This Will Make You Rethink Your Product and Career in 2025

Rekhi argues that MVPs are not the right default for existing markets, where customers expect a fuller solution; the right approach depends on the market. He recommends defining a strategy across six areas: customer problem, audience, value proposition, competitive advantage, growth, and business model. Then test the riskiest assumptions with suitable methods, such as interviews, presales, prototypes, or a paid trial. He says product-market fit requires retention that stabilizes and sustainable month-over-month growth.

Rekhi warns that customers may say they have a problem or would use a product simply to be polite. He suggests asking people to rank a proposed problem against their top five regular challenges to see whether it is genuinely important. For Connected, a 14-day trial and paid subscription revealed that relationship-focused professionals were the customers willing to pay. For LinkedIn Sales Navigator, pilot prospects had to commit salespeople and weekly feedback, helping the team validate the feature set before building.

Rekhi recommends getting the first hundred or thousand users through direct outreach, personal networks, influencers, PR, Product Hunt, and communities. Once there is initial traction, teams can develop scalable growth loops, such as user referrals, user-generated content, advertising, sales, or paid integrations. He describes the two approaches as serving different stages of growth.

As Sales Navigator grew to nearly 500 employees and $200 million in revenue, Rekhi found that managing the organization left him with less of the customer contact and product creation he enjoyed. He weighed the risk of leaving against the regret of never pursuing work better suited to him, and he and his wife started another company focused on craft and a small team. His career framework considers passion for both the mission and daily work, skills he can develop, and market opportunity.

Rekhi uses four areas from Designing Your Life: career, health, love and relationships, and play. He says setting goals in each area helped him make room for exercise, friendships, and listening to music for enjoyment. He encourages people to keep exploring career options through firsthand experience, then deepen their investment in the work that proves rewarding.