Gamma ran two products in parallel for six months. The decision to kill their virtual office tool came from dogfooding, which served as a conviction test. The team felt a "ceiling" on its potential and lacked the energy for it, making the strategic choice clear.

After losing five verbally committed deals, Omni spent two months fixing bugs. Their PMF signal was winning four straight deals from a podcast appearance—customers who were completely unaffiliated. This proved market pull beyond their personal network.

Fundrise decides which software companies to back by first becoming a power user of their products (e.g., Ramp, Intercom). This firsthand experience provides deeper conviction and a more accurate assessment of product quality than any external analysis could achieve.

To overcome doubt, the founder relies on his profound belief in the product, reinforced by his habit of eating two pints of his ice cream every day for four years. This constant personal use serves as a daily reminder of his mission and the value he provides customers.

The 'never give up' mantra is misleading. Successful founders readily abandon failed products and even entire startups. Their unwavering persistence is not tied to a specific idea, but to the meta-goal of finding product-market fit itself, no matter how many attempts it takes.

Early on, Tock turned down restaurant groups eager to sign up. The founders knew their product lacked features crucial for those clients, and a premature onboarding would lead to failure and churn. By saying "not yet," they protected their reputation and successfully signed those same clients years later.

To persevere with a struggling product, teams need two things: deep conviction that the user problem is important, and a single instance where the product works flawlessly. This "perfect golf shot" provides a glimpse of its potential and the motivation to continue.

Mercury Bank's founder, Ahmad Akund, attributes their "instant product-market fit" to building a product he personally needed as an entrepreneur for years. This deep, firsthand understanding of the user's pain allowed him to build a solution with the right features from day one.

During its long, pre-revenue build, Runway couldn't rely on constant market feedback. Instead, they depended on the founder's "taste"—defined as knowing what's good without external validation. This internal conviction is crucial for ambitious products that aren't a "random walk" of testing.