After reading the Downfall of Doppler Labs and 5 Lessons to Learn from Startup Failure, it seems that a lot of problems could/would have been solved simply by more thoroughly focusing on customer needs. In the case of Doppler, the founders prioritized size over battery life – and were destroyed in the market. Pearl’s car backup camera prioritized size over price. Jawbone chased fads that were only fleeting indications of customer needs. And did Juicero really never come across a single test user who asked if they could just squeeze the bag by hand?
The answer seems simple: interact with more potential customers, engage in Design Thinking, develop empathy.
But is it that simple? These companies know that product-market-fit is paramount. They have millions of dollars to spend on research and development and market analysis. How could they be so wrong, so frequently (the failure rate was 90% in 2020)? I think the answer is that understanding the customer is very very difficult. You can spend millions of dollars and still be wide of the mark. I kept thinking back to the article of the mayor in Utah who spent three nights in a homeless shelter. That level of empathy and deep understanding on an even greater magnitude is needed I think to fully understand a customer. Decisions tend to be made a distance. Users are brought into the office for tests and focus groups. Data is culled but not always investigated in person.
Decisions are made from pre-conceived notions of what a customer wants, wrought in the semi-flexible and often overly-hubristic minds of startup founders.
If a technology is ever created that magically allows complete empathy with a consumer, where you could put on a headset and walk in that persons shoes, Freaky Friday style…then the success rates might change. But barring this sort of meta-startup I think the best route is something that we’ve been learning all semester long: observe, talk to, empathize with and fully understand your customer, throwing out your pre-conceived notions as best you can. I think my fellow class mate, Brian Skutch, did an amazing job of this when he basically told his potential user that the concept wasn’t his idea, in order to get to the unvarnished truth. It’s a form of disguise, similar to the mayor in Utah. It’s super difficult to get to the core of a customer’s needs but also so fundamental and often missed.
I really like this reflection!