four-fits

name	four-fits
description	Find which fit is broken before you burn cash scaling. Brian Balfour's framework for validating sustainable growth readiness.

Four Fits

Before you scale, all four fits must work. If one is broken, scaling fails.

Most companies scale too early. They have product-market fit and think they're ready. They're not. You need all four:

1. Market ↔ Product - Do customers want this?
2. Product ↔ Channel - Can you reach customers efficiently?
3. Channel ↔ Model - Can your business model support acquisition costs?
4. Model ↔ Market - Can you monetize this market profitably?

One broken fit = don't scale yet. Fix it first.

Philosophy: "All four fits must align for $100M+ growth. Scaling with misaligned fits burns cash." - Brian Balfour

Entry Point

When this skill is invoked, start with:

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 FOUR FITS ASSESSMENT
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Before you scale, all four fits must work.

What do you want to do?

  1. Full assessment
     → Evaluate all four fits

  2. Diagnose growth blocker
     → Find which fit is broken

  3. Pre-scale validation
     → Checklist before spending

  4. Specific market segment
     → Analyze fit for new segment

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Usage

/four-fits

Examples:

• /four-fits - Full assessment of current state
• /four-fits --validate - Pre-scale validation checklist
• /four-fits --diagnose - Identify which fit is blocking growth
• /four-fits --market "SMB SaaS" - Specify market explicitly

What Happens

1. Gathers context about your product:

   • What's your market? (SMB, enterprise, consumer)
   • What's your product? (feature set, positioning)
   • What's your primary channel? (paid, viral, content, sales)
   • What's your business model? (SaaS, marketplace, freemium, transaction)

2. Assesses each fit independently:

   • Questions to validate fit strength
   • Evidence required
   • Common anti-patterns
   • Confidence level (Validated / Needs Work / Misaligned)

3. Identifies misalignments:

   • Which fits are blocking scale?
   • Where are the gaps?
   • What validation is needed?

4. Returns detailed assessment with:

   • Fit-by-fit analysis
   • Overall readiness score
   • Recommended fixes
   • When to scale (or not)

5. Provides validation activities to de-risk each fit

Four Fits Deep Dive

Fit #1: Market ↔ Product

The question: Do customers want this?

Validation signals:

• High retention (>80% for SaaS)
• Strong NPS (>40)
• PMF survey >40% "very disappointed"
• Organic word-of-mouth
• Customers choose you over alternatives

Anti-patterns:

• Low retention (<60%)
• Building features customers don't use
• Winning on price, not value

See: /pmf-survey for validation

---

Fit #2: Product ↔ Channel

The question: Can we reach customers efficiently through this channel?

Validation signals:

• Customers discover you naturally
• CAC is sustainable (<1/3 of LTV)
• Acquisition is repeatable and scalable
• Product is suited to channel (e.g., viral product + viral channel)

Anti-patterns:

• CAC > LTV (unsustainable)
• Channel is saturated (CPCs rising)
• Product onboarding too slow for channel
• Can't scale channel 10x

Channel types:

• Paid (Google Ads, Facebook, etc.)
• Viral (referrals, word-of-mouth)
• Content (SEO, owned media)
• Sales (outbound, inside sales)

---

Fit #3: Channel ↔ Model

The question: Does our business model support acquisition costs?

Validation signals:

• LTV/CAC > 3 (healthy)
• Payback period acceptable (< 12 months)
• Gross margins support channel costs
• Can profitably acquire at scale

Anti-patterns:

• LTV/CAC < 2 (unprofitable)
• Payback > 18 months (too long)
• Thin margins can't support CAC
• Model doesn't scale with volume

See: /ai-cost-check for cost modeling

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Fit #4: Model ↔ Market

The question: Can we monetize this market profitably?

Validation signals:

• Market can afford your pricing
• TAM is large enough for ambitions
• Can expand within accounts
• Model aligns with market buying behavior

Anti-patterns:

• Market can't afford pricing (too expensive for segment)
• TAM too small for goals
• No expansion revenue (one-and-done)
• Mismatch in sales cycle vs model

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Diagnostic Mode

/four-fits --diagnose

Helps identify WHICH fit is blocking growth:

Symptoms → Diagnosis:

Low retention, high churn → Market-Product fit issue → Run: /pmf-survey

High CAC, can't scale acquisition → Product-Channel fit issue → Consider: Different channel or improve activation

Unprofitable customer acquisition → Channel-Model fit issue → Run: /ai-cost-check or raise prices

Can't expand, limited TAM → Model-Market fit issue → Consider: Different market segment or business model

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Related Commands

• /pmf-survey - Validate Market-Product fit specifically
• /growth-loops - Design Product-Channel fit via loops
• /lno-prioritize - Prioritize work to fix misaligned fits
• /ai-cost-check - Validate Channel-Model economics

Learn More

Full frameworks:

• frameworks/growth/four-fits.md - Brian Balfour's complete framework
• frameworks/growth/growth-loops.md - Elena Verna on sustainable growth
• frameworks/measurement/pmf-survey.md - Validate Market-Product fit

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Framework: Four Fits (Brian Balfour) Best for: Validating sustainable scaling readiness Key insight: "All four fits must align for $100M+ growth. Scaling with misaligned fits burns cash." Remember: Fix fits in order - Market-Product first, then Product-Channel, then Channel-Model, then Model-Market. Don't skip ahead.