The Startup Owner's Manual

How to Read This Book vii

Preface xiii

Who is This Book For? xvii

Introduction xxi

A Repeatable Path xxii

Why a Second Decade? xxiv

The Four Steps: A New Path xxix

Getting Started

Chapter 1: The Path to Disaster: A Startup is Not a Small Version of a Big Company 1

Chapter 2: The Path to the Epiphany: The Customer Development Model 19

The Customer Development Manifesto 31

Step One: Customer Discovery

Chapter 3: An Introduction to Customer Discovery 53

Chapter 4: Customer Discovery, Phase One: State Your Business Model Hypotheses 69

Chapter 5: Customer Discovery, Phase Two: “Get Out of the Building” to Test the Problem: “Do People Care?” 189

Chapter 6: Customer Discovery, Phase Three: “Get Out of the Building” and Test the Product Solution 227

Chapter 7: Customer Discovery, Phase Four: Verify the Business Model and Pivot or Proceed 257

Step Two: Customer Validation

Chapter 8: Introduction to Customer Validation 277

Chapter 9: Customer Validation, Phase One: “Get Ready to Sell” 291

Chapter 10: Customer Validation, Phase Two: “Get Out of the Building and Sell!” 357

Chapter 11: Customer Validation, Phase Three: Develop Product and Company Positioning 413

Chapter 12: Customer Validation, Phase Four: The Toughest Question of All: Pivot or Proceed? 429

The Startup Owner’s Manual “Site” Map 465

Appendix A: Customer Development Checklists 469

Appendix B: Glossary 531

Appendix C: How to Build a Web Startup: A Simple Overview 541

Acknowledgements 549

About the Authors 553

Index 557