In the early days of a startup, finding product-market fit is paramount. Once you have it, failure is almost impossible. Without it, you can do everything else right, and still fail. In this Breakthrough Lesson, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate discusses three heuristics for maximizing the odds of success: Find the right North Star, offer a Delta 4 experience, and don’t fool yourself. Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. You can also pre-order Mike's new book Pattern Breakers wherever you buy books.