Slides and Audio From “Forming Leading A Team of Experts” at Project Management Institute of Silicon Valley on Sep-17-2012. Audio includes a lively discussion.
Slides and Audio From “Leading A Team of Experts” at PMI-SV Sep-17-12 Read More »
Successful entrepreneurs have a passion to see their inventions adopted as innovations not admired as works of art. This is the science of startups.
Entrepreneurial Passion and the Science of Startups Read More »
Avoid “vendor speak” where you use words like innovative, seamless, robust, disruptive, or patented. These are not words a customer would use to describe your product.
Innovative, Robust, Seamless, Disruptive, and Patented Read More »
Debugging your startup requires peace of mind because debugging any problem, including debugging yourself, requires peace of mind. It’s what enables you to stay in flow.
Debugging Your Startup Requires Peace of Mind Read More »
The fact that your new application was a weekend project is not a feature! I see announcements like We just coded this up last weekend take a look… I wrote this on a Saturday afternoon check it out… We built the tool (over the last few weekends)… I don’t know if it’s Startup Weekend’s original
The Fact That Your App Was a Weekend Project Is Not a Feature Read More »
Review of key elements of Cognitive Task Analysis–Knowledge Elicitation, Analysis, and Knowledge Representation–with applications to market exploration. Are You Using Cognitive Task Analysis for New Market Exploration? I am interested in talking with anyone who is using Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) or Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) methods and paradigms to inform their customer interviews. I
Are You Using Cognitive Task Analysis for New Market Exploration? Read More »
Conversations with prospects unfold in real time: you must listen for what’s said and not said, manage your emotions, and understand the implications.
Conversations With Prospects: Practice, Review, Share Notes, Ask for Feedback Read More »
Jim Manzi, founder of Lotus and Applied Predictive Technologies, advises entrepreneurs to “Focus on delivering value to customers at a foreseeable profit” in “How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying.” How to Succeed in Business by Really, Really Trying. It’s a great article and also on the limits of advice to entrepreneurs, in particular autobiographies
Jim Manzi: Focus on Delivering Value to Customers at a Foreseeable Profit. Read More »
Focus on delighting early customers over accumulating followers. You need proof of deep value in a niche over small value dispersed over a large market.
Focus on Delighting Early Customers Over Accumulating Followers Read More »
The technology is nothing without the team. Teams listen to customers and translate technology into supported products.
The Technology is Nothing Without the Team Read More »
“Beta customer” blurs beta tester, beta user, and early customer. If you sell to business, beta customers are early customers, not beta testers.
A Beta Customer Is Not A Tester Or A User But An Early Customer Read More »
Here is our Startup Stages Overview video, it explains our startup stages model and the risk reducing milestones that separate each stage.
Startup Stages Overview Video Read More »
Early focus on a niche market (a small market) enables a startup to achieve “small wins” faster (and experience “small losses” instead of large ones). Over time these accumulate into larger wins.
Small Wins Enable Larger Wins Read More »
Startups originate in the mind of an entrepreneur, often as the result of observing something that seems odd, or is the result of juxtaposing two or three seeming unrelated or even incongruous ideas. The first challenge the entrepreneur faces turn his insight into something others can critique and improve upon: to show them sketches of
Sketching The Likeness Of An Imaginary Business Read More »
The primary challenge when you are first targeting a set of prospects for your product is to resist the urge of seeing the product as broadly applicable, instead focus narrowly where you bring strong benefit to get traction.
Defining Your Benefit and Targeting a Set of Prospects Read More »
Customer development is not just for startups. We have Fortune 500 clients launching new products who rely on customer development methods.
Customer Development Is Not Just For Startups Read More »
You waste time and reputation using these methods for B2B customer discovery: surveys, landing pages, and asking for endorsement before product experience.
Pictures Are to Words as Conversations are to Surveys Read More »
A few thoughts on customer interviews and why their capacity to surprise us makes them preferable to surveys and landing pages for early market exploration.
Customer Interviews: Allow Yourself to Be Surprised Read More »
This post on customer development interviews is one of my most popular. If you would like help preparing for customer development interviews or reviewing results from recent interviews please sign up for a no cost no obligation office hours session and I will be happy to help you rehearse or de-brief. Here are my lessons learned from taking
Tips for B2B Customer Development Interviews Read More »
A bootstrapper needs four attributes to succeed: purpose, patience, politeness, and prudent risk taking. These are markers for strength not weakness.
Purpose, Patience, Politeness, and Prudent Risk Taking Read More »
