Found Product-Market Fit, But It Wasn’t Enough | Grin Lord, Mpathic

Every SaaS founder works toward product-market fit (PMF)—that moment when customers start buying, retention improves, and growth feels inevitable. But what happens when you achieve PMF and still struggle to scale?

That’s exactly what Dr. Grin Lord, CEO of Mpathic, faced. Her company developed an AI-driven conversation analytics platform that gained traction in psychedelic medicine clinical trials, helping researchers analyze patient interactions.

It was a real problem with real demand. Yet, despite securing product-market fit, Mpathic’s market size wasn’t large enough to attract venture-scale investment. Instead of abandoning their success, they had to make strategic decisions to expand into adjacent markets while maintaining focus.

This article breaks down:

• Why PMF isn’t always enough
• The challenge of niche markets vs. scalable growth
• How Mpathic expanded its market without losing momentum
• Lessons for SaaS founders navigating growth challenges

How Mpathic Found Product-Market Fit

Mpathic started with a broad vision—AI-powered conversation analytics for any industry. The goal was to enhance trust and empathy in human interactions across healthcare, HR, sales, and more.

But selling a horizontal AI solution created a challenge: every industry had different needs, making it difficult to gain deep traction in any one market.

The breakthrough came when they focused on clinical trials in psychedelic medicine. Researchers needed a way to analyze 50+ hours of patient recordings per trial, ensuring compliance, safety, and accuracy. Mpathic’s AI automated this process, dramatically reducing manual review time.

This was a clear product-market fit—a defined problem, a strong value proposition, and repeat customers.

But PMF wasn’t enough.

The Challenge: A $6B Market That Was “Too Small”

With proven demand and customer retention, Mpathic had all the signs of PMF. But there was a problem—the total addressable market (TAM) was $6 billion.

For most businesses, this sounds like a massive opportunity. But in the world of venture capital, it wasn’t enough. VCs typically look for markets in the $10B+ range with exponential growth potential.

This put Mpathic in a tough spot:

• Stay focused on their niche and grow profitably?
• Expand into a larger market to attract investors?

They needed to scale without losing what made their product successful in the first place.

How Mpathic Expanded Beyond Psychedelic Medicine

Rather than chasing new markets blindly, Mpathic took a strategic expansion approach:

• They listened to customers. Many researchers told them they also struggled with endpoint assessments—the way clinical trials measure success.
• They validated the market. They found that many types of clinical trials had the same problem, far beyond just psychedelic medicine.
• They built for scale. Their AI evolved to help pharmaceutical companies analyze and validate trial data across different types of studies.

By focusing on adjacent problems within a larger industry, Mpathic expanded its reach while maintaining its original strengths.

Lessons for SaaS Founders

Mpathic’s journey offers valuable insights for any founder navigating product-market fit, TAM limitations, and scaling challenges:

• Finding PMF isn’t the finish line—it’s just the beginning.
• A niche can be a great starting point, but long-term scalability matters.
• Listening to customers often reveals your next growth opportunity.
• Expanding within an industry is often smarter than going horizontal.

Conclusion: What’s Your AI Strategy?

Achieving product-market fit is a major milestone, but as Mpathic’s journey shows, it’s not the final destination. Even with strong customer demand, scaling a SaaS business requires careful market sizing, strategic expansion, and listening to customer needs.

For Mpathic, the key to growth wasn’t chasing every industry—it was doubling down on their strengths while finding adjacent opportunities with larger market potential. Instead of pivoting away from what worked, they expanded thoughtfully, ensuring their AI technology remained relevant and valuable.

If you're a SaaS founder, the lesson is clear: Product-market fit alone won’t guarantee success—you also need a strategy for scale.

One of the biggest opportunities for scaling today is AI adoption. Whether you’re optimizing workflows, improving customer interactions, or automating repetitive tasks, AI can be a powerful driver of efficiency and growth—but only if implemented correctly.

If you're considering AI for your business but aren’t sure where to start, schedule a free 45-minute AI Assessment with our team. We’ll help you identify the right AI solutions to streamline your operations and accelerate growth.