These choices matter

Choosing Your customer

Identification and Prioritization of Beachhead Alternatives

Identify a shortlist of ideal beachhead customers

  • How can you create real value for a meaningful and specific group of end users from your idea?

  • For each potential set of end users, who are the lead customers, key partners, and competitors?  How large is the market?

Prioritize on the basis of relative value creation

  • Among potential beachhead markets, what segments might be feasible for your venture, given the resources and capabilities you could reasonably acquire over the medium term (e.g., How will your ideal customer know about you?  What is the purchasing process? What is the LTV / COCA?)

 Strategic Ranking of Alternative Beachheads

Assess the ability to reference each beachhead in transitioning to the mainstream market

  • How does each beachhead compare in terms of the ability to facilitate the transition to follow-on markets?

  • Do candidate beachhead customers provide a credible reference to follow-on customer segments? Will transition to follow-on customer segments require significant changes to product, features, and service? Will there be a tension between the marketing and branding for candidate beachhead and follow-on segments?

Gauge the opportunities for learning in each beachhead

  • How does each beachhead compare in terms of generating opportunities for further learning about the market?

  • Among the candidate beachheads, are there significant frictions that may limit interaction with users (e.g., as a result of distance, secrecy agreements, or administrative costs) and reduce opportunities for learning?

 Narrow The Beachheads Alternatives

Conduct low commitment learning

  • What are the key assumptions (hypotheses) that underlie the choice of each potential beachhead?

  • Is there a critical experiment that does not involve considerable commitment that will allow you to test these core hypotheses in a timely and cost-effective way?

Core Concepts and Workbook (PDF)

Choosing Your Technology

Core Concepts and Workbook (PDF)

Choosing Your Organization


Core Concepts and Workbook (PDF)

Choosing Your Competition


Core Concepts and Workbook (PDF)