When starting out a project we know how important it is to get out of the building, talk to prospects and figure out whether our idea holds any merit. That’s the basis of Customer Development. And the goal is to get to Product-Market Fit, where the product is validated and built for a specific market, […]
In Customer Interviews Don’t Rush to Pitch the Solution
All the theory in the world won’t make a lick of difference if you don’t get into the field and do something. That’s why advice isn’t worth as much as it should be, and isn’t nearly as effective as it should be. Entrepreneurs consistently make the same mistakes over and over, even when there are […]
Being Wrong is So Hard But So Good
No one likes being wrong. It’s frustrating, demoralizing and irritating. Some people flat out refuse to be wrong … ever. You know the type, right? Being wrong is so hard. But it can be so good too. If you can accept being wrong (at least from time to time!), then you’re more likely to have […]
Useless Feedback
Not all feedback is created equal. A lot of feedback is useless. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the person providing the feedback. Oftentimes it’s the fault of the person requesting it, because they don’t really understand why they’re asking for it in the first place. Startup founders need to go out and validate what […]
Startup D.O.A
How often have you seen startups go down the following road? A couple people come up with an idea. They’re excited. Really, really excited. They get nervous about competition or people stealing their plans. So they get very hush hush. They start building something. This usually involves locking themselves in a small, dark room with […]
Startup CEOs Need To Do Sales
Doing sales isn’t typically one of the favorite things of most startup CEOs (and by extension, startup founding teams). Certainly they want sales (because sales = $$), but they don’t want to actually do the sales. This is a huge problem for startups. Startup CEOs need to be very close to their prospects and customers […]
Lack of Market Focus Can Kill Your Startup
Too many startups lack market focus. They don’t really understand their target customer and what that customer wants. And that lack of focus kills startups. It’s easy to look at and define a big market as a single entity – a giant, amoeba-like blob where everything and everyone in it is basically the same. This […]
A Great Case Study of Customer Development + Pirate Metrics + Lean Startup
This is a brilliant case study of someone using Customer Development, Pirate Metrics and Lean Startup principles to develop their startup. If you’re not familiar with these three concepts, here are the 3 links you need: Steve Blank’s blog on Customer Development Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! by Dave McClure Startup Lessons Learned by Eric […]
Talking to Customers Must be Part of Your Startup Culture
Customers. Love ’em or hate ’em, we all need them. They’re not always right, they’re often elusive but they’re the lifeblood of any successful company. And that’s true for a business-to-consumer play (B2C) as much as it’s true for business-to-business (B2B) organizations. One of the risks in dealing with customers is only speaking to a […]
New Competitors Help Validate Your Market
Competition can be scary. There’s no doubt about it. Many of us have probably had a holy crap moment upon discovering new competition. And just imagine if that competition is a behemoth … like Google. James Siminoff isn’t worried about Google entering into his competitive landscape. In fact, he’s openly thanking Google for doing so. […]
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