[light_triad]

Indeed PMF mostly comes up as a negative - you'll know it when you don't see it :)

But I think searching for PMF should theoretically be the bread and butter of startups. You're searching for the right combinations in terms of the interaction between People, Problem, Pitch and Solution. Changing your Pitch and Solution is "iterating", changing People and Problem is "pivoting". Improve accordingly until PMF or die trying.