Crossing the chasm
(Chasm is pronounced: kasm)
The chasm appears only on some market type. Existing markets have no chasm. When you focus on a niche, the chasm is not that big. The biggest chasm you will cross is if you try to create a new market.
The adoption curve has a contradictory premise between early adopters and early majority. The challenge is that there is no network effect that pushes early majority users from early adopters.
An example with the iPhone: when it appeared there were early adopters, but the majority lied in the corporate users of phones, who relied on the Blackberry.
Corporate users required security and management features. To cross the chasm, Apple partner with 3rd parties that would manage the relationship with companies, and thus making the iPhone a suitable tool for corporate users.
The important thing to remember is that you can't use the feedback from early adopters to reach the majority. Visionary users are not your longer-term target users. They may provide useful insights, but you should not get over-entangled with them.
I believe there is a relationship between the adoption curve and the technology readiness level. At least from a perspective of early strategy.
If you focus on a niche (see: market type), a minimum viable product can be enough to target innovators and early adopters. Word-of-mouth will lead the communication efforts.
Backlinks
These are the other notes that link to this one.
Comment
