There are many ideas about determining Product/Market fit (PMF) but in our experience the best way to ensure the success or failure of a new product or feature is by focusing on traction
There are many ideas about determining Product/Market fit (PMF) but in our experience the best way to ensure the success or failure of a new product or feature is by focusing on traction
Disruptive innovation chapter 2 picture
We are living through a global entrepreneurial renaissance. Today, it is cheaper and easier than ever to build a product, which means that there are many more people “starting up” all over the world. While this explosion in startup activity represents an incredible opportunity for all of us, it comes with a dark cloud: more products translates to more choices for both investors and customers, making it harder to stand out.
Customers today are constantly bombarded with a multitude of product choices. When customers encounter a half-baked product, they don’t turn into beta testers and give you feedback; they just leave. Without customer feedback, it’s too easy to fall prey to the “build trap”, where success always seems one killer feature away but remains ever elusive. You end up spending needless time, money, and effort building something nobody wants, until you run out of resources. This is why investors don't value intellectual property, but traction as the primary metric.
Traction isn’t about being first to market, but first to market adoption. Traction is evidence that people other than yourself and your team care about your idea. It means customers love your product; so traction is evidence of a working business model. The funny thing is most companies, both startup and enterprise, focus exclusively on building product features, sometimes even testing and validating them in advance, but rarely apply the same methodology to the traction channels needed to acquire and retain customers.
"Traction is basically quantitative evidence of customer demand.
Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers
There are 19 identified traction channels to consider
Viral Marketing
Public Relations
Unconventional PR
Search Engine Marketing
Social & Display Ads
Offline Ads
Search Engine Optimization
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Engineering as Marketing
Targeting Blogs
Business Development
Sales
Affiliate Programs
Existing Platforms
Trade Shows
Offline Events
Speaking Engagements
Community Building
In order to enable disruptive innovation, you need a digital-first operating model, customer-obsessed culture and top-notch technology
Regardless of the size and maturity of your organization, you will need an innovation-first mindset with strong digital capabilities and a digital-first operating model to be able to disrupt a market with your product. Here are some of the most important anti-patterns and patterns for enabling disruptive innovation in your organization:
Anti-pattern: Innovation project mindset >< Pattern: Innovation product mindset
Anti pattern: Milestone-driven predicted roadmaps >< Pattern: Culture of intelligent disruption
Anti pattern: Working with personas >< Pattern: Working with customers
Anti pattern: Focused on MVP building >< Pattern: Focus on traction and growth
Anti pattern: Doing Digital Transformations >< Pattern: Outcome-focused digital-first operating model
Anti pattern: Segregated Innovation teams >< Pattern: Transferring ownership of innovation
Anti pattern: Outsourcing essential capabilities >< Pattern: Growing in-house essential capabilities
Anti pattern: Focus on ROI >< Pattern: Focus on North Star metric
Anti pattern: Scaling too fast to show progress >< Pattern: Scaling solid foundation in the speed of adoption
Anti pattern: Yearly budget cycles >< Pattern: Value-based lean funding