It depends on what kind of company you want to build. Yes if your goal is to build a Dropbox, an Instagram etc then you don't have "product-market fit" before

It depends on what kind of company you want to build. Yes if your goal is to build a Dropbox, an Instagram etc then you don't have "product-market fit" before you have to stay up all night weeks in a row to keep your service alive. But sometimes it makes more sense (and joy) enjoy building stuff where the product-market fit and growth curve is a lot slower, read Basecamp's post about linear growth companies: https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-world-needs-more-modest-linear-growth-companies-please-make-some-609b5a10a9e0 https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-world-needs-more-modest-linea... Background: I have build a VC backed company that ended up on a linear growth curve and enjoyed it a lot, today the company is profitable and proud. Today I am VP Growth of a heavily VC backed company that is trying to hit product-market fit.