You'll Know When It's Working

A founder friend told Nikita Bier something that stuck with him: "If your product's working, you'll know. And if there's any uncertainty, it's not working."

This is brutally true for parenting techniques too. When something actually works with your kid - a consequence that lands, a routine that clicks, a way of explaining things that resonates - you don't wonder if it worked. There's no uncertainty. The behavior changes. The resistance drops. Something shifts.

But when you're doing the thing all the parenting books recommended and you're like, "I think maybe this is kind of working? Hard to tell..." - it's not working.

This isn't a reason to despair. It's permission to stop doing the thing that isn't working and try something else. The books don't know your kid. You're gathering data. When you hit on something that works, you'll know it when you see it. Until then, keep experimenting.

Product-market fit for parenting is real. And obvious when you find it.