Beyond The Early Adopter

@craigstrong@LeanPLC

● Approx 40,000 employees worldwide

● Institutional sales & print background

● The world’s largest publisher and education company

● Operates in over 80+ countries

● Growth through acquisition

● 170 years old

Product Lifecycle

Product Age Young Mature

Status Before Market-Fit After Market-Fit

Focus Searching for a Business Model Executing Against Business Models

Duration Days Weeks Months <1 Year Years

MetricsCustomer Discovery, Innovation Accounting, Lean Analytics, Pirate Metrics Revenues, Profit-Margins, ROI, IRR, NPV

Product Lifecycle

A Nonlinear Process

Learn Build

Measure

Search and Execution are different

Early Adopters / Early Majority

https://flic.kr/p/cZEh9J

NOT EVERYBODY IS YOUR CUSTOMER!

https://flic.kr/p/cZEh9J

Strategy Is Key!

Idea Explore Validate Grow Sustain

Geoffrey Moore’s ‘Crossing the Chasm’ diagramCirca 1991

Smallerchasm

Innovators Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

The Big Scary Chasm

in Question

Customer(Early Adopter)

Market(Early Majority)

Product Lifecycle

Status MVP Scaling

Focus Early Adopters Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards

Duration Days Weeks Months Years

MetricsCustomer Discovery, Innovation Accounting, Lean Analytics, Pirate Metrics Revenues, Profit-Margins, ROI, IRR, NPV

Scale NO YES

Beyond The MVP

MVP

Early Adopters

Early Majority

HigherProduct Expectations

Recognise Differences To Satisfy Needs

Learn Build

Measure

Growth Is An Assumption

New Market = New Geography or Customer Cohort

Negative/Positive change

New Product/Feature =

Customers Trump New Leads

?https://flic.kr/p/k7xw5y

https://flic.kr/p/c1oRoG

Early Majority Non-Scaleable Interactions

https://flic.kr/p/5ueUT6

Recognise Traction And Opportunities

https://flic.kr/p/56Ui5

QuarterlyHypotheses

Product Metrics

Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental

Strategic Growth

Hypotheses

Political

Economic

Social

Technological

Legal

Environmental

Short Term Performance

Long Term Growth

● NPS/CSAT/Ratings ● Acquisition ● Activation● Retention● Revenue● Referral● Refunds● Engagement Metrics● Support ● LTV● Growth capability/performance

(technology)● Learnings!● More +

● NPV● IRR● Market Share ● ROI● LTV● Competitors● Learnings !● More +

Learning As You Grow

https://flic.kr/p/4NhZT8

https://flic.kr/p/yVfd4Y

Know Your Growth Engine

1. Paid

2. Sticky

3. Viral

Sticky - Cost Of Switching Is High

Sticky - Cost Of Switching Is High

Adding New Features? Is this increasing Stickiness?

Stay Connected

5-10xMORE

It costs 5-10x more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.

Beyond Early Adopters

1. Be clear who your customers are/aren’t2. Growth is an assumption, but you need a

strategy 3. Early Majority want more than a just a product4. Data is King! It’s all Relative5. Customers Trump New Leads

Thank You

@craigstrong@LeanPLC