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Tips for Running Go-To-Market Experiments, The First Step to Action on “the #1 Hidden” Startup Success Factor - Tactician: #0085

March 26, 2024

"'We're doing a go-to-market experiment.' It sounds like you're sneaking into the market in a lab coat with a beaker full of product. 'Just act natural, and mix this with the consumers. If anyone asks, we're just eccentric shoppers.'"

26/03/24

Tips for Running Go-To-Market Experiments

Why Read:

  • Gain actionable insights on refining your approach to marketing and leveraging customer interactions to reach product/market fit.

Author:

  • Jen Abel, Co-Founder at JJELLYFISH

Link: 

Key Concepts and Tactics:

  • Document Your Ideas and Test: 

    • "Writing is a forcing mechanism to clarify ideas, and it illuminates how often you change your mind – when things are living only in your head, it can play tricks on you. You must hold yourself (and be held) accountable and stop adjusting variables on a whim through conversations."

  • Designate a Lead Experimenter: 

    • "As with anything, there must be clear ownership over the process and results. Each additional person introduces a variable. Every variable creates more noise. Everyone has a slightly different way of engaging, learning, and perceiving market feedback. Not to mention, consistency is critical when holding conversations as it’s the only way to unlock repeatable themes – i.e., compare apples to apples. Hint: The Lead Experimenter should be a founder."

  • Master the Art of Customer Interviewing:

    •  "It’s a hardcore interview where the customer doesn’t feel they’re being interviewed (it’s a true art). Make sure your probing questions illuminate and deepen the discussion on the validity of assumptions. Hint: You don't outright ask if they agree/disagree with an assumption."

  • Expect More Invalidation Than Validation: 

    • "If you find a lot of validation, this is a sign that you're not diving deep enough, OR your assumptions are already well-served. Hint: rejection is simply redirecting you faster to market truth — and, likely an insight other’s have not yet cracked."

  • Share Your Learning:

    •  "The ability to disprove yourself proves you aren't falling victim to your original idea. Hint: Your original market vision is (almost) never the same vision that wilil take you to product/market fit."

  • Prioritize Experiments Over Planning: 

    • "Every day spent not engaging in sales or market activities and learning adds an additional 2-3 days to the timeline for achieving revenue. Hint: Maximize your chances of success by starting experiments on Day 1.”

The First Step to Action on “the #1 Hidden” Startup Success Factor

Why Read:

  • Grasp the critical role of timing in a startup's success and learn to strategize based on understanding, not just tactics.

Author:

  • Michael Simmons, Founder at Thought Leader School

Link: 

Key Concepts and Tactics:

  • The Importance of Timing in Startup Success:

    •  "Bill Gross is the most successful investor and entrepreneur you’ve never heard of... Over the past 30 years, his idea incubator has birthed 150 companies. Of those, 45 (30%) have gone from idea to IPO [or acquisition].”

    • “In 2015, Gross endeavored to understand why some of his companies succeeded while others failed… Using a rigorous process, he narrowed down the key success factors to the following five: Ideas, Team, Business Model, Funding and Timing. Timing was way more important than he had anticipated…[and more important than any other factor]."

    • "Legendary investor and the creator of Netscape Marc Andreessen makes the case that almost all of the tech startup ideas that fail are actually good ideas that have bad timing... Said differently, what’s hard to predict about opportunities is not WHAT the best opportunities are, but rather WHEN they are."

  • The Impact of Timing as Underdiscussed Factor:

    • "This finding is made even more interesting when you consider that within all of the books and courses on entrepreneurship and career planning, the topic of timing is virtually non-existent"

    • “As a result of this huge hole, most people have few mental models to help them reason about when to adopt technologies as a consumer, creator, or thought leader. Therefore, their decisions are not optimal.”

  • The First Step for Strategic Action:

    • "Getting the timing right for your ideas can be the difference between success and failure... Given that AI is the most important technology and trend in human history, it’s worth understanding it now..."

    • "Seek To First To Understand, Then To Strategize, Then To Act. When I talk to people about AI, they often want practical tactics first. In my opinion, this is putting the cart before the horse. Tactics should come from strategy and strategy should be based on understanding: Understanding → Strategy → Tactics.”

    • “Without the understanding AI, it’s hard to contextualize the results of our tactics and to get great results. Therefore, it’s much better to start with understanding."

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