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Reach "product-market fit"

Last Updated:

April 21, 2026

Table of Contents

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Become the person who helps others find “product-market fit”

This is the biggest impact you can make in your career.

THE STORY

It failed twice before finding the right market

Did you know that Bubble Wrap—the bubbled plastic we see in packages—wasn’t invented to protect items at all?

It was 1957. Business partners Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes decided to invent a textured plastic wallpaper by sealing two layers of plastic together, trapping in pockets of air. They called their product “Bubble Wrap” and named their company Sealed Air.

But no one wanted squishy, bubbled plastic on their walls.

Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, the inventor of Bubble wrap.

So, the inventors marketed Bubble Wrap as greenhouse insulation—but nobody wanted it, either.

Then, IBM announced the IBM 1401, which was “considered the Model-T of the computer industry.” There was just one problem: it was fragile, so it was a pain to ship without it breaking in transit, especially given the industry standard of using “balled up newsprint” for protection.

3 key things happened next:

A marketer at Sealed Air, Frederick W. Bowers, realized that Bubble Wrap could be used for packaging
IBM became one of the first major customers of Bubble Wrap and used it to ship its 1401 computer
IBM’s adoption of this new packaging material validated Bubble Wrap’s use case as a protective material to the broader market

The result?

Over the next 10 years, Bubble Wrap became the default solution for protecting fragile items in transit. Fast forward more than 50 years, and today Sealed Air offers specialized packaging and protection for everything from food to medical supplies.

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Help others find “product-market fit”

I took away a number of lessons from this story:

“Product-market fit” is what happens when a solution meets a problem perfectly.
Just because something isn’t selling doesn’t mean it’s doomed. It could simply be that it’s not being “positioned” as the right solution to the right problem.
A surefire way to make an impact is by helping an idea find “product-market fit.”
Anyone can do this!

Here’s how I think about product-market fit:

Product market fit = (A) knowing what to sell, (B) to whom, and (C) how.

At work, we’re surrounded by “A” all the time. But few ideas catch on because they're not being sold to the right person (“B”) or in the right way (“C”).

See a coworker struggle to communicate an otherwise good idea or a company struggle to sell a product or service… and know what they’re missing?

Share your idea as Bubble Wrap’s marketer did!

Not everyone will listen, but one will—and it might just transform a stranger into an ally or a company into an employer.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule!

—Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

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