Key Task #1: Chart out answers to each of these questions for your core product idea. Make a
table that summarizes each question and your answer to the question (a spreadsheet is fine).
Based your answers, please color-code your answers to identify the level of validation for your
answer to each question: GREEN – green means that you have compelling
quantitative/qualitative support for your answer from analyzing both the analogs and antilogs,
data from the early adopters and early majority, or industry experts, and you are willing to stake
your venture (i.e., your grade in this class) on the validity of this information. YELLOW – means
you have partial quantitative/qualitative support for your answer based on analogs, antilogs, from
early adopters/early majority, or from industry experts. RED — means that your answer is still a
SWAG. The Yellow and Red answers are going to be the basis of your hypotheses.
Problem:
• Who are your customer visionaries and where will you find them?
• What problems do these customers have?
• How aware are customers of the problem?
• What is the magnitude of this customer pain?
Solution:
• What are the key features/attributes of your product/service?
• What specific problems will these features/attributes solve?
• What is the minimum feature set (i.e., minimum viable product) that you can launch with
to reach the early adopters? Which features does the MVP leave out?
• What current solutions does the customer utilize now?
Customer Segments:
• Who are the different customer segments that will purchase/use your product/service?
• What market type are you entering into? New product in existing market? Re-defining/resegmenting
an existing market? Create a new market?
• What are the key attributes of the early adopters v. early majority in targeted customer
segments?
•
Unique Value Proposition:
• What is the economic “value” of the pain your target customer segments are currently
experiencing (i.e., “what are the measurable, specific proposed results?”
• What is the economic, social, psychological, etc. value of the solution (set) to your
targeted customer segments you are offering?
• How would your customers justify purchasing this product or service (i.e., what is their
ROI?)?
• How does your price compare with the social, psychological, economic, etc. “value” of
the pain they are currently experiencing?
Key Task #2: The objective of Key Task #2 in the CDP is to validate the key assumptions and
areas of uncertainty (i.e., the yellow and red answers from the table you created) by making
contact with key early-adopters/product evangelists (i.e., customers).
• Step #1: Make a list of 10 specific “friendly” early-adopters (customers), innovators,
competitors, and industry experts that you can contact to present your hypotheses.
o The goal here is to identify “friendly” contacts who will give you honest feedback
on your ideas. You are not trying to sell them anything, but rather just validate
your key hypotheses and your overall vision. Also, you don’t formally present
your hypotheses to these customers, but rather you summarize your assumptions
and ideas, and get their feedback. (Play the student card)
• Step #2: Develop a mode of contact and a semi-scripted interview script for contacting
for these friendly customers/places where you can effectively solicit feedback on your
hypotheses.
o In developing your script, please make special note of the information you are
looking for and how specific answers might inform your hypotheses allowing you
to move the hypotheses from yellow and red to green.
(STOP HERE FOR CDP #1)
• Step #3: Make contact with as many of these individuals as you need to conduct
interviews to gather at least two points of data which point to a validated answer to your
hypotheses.
o These interviews will bring up new insights and ideas. You need to be able to
figure out if these new data points require you to revise your hypotheses and pivot
or to seek out new earlyvangelists that can give you additional feedback about
your concept. At the end of this process, you don’t want any red hypotheses after
you finish this task. (Note: If you are meeting the customer in person, you need to
always travel with a partner from your team). Record their answers in either a
video or audio format. If you decide to take hand-written notes, your partner will
need to take the notes so you can focus on the Q & A. Please make sure none of
your interviews last longer than 45-minutes with a single respondent.
• Step #4: Analyze the responses of your customer and be prepared to pivot your concept
based on customer feedback.
o Be sure to consider the following questions when pivoting: What specific
information did you glean which validates/invalidates your current hypotheses?
What information did you learn that confirmed your current vision? What
information did you learn that was potentially contradictory to your current
vision? Based on these answers, please summarize your findings for the early
adopters and identify any pivots that you might need to take as you continue to
move your idea forward. When you make pivots, please update your table from
CDP1 with the new direction you are taking, and be sure to mark the revised
hypothesis as either yellow, red, or green.
