In a technology startup company there are many functions that are deemed “critical”. Unless the company is heavily funded – probably by institutional capital – even some of the most critical functions are often not individually staffed in the beginning. Much of the time a founder or early employee splits time between several functions, doing […]
Platforms, Applications and the Software Market Lifecycle
In the early days of a software market segment people building new software often try to be all things to all people. The segment is usually growing fast and the idea is to meet as many market needs as possible. But as a segment expands, becomes more competitive (sometimes fiercely competitive) and eventually matures, the […]
Corporate Constraints in Tech Product Strategy Development
It’s obviously important to have as good a strategy as possible in any company, but especially in the dynamic, fast-moving markets that software and hardware companies often compete in. But I also subscribe to the old notion that it’s better to have an average strategy with great execution than the other way around. At the […]
What the Heck is Customer Development?
The term “customer development” has been floating around for a number of years now, although it seems to have gotten more play in the last couple. Regardless, it’s one of the most common buzzwords added to the technology business vernacular in recent times. I lump it in the buzzword box with “agile”, “lean-(anything)”, “growth hacking”, […]
Finding the Right Market Niche
Every company would like to market their products in the largest possible market. So just point your products at the largest possible market they can address and charge forward, right? Wrong. For nearly every company there are markets that are “too large”. How can that be, isn’t the larger the market the better? In a […]
