Introduction

AI is changing how companies grow. This guide updates the Four Fits so you can reach $100m by aligning product, channels, model, and market.

What's the problem it solves?

Teams chase growth with random tactics and old playbooks. The Four Fits give a simple map to line up product, channel, pricing, and market in an AI world where things shift fast.

Quick Summary

Brian Balfour’s Four Fits says you need four tight matches to scale: Product Market Fit, Product Channel Fit, Channel Model Fit, and Model Market Fit. In short, build something people really want, make it work with the places they find it, price it so the channels make sense, and target a market big enough to reach $100m.

AI speeds everything up. It expands what you can build and who can use it, while also breaking old loops like long-tail SEO and cheap freemium. Winners watch for fit shifts and adjust fast. Losers assume yesterday’s fit still holds. Chegg’s fast drop shows how PMF can vanish when a new AI path is 10x faster or cheaper.

AI also jolts channels and pricing. Search and social are closing up. New discovery is forming inside AI tools like ChatGPT. Costs to serve go up with tokens and users want the newest models. You must make your model match your channels and your buyers, or you get stuck in a danger zone where ARPU and CAC don’t add up.

Key Takeaways

• Growth needs four matches at once: product, channel, model, market.
• AI grows both the problems you can solve and the ways to solve them.
• Product Market Fit can rise or fall almost overnight in AI cycles.
• Channels shift. SEO and social are tighter. AI surfaces are new entry points.
• Pricing must fit your channels and costs. Tokens and usage can break freemium.
• Model Market Fit is moving. Some TAMs shrink, others explode.
• New buyers show up. Ops and CTOs may own AI budgets with different rules.
• Flexibility beats perfection. Build to test, watch unit economics, and pivot fast.

What to do

• Map your Four Fits today: product, channel, model, market. Mark weak links.
• Stress test PMF: where could AI deliver a 10x faster or cheaper path than you?
• Redesign for channels people use now. Explore AI-based discovery inside ChatGPT.
• Rework pricing to match costs and channels. Tie value to outcomes, not seats.
• Add guardrails on gross margin. Track token spend per user and per feature.
• Build a second distribution bet. Do not rely on one traffic source.
• Align to the right buyer. Update pitch, proof, and security for Ops or CTO teams.
• Size your path to $100m. Use ARPU x customers math and pick your animal class.
• Ship in short loops. Release, measure fit shifts, and adjust every few weeks.
• Plan for collapse scenarios. Write playbooks for sudden drops in SEO or WTP.

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