“The highest ROI I’ve ever had on user research is not a focus group or interview session: it’s developing a close relationship with a handful of representative customers where I feel comfortable asking 5-minute questions over informal channels (text, email, phone, even Facebook Messenger). It
Startups are risky. As many as 90% of them fail. A key reason why startups fail is that the early days of new ventures very closely resemble research and development (R&D). And sadly, R&D projects don’t always work. Maybe the product isn’t perceived as valuable.
There are clear benefits to targeting the enterprise market. In the enterprise market, a startup may be competing against fewer companies, they may be able to reach profitability more quickly (thanks to greater deal sizes), and ultimately, should they become a market leader, new entrants
You may have launched a full product or, agreed on terms for a conditional purchase, or a customer might have purchased your product in full. But if your product takes a long time to demonstrate value, it will significantly impact your ability to learn, and
When building a startup, time is the great unknown. You may be able to find an opportunity, validate it, and reach product/market fit in three months. Or, it might take years. Investor Andrew Chen calls this time variable Time to Product/Market Fit (TTPMF). And unfortunately,
“If there could have ever been a magical time to build an enterprise software company, now is absolutely that time.” – Aaron Levie, Box Co-Founder & CEO When I was writing the first edition of Lean B2B, most of the fastest-growing startups were business to
“The first prototype isn’t meant to show a solution. It’s to show that you don’t yet understand the problem.” – Clay Shirky, Author Silicon Valley Group founder and product management expert Marty Cagan says that there are two inconvenient truths in products: At least half
