The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Startups that are entering an existing market
Startups that are creating an entirely new market
Startups that want to resegment an existing market as a low-cost entrant
Startups that want to resegment an existing market as a niche player

The job of the Customer Development team is to see whether there are customers and a market for that vision

Discovering the Path

In short, in big companies, the product spec is market-driven; in startups, the marketing is product-driven

Instead, Customer Development and Product Development are parallel processes. While the Customer Development group is engaged in customer-centric activities outside the building, the Product Development group is focused on the product-centric activities taking place internally.

As a low-end resegmentation strategy, it needs a long-term product plan that uses low cost as market entry to eventual profitability and up-market growth. As a niche resegmentation, this strategy faces entrenched competitors who will fiercely defend their profitable markets. And both require adroit and agile positioning of how the new product redefines the market

there are four types of startups, each of them needing a very different set of requirements to succeed:
Startups that are entering an existing market
Startups that are creating an entirely new market
Startups that want to resegment an existing market as a low-cost entrant
Startups that want to resegment an existing market as a niche

to build a repeatable sales roadmap for the sales and marketing teams that will follow later. The sales roadmap is the playbook of the proven and repeatable sales process that has been field-tested by successfully selling the product to early customers

The job of the Customer Development team is to see whether there are customers and a market for that vision

In the early stages of a startup, focusing on “execution” will put you out of business. Instead, you need a “learning and discovery” process so you can get the company to the point where you know what to execute