The foundation of the Lean
Launchpad approach that Steve Blank evangelizes is that you need to get input
from customers (defined in the broadest terms – more like stakeholders) in
order to hone a business concept. Yet, I
see tremendous aversion – especially by scientists and health professionals – to sharing even the outlines of their ideas, much less minimum viable products. In the medical
innovation world, everyone seems to know someone who knows someone who knows
someone else whose idea was “stolen.” As
a result, early customer discovery interviews go badly because the innovator
seems either evasive or ditsy.
Yes, early customer discovery should focus more on understanding
customer pains/gains than sharing what you have to offer. But you do need a
credible, concise description of why you are meeting with people in the first
place. During later phases of customer
discovery, you will also need to get specific feedback on your idea as it
evolves. The power of iterative minimum
viable products is that customers and stakeholders can wrap their imaginations
around your idea and give you (often surprising) suggestions for improvement. Stealth mode is vastly over-rated because you’re
in an echo chamber. Going beyond
your inner circle is what enables a customer-centric product or service.
What puts someone into a position to “steal” your idea? In A General Theory of Entrepreneurship and
other publications, scholar Scott Shane talks about the “individual-opportunity
nexus.” The entrepreneur must not only see
value in an opportunity that others may not yet see, but also be in a position
to exploit that opportunity. That means being
able to and wanting to mobilize the required
skills, connections, resources, etc. etc. – i.e., the whole business model canvas. This is a tall order, and vanishingly rare.
Now, there is a very
good reason to get your Intellectual Property ducks in a row – to understand
what does/does not constitute public disclosure if you plan to patent, or whatever other IP protection you might seek. It’s important to work with an attorney or university
tech transfer office to understand the parameters. You’ll discover that there’s plenty you can
say about features and benefits, without getting into the inner workings of
your innovation.
I encourage the innovators I work with to start by composing a concise, yet
compelling product/service description that they can share with someone they
trust, but who has no technical knowledge of their discipline. You can always scale back specifics if there are IP issues, but start with the full picture. Verbalizing the first few slides of Guy
Kawasaki’s standard pitch deck is as good a format as any. Then I have them repeat this exercise
multiple times during the customer discovery process.
This is hard work, and I have a feeling that much of the
aversion to sharing is less about someone stealing an idea, and more about the
challenge of connecting with customers and communicating the concept
effectively. Get
out of the building!
