Analyze Your Market Development Challenges

Taking product or service innovations to market is one of the greatest challenges in business. Emerging technology companies face enormous obstacles, both externally in terms of market inertia, risk aversion and established industry structure, and internally in terms of building core skills and assets within severe time and cash constraints.

For many emerging technology companies, the greatest challenges lie in the areas of sales and marketing. Frequently, companies have great skill in technology/product development, but less experience in market development.

The precise challenges facing any individual emerging technology company can be summarized based on an evaluation of the company using three core frameworks. The frameworks below can be used to quickly analyze and dimension the current go-to-market situation facing a company. It is a beginning of a roadmap of what needs to be done to achieve market traction, penetration, and growth.

Identify the Stage of Your Technology Adoption Cycle
Building on the traditional product life cycle concepts, Richard Foster, Geoffrey Moore, Clayton Christiansen and other thought leaders have developed a rich body of knowledge around the technology adoption cycle. Where a market is on the cycle, and where a particular product is relative to others in that market, plays a crucial role in the strategic prescriptions needed.

Plot Your Product Portfolio on a Product Market Matrix
The classic matrix developed by Igor Ansoff of current versus new product and markets is a very useful analytic tool for emerging technology companies. Frequently, even small companies are facing a number of different strategic challenges. It is not uncommon for a thirty-person technology company to be trying to achieve further growth with current products in existing markets, take existing products into new markets, while simultaneously launching a new product into a new market!

Complete a Go-to-Market Skills Assessment
Emerging technology companies vary widely in their understanding and depth of the go-to-market skills they need to grow successfully. This first step is to clarify the mix of strategy, product management, marketing communications, sales and business development skills a company needs given its particular strategic context. Based on this analysis, companies can assess their current strengths and skill gaps, and evaluate which skills they need to put in place in order to achieve their goals
Business Development

Resources

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business
Clayton M. Christensen

Dealing With Darwin
Geoffrey A. Moore

Emerging Technolgoy Conference
March 26-29, 2007
San Diego, CA