As your startup develops and grows – you have funding and/or generating revenue – there’s a point to consider outsourcing your research needs. But how? Earlier on in your startup journey? Then DIY research is more applicable (and we have a course for that!) and often an off-the-shelf market research report will give you what … Read more
OK, so in the context that I find all types of data really, really interesting (quant, qual you name it) then let me indulge myself by telling you about my first experience of getting to play with Crunchbase. I had been meaning to find a good source of business data for a while and … Read more
One of the most amazing and fundamentally game-changing tools a startup founder can use to develop their idea and build a great business? You guessed it… the customer interview. Now it can be a time-consuming drag when it doesn’t go so well and you’d rather go build your mvp. Or, seen another way … Read more
Just before you read this, I’d like to point out that it’s very easy for someone like me to write an ‘I told you so’ post after a new product launch hasn’t gone well. I am not the one who has put time and emotion into this product and suffered sleepless nights over its delivery. … Read more
Since I decided to specialise in offering market research for startups, I’ve spent a lot of time listening. I’d worked with a number of startups, scale-ups and small businesses in the past when Customer IQ’s offer was much broader but felt I needed to spend time listening more than talking (ie. selling). Listening is … Read more
This is part 3 (and the final part) in a series of posts about product-market fit. Also to emphasise, I am not writing this as a multi-exited founder who’s found pmf multiple times. I am writing this as someone with long career in customer and market research looking at the concept of pmf from a … Read more
This is part 2 in a series of posts about product-market fit. Part 1 was about ‘the problem’ and emphasised the importance of starting with a genuine problem your startup can solve. Also to emphasise, I am not writing this as a multi-exited founder who’s found pmf multiple times. I am writing this as … Read more
To be honest, I have avoided writing a post on product-market fit for a long time. Apart from the fact I’m not a multi-exited founder who has ‘found’ product-market fit numerous times, there’s something I don’t like about #pmf. Apart from my main contention that we should be referring to it as “market-product … Read more
Our market size? Hmmm. Well, it’s pretty big, but exactly how big I’m not sure. Whether a £1m turnover business is based on one customer spending £1m a year or 1m customers spending £1 a year, estimating market size is a no-brainer for developing any startup business. Market size is also vital for … Read more
This is a topic that’s been front of mind for me recently. It is a genuine challenge for startups to quickly build a relationship with a customer to the point where the customer has that ‘bingo!’ moment. The moment where they see and experience the real value in your product. When you pause to … Read more
