E145 - Taking Your Opportunity to Market

Session 6: January 22, 2009

From Idea to Opportunity to Customer

Quote of the Day

"There are no facts inside your building. So get the heck outside your building and go find the facts.” Steve Blank

Summary

Once you have an idea, sized the opportunity and have convinced yourself it’s a business worth pursing, what do you do next? How do you execute and bring the product to customers and have them clamoring at your doorstep to buy it?

In the last few years entrepreneurs have begun to understand that startups are not small versions of large companies. Bringing startup products to market are not the same as launching products from large, existing companies.

Since marketing is an art rather than a science there a plethora of marketing models you can follow. This session will introduce you to many of them.

Required Readings (Policy on Required Readings.)

Read Eric Ries’s blog entries on Customer Development
Read "Four Steps to the Epiphany” Chapter 4
ReadTechnology Ventures (Dorf and Byers): Ch 11 The Marketing and Sales Plan; Ch 15 Acquisitions, Mergers, and Global Business (Highlights: 11.1-11.4, 11.8, 11.9, 15.3)

Study Questions (Policy on Study Questions.)

What makes marketing so difficult and important in a start-up? How does marketing relate to the product development and sales functions?
What is a discontinuous innovation? What is a disruptive technology? What are their implications for entrepreneurs?
For your OAP, ask these questions about any opportunities you explore:

Who are your target customers?
Who are your customers’ customers?
How will you do customer development?
What is your product category?
Where is it along the technology adoption life cycle?
How will you validate customers’ compelling reason to buy your product?
Who are your leading competitors?
How will you differentiate your “whole product” from theirs?
Who will be your key channel partners during the first year of operation?
How will you create demand?
How will you move potential customers through the sales funnel?
What marketing metrics will you use to measure your impact?

Recommended Readings (Policy on Recommended Readings. List of readings)

Watch the following short videos:

Last modified Sun Jan 18 20:06:07 2009