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 »
Here is another excerpt from my September interview with Gabriel Weinberg. This one focuses on why payment and testimonials are so important to differentiate users from actual customers.
If Money Doesn’t Change Hands, You Can’t Call a User a Customer Read More »
I mentioned in “3 Equations 3 Unknowns: Customers, Features, and Message” that we spend a lot of time on the early customer stage. It requires very different sales style than you’ll see later on. It’s a conversational sales style. It’s much more about understanding the problem. You’re trying to solve three equations, three unknowns: Are
3 Equations & 3 Unkowns: Target Customer is Key Initial Value Read More »
Gabriel Weinberg is a serial entrepreneur (latest startup: DuckDuckGo), a Hacker Angel, insightful blogger, and frequent contributor to Hacker News. He is writing a book on how startups get traction and interviewing folks like Patrick McKenzie, Jimmy Wales, and Paul English to collect lessons learned from a variety of perspectives. I was delighted when he
Gabriel Weinberg Interviews Me For His Traction Book Read More »
A Chalk Talk on “Managing Risk In Technology Adoption” that covers some of key challenges technology providers have with getting companies to use their products.
Chalk Talk on Technology Adoption Read More »
We posted the interview I did with Floyd Tucker of DreamSimplicity about a month ago but in the last two days I have had two people comment to me directly and one tweet about my “three equations and three unknowns” answer: customers, features, message.
3 Equations & 3 Unknowns: Customers, Features, Message Read More »
Update Feb-24-2011: Since I first wrote this in 2010 the Effectuation.Org site has been considerably upgraded and contains a lot more information on research on entrepreneurship by Saras Sarasvathy. Recapping ideas, papers, and books that had changed my life yesterday reminded me of Saras Sarasvathy’s Effectual Reasoning Model from her 2001 paper “What Makes Entrepreneurs
Saras Sarasvathy’s Effectual Reasoning Model for Expert Entrepreneurs Read More »
Michael Schrage offers some useful insights on innovation: he stresses the need for collaboration both within the startup (or new product team) and between the startup and its early customers.
Michael Schrage on Innovation, Collaboration, Tools, and Incentives Read More »
After thinking some more about yesterday’s post on entrepreneurial motivation I thought I would re-read some Peter Drucker, his clarity and prescience continue to impress me.
Drucker on Profit and Business Purpose Read More »
Tim O’Reilly offers three ways to sustain entrepreneurial motivation: work on what matters to you, create more value than you capture, and take the long view.
Entrepreneurial Motivation Read More »
Real entrepreneurs don’t need encouragement to form a startup–although they may benefit from outside perspectives on their plans. Encouraging non-entrepreneurs to form a startup does them a disservice.
We Don’t Encourage Individuals to Form a Startup Read More »
Excerpts that I found thought provoking and useful from an interview with Jeff Bezos in the October 2007 Harvard Business Review.
Jeff Bezos on Strategic Planning Read More »
Better is the enemy of good enough–This phrase is attributed to Sergey Gorshkov, the commander in chief of the Soviet Navy from 1956 to 1985, who managed it’s dramatic expansion during the Cold War. Perfectionists get this wrong, siding with “Better.” Entrepreneurs who prosper, for the most part, side with “Good Enough” and keep improving.
“Better” is the Enemy of “Good Enough” Read More »
Two very good CEO speeches I still remember, in each case a good leader put himself in the same boat with the rest of us during tough times.
Two CEO Speeches I Still Remember Read More »
Burn your boats but not your bridges: commit to your startup but don’t do anything that damages relationships or would not allow you to build on prior shared successes with others.
Burn Your Boats But Not Your Bridges Read More »
Francis Adanza interviews Dave Stubenvoll, a serial entrepreneur/intrapreneur who has founded or been an early employee in five successful startups. His most recent startup is Wowza Media Systems.
Founder Story: Dave Stubenvoll of Wowza Media Systems Read More »
Here are 21 great questions for developing new products, the checklist is from “Breakthrough Thinking form Inside the Box” by Coyne, Clifford, and Dye; the commentary is mine.
21 Great Questions for Developing New Products Read More »
Peter Drucker outlines four entrepreneurial pitfalls, starting with rejection of a new product’s success in a market that is different than was expected.
Peter Drucker on Why Entrepreneurs Reject Unexpected Success Read More »
I collect quotes for entrepreneurs, here are a set quotes on operational excellence. You can follow @skmurphy to get quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until they are collected in a blog post at the end of each month. Enter your E-mail address if you would like have new blog posts
Quotes on Operational Excellence Read More »
I had a chance to hear two VCs outline the benefits of a SaaS business model at the CINACon 2007 conference a on September 22.
Benefits of SaaS Business Model Read More »
