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61 " The processes used to organize and implement the search for the business model are Customer Development and Agile Development. "
― Steve Blank , The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company
62 " The mix of Customer Development and Agile engineering dramatically increases the odds of new product and company success, while reducing the need for upfront cash and eliminating wasted time, energy, money and effort. "
63 " An entrepreneur seeks to test a series of unproven hypotheses (guesses) about a startup’s business model: who the customers are, what the product features should be, and how this scales into a hugely successful company. "
64 " Ironically, startups were often crippled by the very methodology they traditionally used to build new products. "
65 " Understanding what an advertiser is willing to pay to reach your startup’s audience is vital to the business model. "
66 " Most startups lack a structured process for testing their business models’ hypotheses—markets, customers, channels, pricing—and for turning those guesses into facts. "
67 " One of the mistakes entrepreneurs make in this step is confusing motion with action. "
68 " Startups demand execs who are comfortable with uncertainty, chaos and change—with presentations and offers changing daily, "
69 " Building your product is the easy part. The hard part is getting customers to find your app, site or product. It’s a daunting, never-ending challenge to build customer relationships, quite literally, one customer at a time. "
70 " ...no business plan survives first contact with customers. "
71 " Ultimately, only one answer matters: can we generate enough revenue, profits and growth to make this business worth our time and energy? "
72 " Customer discovery includes two outside-the-building phases. The first tests customer perception of the problem and the customer’s need to solve it. Is it important enough that the right product will drive significant numbers of customers to buy or engage with the product? The second phase shows customers the product for the first time, assuring that the product (usually a minimum viable product at this point) elegantly solves the problem or fills the need well enough to persuade lots of customers to buy. When customers enthusiastically confirm the importance of both the problem and the solution, customer discovery is complete. "
73 " In tougher times, when dollars are tighter, the next round of funding may never come. "
74 " If they agree with you about the problems, get them to explain why they think it is important to solve them "
― Steve Blank , The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Startups That Win
75 " Rather than asking customers explicitly about feature X, Y or Z, one approach to defining the MVP is to ask, “What is the smallest or least complicated problem that the customer will pay us to solve?” This approach runs counter to the typical cry for more features, which is often based on what the competitors have or what the last customer visited had to say. The MVP is the inverse of what most sales and marketing groups ask of their development teams. "
76 " startups whose mantra is “we have to be first to market” usually lose. There "
77 " One of the first tests of your value proposition should be, is it emotionally compelling? Do customers’ heart rates go up after they hear it? Do they lean forward to hear more? "
78 " very few marketers or advertisers will be interested in small audiences, even if the product or site is destined for huge audiences down the road. The "
79 " The issue is not being first to market, but understanding the type of market your company is going to enter. "
80 " Second, does your value proposition make or reinforce an economic case? Does it have economic impact? Does it sound like your product gives a corporate customer a competitive advantage or improves some critical area in their company? If it’s a consumer product, does it save a consumer time or money, or change their prestige or identity? "