Market segment validation

Product-market fit often varies dramatically across customer segments. What delights enterprise customers might frustrate small businesses. Successful products identify and validate specific segments before expanding. Start by defining segments through demographics, behaviors, or needs. Then measure fit metrics separately for each group.

Validate segments through cohort analysis, willingness to pay research, and usage patterns. Look for segments with 3x better retention, 2x higher NPS, or significantly lower support costs while segment usage is still the same. These highest-fit segments reveal your product's true strengths.

The Superhuman method provides a systematic approach: survey users who would be "very disappointed" if they could no longer use your product. If this percentage is below 40% overall, segment your users and find which groups score above 40%. These are your high-fit segments. Focus all resources on serving these users exceptionally well, using their feedback to guide development. Only after dominating these segments should you expand to others.^[1]