“What really got me across the line was their product channel fit and i feel like that's often overlooked... it's not just like is this a product people are willing to pay money for but just straight up how are you going to get this out to market.”

Evaluate Product-Channel Fit Before Joining — Organic Traffic Is The Moat, Not Just The Product

Ron's reason for joining AllTrails in 2015 was a Google Analytics screen showing millions of free organic trail-search visitors — before the company even had polished apps. He calls this 'product channel fit': a separate question from PMF that asks whether sustainable, scalable distribution already exists. Without it, even great products stall. This lens applies to any acquisition decision or founding choice.