This isn't a direct comment on the post (which is quite good) but I had a tangential thought while reading.
I get the lean startup "talk to customers first" thing, and it seems perfect for so many startups. However, I can't help feeling there are some cases where you are selling execution not innovation and therefore "show don't tell" is more important. In these cases customers already have an existing solution which they probably don't consider a pain point and you literally have to show how their lives could be better to convert.
Some off-the-cuff examples include Facebook, Google Search and Google Chrome (unlike Google Maps which could have been a lean startup), Xero, the iPod and iPhone, nearly all media/entertainment.
I still think "release early" and MVPs are essential to avoid investing more effort than you have to in order to test a hypothesis. Likewise, I still think that getting in touch with your target market early is important as well (you're going to have to reach them at some point, so better start early to make sure they actually exist). But I question whether conversion potential can be evaluated for a pain point your customers don't realise exists until they see the alternative.
I get the lean startup "talk to customers first" thing, and it seems perfect for so many startups. However, I can't help feeling there are some cases where you are selling execution not innovation
Talking to potential customers first is still an excellent thing to do. Find out, in their view, what the pain-points are in the current solutions. If you can't find any, you will have a difficult time marketing your product.
You have an advantage here: the customer is already familiar with what the products do (and, more importantly, what they don't do). And furthermore they already have a sales process for buying the product. Be sure you ask them about these things. Then you will know what to build.
Why are these things good for startups to do? Because that's what the big boys do. Suppose bigPharm inc has an idea for a nasal delivery device for medicine for treating osteoporosis found (primarily) in elderly ladies. Who wouldn't rather have a nasal delivery than a shot? Can't miss.
However, they won't spend a penny until they talk to the docs. Turns out, elderly patients don't mind shots. They get a million of them. Now, make a cheaper medicine--that's a different story.
Decision: product scrapped.
BTW- good to talk to the insurance companies too in this case.
I get the lean startup "talk to customers first" thing, and it seems perfect for so many startups. However, I can't help feeling there are some cases where you are selling execution not innovation and therefore "show don't tell" is more important. In these cases customers already have an existing solution which they probably don't consider a pain point and you literally have to show how their lives could be better to convert.
Some off-the-cuff examples include Facebook, Google Search and Google Chrome (unlike Google Maps which could have been a lean startup), Xero, the iPod and iPhone, nearly all media/entertainment.
I still think "release early" and MVPs are essential to avoid investing more effort than you have to in order to test a hypothesis. Likewise, I still think that getting in touch with your target market early is important as well (you're going to have to reach them at some point, so better start early to make sure they actually exist). But I question whether conversion potential can be evaluated for a pain point your customers don't realise exists until they see the alternative.