http://startup-marketing.com/10000-hours-of-go-to-market-experience-who-will-get-there-first/ Unlocking Startup Growth Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:16:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://startup-marketing.com/10000-hours-of-go-to-market-experience-who-will-get-there-first/comment-page-1/#comment-103 Sean Ellis Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:21:13 +0000 http://12in6.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/10000-hours-of-go-to-market-experience-who-will-get-there-first/#comment-103 John thanks for the comment. I would probably have had a similar reaction before reading Outliers, but Gladwell presents some pretty compelling evidence that mastery often happens around 10,000 hours of practice. I'm not sure if/how this specifically applies to startup marketing, but I do know that I'm still learning a ton with each new startup I take to market and each startup is making faster customer development progress than the last; Eventually this steep learning curve will flatten. There are similarities in the optimal go to market process at each of the startups – particularly in the sequence in which marketing projects should be executed. It’s important to begin by generating an early flow of users and uncovering how they are gratified when using the product/service, who is gratified and how to position the product to attract more of these types of people. The process for uncovering this information is similar at each company. Also the metrics systems and process for reducing barriers and improving conversion rates are similar. These and many other projects should all be completed before trying to scale the business. Here’s a snapshot of the current sequence I’m using <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/seanellis/marketing-plan-for-web-20-startups-presentation" rel="nofollow">http://www.slideshare.net/seanellis/marketing-plan-for-web-20-startups-presentation</A> . For the foreseeable future, the process will keep changing as I discover better ways to make faster customer development progress. John thanks for the comment. I would probably have had a similar reaction before reading Outliers, but Gladwell presents some pretty compelling evidence that mastery often happens around 10,000 hours of practice. I’m not sure if/how this specifically applies to startup marketing, but I do know that I’m still learning a ton with each new startup I take to market and each startup is making faster customer development progress than the last; Eventually this steep learning curve will flatten. There are similarities in the optimal go to market process at each of the startups – particularly in the sequence in which marketing projects should be executed. It’s important to begin by generating an early flow of users and uncovering how they are gratified when using the product/service, who is gratified and how to position the product to attract more of these types of people. The process for uncovering this information is similar at each company. Also the metrics systems and process for reducing barriers and improving conversion rates are similar. These and many other projects should all be completed before trying to scale the business. Here’s a snapshot of the current sequence I’m using http://www.slideshare.net/seanellis/marketing-plan-for-web-20-startups-presentation . For the foreseeable future, the process will keep changing as I discover better ways to make faster customer development progress.

]]> http://startup-marketing.com/10000-hours-of-go-to-market-experience-who-will-get-there-first/comment-page-1/#comment-102 John Gillett Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:43:59 +0000 http://12in6.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/10000-hours-of-go-to-market-experience-who-will-get-there-first/#comment-102 10,000 hours seems a bit arbitrary, particularly when there are so many different types of tech startups. Becoming an industry leader may rely more on perception than actual hours spent perfecting the craft. A powerful PR firm may be able to accelerate a launch 100 fold.I can understand the typical startup cycle being close to 1,000 hours, but it still seems like a relative benchmark that is somewhat useless. 10,000 hours seems a bit arbitrary, particularly when there are so many different types of tech startups. Becoming an industry leader may rely more on perception than actual hours spent perfecting the craft. A powerful PR firm may be able to accelerate a launch 100 fold.I can understand the typical startup cycle being close to 1,000 hours, but it still seems like a relative benchmark that is somewhat useless.

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