Founders starting a new business are often advised on the importance of finding product-market fit.
This is 110% correct, but without some more context it might feel like saying to make it in the pop music business all you need to do is write a hit single, just like the Beatles…. well, maybe its not that difficult, but its definitely not easy.
Image Source: CNN.com
Product market fit is when a product, or service, sufficiently matures to the point that it can generate positive earnings and cash flows for the business. This means that the unit economics of the product offer acceptable gross margins and there is sufficient “fit” with the market that the costs of acquiring and retaining new customers does not eat up all of your earnings.
Note, many companies at product-market fit do lose money if they are running losses ahead of growth. But if true product-market fit is achieved the product itself is profitable.
In 2023 we may see many companies who think they have product market fit dial back their growth, only to find that they are really not self-sustaining without external investment.
The point is, that for a new company, product-market fit is very challenging to achieve. In fact, many good teams with very good ideas probably never get there. And in most cases, it will take a good team with good ideas many years of trial, error, failure and trial again to get there.
Andrew Gazdecki, Founder of Microacquire, sums up the process pretty well in a recent tweet:
But every successful business does need to get to product-market fit, and the sooner the better.
Axial Flux Motor Extends Range of EVs
Aircore Mobility axial flux motor, Image Source: Infinitum
Just in time for CES 2023, electric motor start-up Infinitum has announced their Aircore Mobility axial flux motor for passenger, commercial EV and other mobility applications, including aviation and marine.
The vast majority of electric motors in service today are rotary flux motors that generate a rotating magnetic field to move the rotor with the fixed stator. Axial flux motors use adjacent stator and rotor discs to generate motor movement through axial flux that runs parallel with the axis of rotation. Axial flux motors generally have a better torque to weight ratio which make them a great option for mobility applications like EVs, if they can meet the torque requirements.
Infinitum believes their solution does just that, and are targeting the Aircore Mobility motor for EVs as large as class 8 commercial trucks, similar in size to the Tesla Semi.
At the core of their motor is a patented PCB stator that does not use any iron to generate the magnetic flux within the motor and can be manufactured using standard PCB manufacturing techniques. According to Infinitum, this makes the Aircore Mobility 50% lighter and smaller than comparable motors, which is potentially huge for EVs in terms or range, battery life and charge times.
Based out of Round Rock, Texas, Infinitum was founded in 2016 and has raised $167.7M of external funding to date from investors including Cottonwood Technology Fund.
The full article is available here:
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