Pathways to Growth for Mature Organizations and Startups
Of course, large enterprises can innovate, but it is harder for them than for startups. Many do not know where to begin. They look back and recall how, as a startup, they discovered the product-market fit that made them successful. And now, in full growth mode, they attack innovation with the mindset of growth they have today – which does not work.
Product builders chasing the elusive product-market fit move through two key stages in pursuit of long-term product success. The work they do on the path to product-market fit is a lot different than it is after they’ve achieved it. And the difference in the approaches they take to this work is critical.
Full disclosure. Technically speaking, I don’t claim to know anything. Okay, that may not be entirely true. There’s a lot of knowledge I’ve gained through experience. But not much else of what I truly know is (what I would call) organic; most of what I know I’ve learned from others.
For example, I’m not a technologist by training or trade. In the same way my knowledge of automobiles is limited to their operation (but not to their repair), my knowledge of how software product people work their magic is, shall we say, “well contained.” But that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed how they effortlessly convert user insight and market data into a product vision to make our world a better place. I stand in awe of the designers and developers who translate that vision into problem-solving software products. My brain isn’t wired to work that way, but thank goodness our world is populated with a community of technology artists whose brains are.