In the relentless pursuit of product-market fit, most startups and product teams fall into the same trap: they build products for theoretical users rather than solving problems they intimately understand.
The dogfooding mental model offers a different path—one where you become your own first customer and discover market fit from the inside out.
What is Dogfooding?
Dogfooding, or “eating your own dog food,” is the practice of using your product in your daily operations.
The term originated in the 1980s at Microsoft, where employees were encouraged to use the company’s own software for their work.
But dogfooding is more than just internal adoption—it’s a systematic approach to product development that transforms how you discover and validate market needs.
The core principle is simple: if you’re solving a problem you genuinely have, you’re more likely to solve a problem others have too.
Why Dogfooding is Critical for Product-Market Fit
