What is Customer Development?
Customer Development is a methodology created by Steve Blank that focuses on understanding customers and their problems before building products.
The Four Steps
1. Customer Discovery
- Identify your target customers
- Understand their problems
- Test problem-solution fit
2. Customer Validation
- Validate your business model
- Develop a repeatable sales process
- Prove there’s a scalable market
3. Customer Creation
- Create end-user demand
- Drive customers into sales channel
- Scale marketing and sales
4. Company Building
- Transition from startup to company
- Build formal departments
- Scale operations
Why It Matters
- Reduces risk of building unwanted products
- Gets founders out of the building
- Creates customer-centric companies
- Increases chances of success