Post on 23-Jan-2015
description
Usha Srinivasan Ph.D, VP – Learning and Insights
How many of you are working on a Startup right now or thinking of star@ng one ?
How many of you have spoken with 10 or more customers ?
How many of you have been speaking with customers ?
CONGRATULATIONS !!! You have truly embarked on your market and customer discovery journey
Market and Customer Discovery What does it all mean ?
…with unclear direc@ons
Market and customer intelligence can help
you de-‐risk and translate your
assump@ons to facts !!!
Clear Pathways
Pg 7
Primary Secondary
60% 40%
Quan@ta@ve Qualita@ve
Is this journey worth it ? a.k.a Is this Market BIG enough ?
FIND OUT by -‐ Effec@ve use of Secondary published sources
Or Do it yourself
1. Consult market reports from mul@ple vendors 2. Be clear about the “defini@on” used 3. Sizing the market in publicly traded space can be
easier than with privately held companies: a. Bodom up method – Based on Revenues or
Unit price and volume of sale b. Sizing based on poten@al buyers – e.g., no. of
hospitals, no. of people viewing a par@cular website, no. of u@li@es etc.-‐ Stats Canada
c. Look at annual reports, tax filings, press releases, Tech blogs, product brochures etc.
d. Quick and Dirty -‐ Set up a website or Share and adver@se it
4. Market sizing at regional levels is more logical – NA, EU, Asia, Middle East
5. Ul@mately make realis@c assump@ons!!
Has someone already been on this journey ? a.k.a
Which Market Type do I fit into ?
Exis@ng Re-‐segmented (low cost/
specific need) New Clone
Who else am I going to bump into – a.k.a
Who am I compe@ng with ?
Knowing your market type is key to understand your compe@tors
1. Consider patent or prior art searches – Public databases like USPTO or WIPO, or paid databases like Delphion or Total Patents
2. Compare product/technology capability/claims: use product brochures from trade shows or product claims from websites
3. Iden@fy and monitor relevant news sources (e.g., MobiHealth News) – search keywords, set up alerts
4. MaRS Startup Library’s “How do I iden@fy compe@tors?” – CrunchBase, Techvibes, Startup north, Industry Canada etc.
5. Syndicated research by Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, BCC research etc. that publish compe@tor informa@on
Is the map you have enough to get to point B ?
i.e., To get to a place to understand your customers needs ?
You need to GET OUT OF THE CAR !!!
-‐Geographic informa@on (Regula@ons, Partners, Poli@cal) -‐Demographic informa@on (age, income, occupa@on, etc.) -‐Psychographic informa@on (personality, values, interests, lifestyle, etc.) -‐Industry informa@on (Regula@ons, investments, needs) 1. Use already published primary research data by
marke@ng research firms -‐ Omnibus studies – Forrester, ComScore, IMSHealth, JD Power, ACNeilsen, Frost & Sullivan
2. Industry Associa@ons are a great source
3. Tap into Canadian Trade Commissioners office (DFAIT) in other countries – understanding local dynamics/connec@ons
4. In house primary research – Online and direct interviews
• Mock website – Google site/Weebly • Surveys -‐ Beware of respondent quality -‐ Examples sites – Survey Monkey, Google consumer survey, Addpoll, Fluidsurveys etc.
• Listservs & Specific interest groups • Social media • Crowdfunding plaqorms
Online tools
• Leverage Friends and Family • Low cost Focus groups – your sport team, associa@on members
• Telephone interviews • Face to Face interviews
Direct Interviews
Nothing is better than a face to face interviews to get the best customer insight. Top 10 things to remember: 1. Understand your customer persona 2. Always ask for a referral 3. Set up a time and expectation for the interview 4. Prepare your questions & use a template to record 5. PAUSE after every question 6. Record the answers right after the interview 7. Respect their time 8. Ask for other referrals 9. Score your qualitative responses to quantify &
evaluate the insights 10. Refine your questions and try again !!
Understand customer needs Solu@on to solve it
Channel to reach them Business model to make money
CONGRATULATIONS !!! You used Market & Customer
Intelligence to find a viable business opportunity
pg 20
Usha Srinivasan PhD Vice President Learning and Insights MaRS Discovery District T 416-673-8144 E usrinivasan@marsdd.com W www.marsdd.com