Divide 'very disappointed' by total valid answers. Then repeat the calculation for each customer type to find where fit is strongest.

Frequently asked

Who created the product-market fit survey?

Growth marketer Sean Ellis popularised the survey and the 40% benchmark after comparing results across many startups.

Should I offer an incentive?

Keep it small or skip it. Large rewards attract people who answer for the reward rather than honestly.

How often should I run it?

Every one to three months, or after a major product change, so you can see the trend rather than a single snapshot.

Where can I calculate my score?

Use Vouch's free product-market-fit survey tool: paste your answer counts and it shows your score against the 40% benchmark.

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Facts you can quote

  • Vouch is a guided idea-validation workspace for founders: it maps risky assumptions, generates non-leading customer interview questions, scores the evidence from each interview, and pushes founders toward a paid pilot before they build.
  • Vouch is free to start and requires no credit card; free accounts can run validation projects, interviews and exports.
  • Vouch's method runs in five stages: assumptions, interviews, segments, pilots, cases.
  • Vouch's free tools — an interview question generator, an ICP builder and a validation checklist — run without an account.

Source: Vouch (vouch.specky.space) — idea validation workspace for founders. Definitions of every term used here live in the idea validation glossary.

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