Finding Product-Market Fit: 9 Doctors Signed Before Code

Luke Kervin walked into a doctor's office with a business card for a company that didn't exist and a product he hadn't built. He walked out with a signed contract for $500 a month. He did that nine times before writing a single line of code. That SaaS product validation approach was Luke's method for finding product-market fit - and it launched PatientPop. Luke's PMF journey started with failure. His original healthcare idea flopped, but asking doctors what kept them up at night revealed a much bigger opportunity. Validating product-market fit took under two weeks with nothing but business cards and a brochure. Then he proved the model by manually driving 21 new patients per practice in the first 30 days. Luke Kervin is the co-CEO of PatientPop, an all-in-one practice growth platform for healthcare providers. The company was founded in 2014, raised $24 million, and scaled to 142 employees in just two years with a field sales team closing at 30%+ rates. 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Finding product-market fit doesn't require code: Luke signed 9 paying doctors using only business cards, a brochure, and a landing page - proving demand in under two weeks. 📉 A failed idea can lead to finding product-market fit gold: Luke's original idea flopped, but asking doctors what kept them up at night revealed a much bigger opportunity worth $24 million in funding. 🤝 Hire two sales reps to avoid false conclusions: One rep crushed it while the other struggled - hiring only one could have led to the wrong conclusion about product viability. 🚀 Manual delivery proves product-market fit faster than code: By manually building directory profiles and websites, PatientPop drove 21 new patients per practice in 30 days - validating before automating. 🏢 Moving upmarket requires a different playbook: PatientPop jumped into mid-market sales too early and discovered larger practices had different needs, longer sales cycles, and required a different selling process. Chapters Introduction Meet Luke Kervin and PatientPop What PatientPop does for healthcare providers How the idea started in a doctor's office The pivot from failed idea to finding product-market fit Validating demand without a product All nine doctors signed up Proving product-market fit with a manual MVP Tactics that drove 21 new patients per practice Growing the sales team and early mistakes Criteria for choosing what business to build Why hiring two sales reps matters Building the executive team Mistakes moving to mid-market too fast Pricing model and expansion opportunities Fundraising strategy across angel, seed, and Series A Lightning round Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/126 Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email