Understanding and De-risking New Markets

Iain Acton, Growth Strategist & Inventor of Product-Market Fit Roadmap

This is an introductory talk and discussion that will help startup founders to understand what ‘product-market fit’ is and how to frame, size and segment markets to increase the chances of startup success.

It explores a simple graphic drawn by serial entrepreneur and now VC Marc Andreessen, which fundamentally changed the way early stage startups were to understand their mission.

‘…the life of any startup can be divided into two parts – before product-market fit and after product-market fit. When you are before PMF, focus obsessively on getting to product-market fit. Do whatever is required to get to product-market fit.’ Marc Andreessen

AGENDA

- What is product market fit?
- De-risking the extreme uncertainty of new markets
- Minimum Viable Segmentation (MVS) – What is it and how it can be used to systematically de-risk product-market fit?
- Moving from market pivots to roadmaps
- Summary & Discussion

WHO IS IT FOR?

The talk/discussion group is best suited for:

• Any startups entering new markets or defining new markets
• Founders looking to raise a Seed round now or in the near future
• Startups struggling with market focus, being too technology driven

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Iain Acton, Co-founder Disruptive Lemonade

Iain has spent over 13 years helping startups, SME’s and large companies apply market research methods to gain strategic insights for design, marketing and innovation. Since founding Disruptive Lemonade in 2012, he has worked with both startups and corporate clients, notably feeding insights into Jaguar Land Rovers ‘Autonomous Cars’ research programme since 2013. He has deep expertise in framing new market and conducting needs-based segmentation studies while running sucessful innovation programmes. He has also founded two other companies, is an avid investor in UK property, and most recently is micro investing in several high-tech companies in the UK.

e4f is supported by: