2 Problem-Solution Fit

There are five types of customers: the innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

Early adopters are those with a pressing problem that your solution can address. But at the beginning, you'll need lots of experimentation. Not all of them allow you the leeway for trial-and-error.

And if you build your pool of early adopters with an enduring, impactful vision, they stick with you longer, and this is the kind of early adopter you want.

Early Adopters and Their Pressing Problem

According to Sinek, the Innovators and Early Adopters are fundamentally different from the majority. They are comfortable making intuitive, gut-based decisions. Their "pressing problem" isn't just a functional one; it's a desire to be part of something new that aligns with their own beliefs and worldview. They don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. They want to be the first to have a product that…

This is a tool that simplifies the design of a business with 9 key considerations:

Desirability

1. Target customer segment

2. The value proposition to the segment

3. Channels more customers

4. Relationships to build to maintain revenue stream
   

What is the problem you want to solve? Why do you do what you do?

When we better understand the problem our customers want solved, what drives and motivates this, and why they want it solved, we can better provide a corresponding solution and create value.

In uncovering the fundamental motivation of our customer Jobs-to-be-done:

• We observe what our customers do (Don’t always listen to your customer),

• We interview them (What do you ask),

• We ask, "why?" 3x times

"I have a cure for cancer," the founder continued passionately, sharing the specifications, biochemistry, how it worked, and his journey of scientific discovery.

However, the judges were unimpressed and deemed it a failure. "Who is your customer, and what problem do you solve?" they asked. The founder believed that patients in their final stage would pay a high price for the cure. The judges shook their heads in dismay, questioning if the law allowed them to sell the cure without a clinical trial. The founder explained that a principal investigator from the national hospital was eager to run the clinical trial with them. Still, someone whispered that he might expect the startup to pay for the trial.

According to the lean launchpad methodology, this pitch was a failure. It's hard to believe that the chosen customer segment would provide a steady stream of revenue to fund the clinical trial.

A…