The Four Steps to the Epiphany

So instead of dreaming up ways to cross the chasm, the first step for a startup is to focus on learning and discovery processes, from starting the company to scaling the business.

The sad reality is if you don’t get the first part of early Customer Development right, you won’t be in the mainstream. You’ll be out of business.

deep understanding of customers and their problems, their pains, and the jobs they need done to discover a repeatable roadmap of how they buy

“lighthouse” customers

The first customer ship date does not mean the company understands its customers or how to market or sell to them.

Startups don’t fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers and a proven financial model.

In reality none of these is the true objective. Simply put, a startup should focus on reaching a deep understanding of customers and their problems, their pains, and the jobs they need done discovering a repeatable roadmap of how they buy, and building a financial model that results in profitability.

Startups don’t fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers and a proven financial model.

In startups the emphasis is on “get it done, and get it done fast.” So it’s natural that heads of Sales and Marketing believe they are hired for what they know, not what they can learn.