The founder of Briq rejects the idea of ever "achieving" product-market fit. He views it as a continuous process, like staying in shape. You must work on it every day. Believing you've permanently "arrived" is a sign of complacency that will lead to failure.

Founders often try to convince themselves they have PMF. The actual moment of achieving it feels like a sudden, unmistakable change—a switch, not a spectrum—making it clear that all previous feelings were just wishful thinking.

In fast-moving industries like AI, achieving product-market fit is not a final destination. It's a temporary state that only applies to the current 'chapter' of the market. Founders must accept that their platform will need to evolve significantly and be rebuilt for the next chapter to maintain relevance and leadership.

Founders who have experienced failure develop healthy skepticism, preventing them from acting on weak signals. They require an overwhelmingly high bar of evidence, like ten consecutive successful demos, before believing they've truly achieved product-market fit and are not deluding themselves.

Unlike traditional software where PMF is a stable milestone, in the rapidly evolving AI space, it's a "treadmill." Customer expectations and technological capabilities shift weekly, forcing even nine-figure revenue companies to constantly re-validate and recapture their market fit to survive.

Doppel's founder argues PMF must be re-established with every pivot, platform expansion, or new market entry. For modern SaaS companies building platforms, founders must earn PMF for each new product they ship, treating it as a constant, iterative process.

Having paying customers doesn't automatically mean you have strong product-market fit. The founder warns against this self-deception, describing their early traction as a "partial vacuum"—good enough to survive, but not to thrive. Being "ruthlessly honest" about this gap is critical for making necessary, company-defining pivots.

Success in startups requires nuanced thinking, not absolute rules. For instance, product-market fit isn't a simple 'yes' or 'no' checkbox; it exists on a spectrum. Learning to see these shades of gray in funding, marketing, and product strategy is a hallmark of a mature founder.

Once a founder finds intense customer demand, they forget it exists as a separate variable. They attribute success to their product genius or sales skill, not the pre-existing market pull. This psychological shift makes their post-PMF advice misleading for founders still searching for demand.