Strengthening Product-Market Fit in 12 Weeks of Coaching

1. Context

A transport connectivity company was preparing to launch a new product. The decision to move forward had already been made, but key elements still needed clarification. The team lacked visibility on market expectations, customer preferences, and how to differentiate from existing players.

Rather than outsource a traditional research report, the company partnered with Starts to co-build a complete market analysis while upskilling one of their product managers to lead similar research independently in the future.

2. The Challenge

The goal was clear: define what the new product should look like including its features, pricing and positioning, in order to increase its chances of success at launch.

To do that, the company needed:

• A deep understanding of market needs and constraints

• A clear view of customer preferences and pain points

• Benchmarks on how competing products were priced, promoted, and distributed

• Strategic direction on messaging, pricing, and value proposition

• A structured approach that could be replicated internally for future product work

3. What We Did

Over a 12-week applied coaching program and weekly meetings, we worked side-by-side with one product manager to run a complete market opportunity analysis, covering everything needed to shape the product pre-launch.

Phase 1: Market & Customer Understanding

We started by mapping the external landscape:

• We reviewed and analyzed interviews with customers and partners

• Competitor analysis across product specs, pricing, positioning, and distribution

• Market sizing and growth potential modeling

• SWOT and PESTLE analysis to identify constraints and opportunities

• A scan of differentiation factors to help the product stand out

Phase 2: Strategic Framing for Launch

Once the data was in, we worked with the product manager to:

• Define the target customer profile and segment needs

• Craft a clear value proposition based on verified preferences

• Recommend an adapted messaging and promotion strategy

• Propose a pricing approach based on perceived value and benchmarks

• Outline product development specs that aligned with demand and feasibility

• Evaluate immediate and longer-term opportunities for the product within the company’s portfolio

Phase 1, 2 & 3: Coaching for Repeatability

Throughout the engagement, we mentored the product manager to:

• Plan and structure market research

• Lead interviews and extract insights

• Build comparative frameworks (benchmarking, SWOT, PESTLE)

• Communicate findings clearly across the organization

By the end of the program, our mentee had answers for the current product, but also the tools to run the process again for the next one.

4. The Impact

• A product strategy built on verified data, not internal assumptions

• Clear alignment across teams on who the product was for, what mattered to those users, and how to communicate value

• A stronger launch trajectory with the right features, messaging, and pricing from the start

• Internal capability built to carry out strategic research autonomously in the future

5. Results

• 12-week collaborative market research sprint completed

• Clarity on specs, value proposition, pricing, and messaging

• Strategic report presented to leadership and product stakeholders

• Product manager equipped to run research for future launches

6. What the Client Said

“Huge thanks to Starts (Lena and Manon) for their hands-on market research coaching. In just 12 weeks, I strengthened my ability to assess product-market fit and deliver actionable insights. The final report was presented to our product and leadership teams—and is already having an impact on our next strategic moves. Their collaborative approach made it easy to run customer surveys, benchmark competitors, and assess market value using proven frameworks tailored to our business.”

Lynn, product manager @Icomera