Customer identification and development

1. Customer identification and development Courtesy of Spikelab.org

2. How to spot an early adopter and jumpstart your business http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

3. It's all about learning • If you are a startup then by definition your goal is learning. • When you're just starting you have one main priority: validating that the problem you are trying to solve is in fact real and someone is ready to pay to have it solved. • The best way to confirm the existence of a problem, especially early on, is to go talking to people. So who do you go talking to? http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

4. …but also market penetration • Most people won't ever consider your solution unless someone else has been using it for a while and you can show them the benefits. http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

5. “Crossing the chasm” This is the entire addressable market for your innovation You need enough early adopters to cross the chasm to early majority You want to eventually sell to this group over the life cycle of your innovation You are here: The innovator You want to sell here to your first customers http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

6. Sport the early adopter • Has a problem • Is aware of having a problem • Has been actively seeking a solution • Has cobbled together an incomplete, imperfect solution of parts • Has or can acquire a budget Often we have the temptation of stopping at 1. even when we know about the other 4, but it's a huge mistake. http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

7. Embrace your “earlyvangelists” • Early adopters are awesome in many ways: they put up with your initial broken product, they help you refine it and in general want to see you succeed. • If you make them happy, some of them will become your early evangelist, the ones that will talk to every single friend, Facebook friend, and any living soul really, about your product. • They are your single best chance to get out of a niche without having to spend thousands of dollars on marketing http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

8. Persona development • a set of exercises centered around the description of their customer, in this case of an early adopter • describe as accurately as possible some demographics, behaviors and needs of your ideal first customer • The more specific the better as this is someone you need to talk to. The reason for the specificity is two-fold: • identify the person • make sense of the data http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

9. But don’t forget about the forest • Remember what the larger vision is and make sure you are not missing the forest for the tree • Validate your early adopter and get feedback on whether or not there’s someone who will pay to use your product or service to solve their problem(s) http://www.spikelab.org/blog/early-adopters-definition.html

10. Now write your value proposition • “Like X for abc” • The most popular value proposition: like Uber for food delivery, Twitter for shopping, Airbnb for cats and dogs • Why it works: you’re calling upon the recipient's understanding of the term of comparison and then reframe it to your market. It can be very powerful as you unconsciously borrow some of the trustworthiness from the known brand and transfer it to your own. • Potential downside: this can play against you if the public isn't that familiar with the term of reference

11. Now write your value proposition • “the for-who-our-that template” • The most effective approach to explaining your VP • For short desc of who the customer is who short desc of the problem our short desc of the solution so that short desc of the value created • For college students taking online courses through video who struggle to discuss the lesson in a separate forum our web app integrates discussions directly on the video so that the student can easily get his questions answered