MeasuriMeansurig Prodng Product/Muct/Market Fiarktet Fit ManyM calonyu dc lostartud usptarts meaups sumeare sutheirre theirprod uproct/dmuarct/kmet arfitket b afitse db aosned th oe n the reactioreanc oftio theirn of theirSilico Silin Vcaolley–ban Valley–based colleagsed colleagues, frieuesn,d fries, anndds ,f amandil yfam. Suilrye., Sure, this isthi a slegitim is a legitimate waayte toway begi to nbegi figuringn figuring out if o yourut if yourprod ucprodt wucortk sw, orbukts ,i t but it isn’t goiisn’nt ggoi ton beg to a beway a yowayu cayonu truly can trulytest yoteustr yoprodur ucprodt’s ucmart’sk met arviaketbilit viay. bility. This reThialitys re isality ec hoeis edchoe in HdB iOn ’sH hitBO ’ssho hitw s ho“Siliwc o“Silin Vcalleon yV,”alle wherey,” where the Pie thed Pied PiperPiper team tea realizem realizes theirs theirprod ucprodt has ucto hnas ly boeenlyn bteeesten d tebyste fried byn dfries. nds. You neeYoud nee to tda ktoe yourtake yourprod uproct dthroughuct through a more a m rigoroore rigorous asseus sasssemensst ment of itsof vi abits ilitviaby. Iilit likye. I tolik telle to st tellartups startups that ifth itat w ifor itk ws orfork ss oform eosonmeeo inn De eins Des MoinesMoines, Iowa,, I othenwa, thenit’s lik itely’s li solvingkely solving a rea la pro reabl leprom.b Tlem. To o judge ju thedge i mthepac imt pact of yourof yourprodu proct,du yoctu ,nee youd nee to knod tow kno thawt itth waillt it a wttrillac atttr maceatningful meaningful comm coitmm- it - ment fromenm t frocum stocumserstom wersho w neehod nee thed t thearget pro target problemb filexemd fi. xed. Don’tD geton’ tm gete w mronge w;rong you ;ca youn st caartn stwaithrt wfrienith dfriens andds f andamily fam as ilyea arlys epiloarlyt pilot custocmuserstom. Terso re. Taolly re saepllya rsaeptea therate wthehe awt hefroamt frothem chtheaff ,ch hoaffw, evehowr, eveyou r, you needn toee sdee to c sueesto cmuserstom youers a yound yourand yourinner i ncirclener circle don’ td knoon’tw kno usiwng u yosinugr your product prodanduct likingand liking it. it. 2. Engagement2. Engagement I’m callingI’m calling this engagement,this engagement, but we but could we could call it call marriag it marriage. Aree .your Are your customerscustomers so wedded so wedded to your to yourproduct product that its that absence its absence would would cause cause real real problemproblems? Thinks? Think of Salesforce of Salesforce as an as example an example here .her Whene. When it’s removed it’s removed fromfrom a custome a customer, its rabsence, its absence creates creates major major business business disruption. disruption. The The productproduct has becomehas become a system a system of record of record for salespeopl for salespeople, whoe, whooften often spend severalspend several hours a hours a day using day using it. That it. ’Thats the’ sdefinition the definition of an of essential an essential product.product. SomeSo ofm ethe of ktheey questionkey questions to as skto yourselfask yourself in in reg regard toar de ntogag enegage- - ment ment are: are: • How core is your product to your customer’s business?• How core is your product to your customer’s business? • How much pain would the customer experience if the product • How much pain would the customer experience if the product were removed?were removed? • Will customers care if your site goes down?• Will customers care if your site goes down? • Are customers engaged (happy) with the product?• Are customers engaged (happy) with the product? ProduProct/dumact/rkmaet rfitket i s fitb estis bthoughtest thought of a sof a acontis a continuumn uruamther ra therthan than a discretea discrete endpoi enndtpoi. It’ns tn. otIt’s abnotou abt hoouwt hooftewn ofte custon cmustoersm logers i nlogto youintor your produproct,du buctt , rbuathert ra hotherw homisws ionmis scritiionca critil it cais l toit itheirs to theirbusi nbeuss.sin Leikss.e thLike e the 4141 4141