The Product Spectrum

Discussions
#1

I just wrote a new post on Medium, and since a few product people told me they liked it I thought I’d also post it here.

Basically, I offer a theory as to why some people are successful making the transition to entrepreneurship, and others aren’t.

I would be curious to know what you guys think about it : )

Read “The Product Spectrum”

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#2

Nice! My wife (runs a web studio and is also bootstrapping a software product) just sent me the link to your Medium post this morning. She thinks it makes a lot of sense. I’m looking forward to reading it this weekend.

#3

It is a plausible sounding theory. How are you going test it? ;0)

BTW I went straight from salaried employee to selling a niche (mostly) B2C product. I’m still doing it 9 years later. So it is possible.

#4

I definitely think it’s possible, I just think it’s hard(er). But then again, everybody’s different : )

#5

B2C /is/ possible - but it is harder and/or requires more luck, at least in my experience. I haven’t got hard stats, but I’ve definitely seen more success around me in B2B for first time product launchers, compared to B2C or social network.

The typical failure is “Hello, my first product will be a social network marketplace. I have $15k to make it work”. So many people burned out this way…

#6

Sacha, I read and enjoyed your article. Since 2003 I’ve been making my way very slowly from the far left (employee) toward the right. I’ve had the most success in the consulting/clients space, and am now doing a bunch of that while also bootstrapping a B2B saas app with (finally) reasonable focus & discipline.

I think your model makes sense. SaaS seems like the sweet spot for me, being able to maximize my time & existing knowledge to solve real problems with real revenue potential.

“ok, if it’s true, what to do?” - Assuming your model is correct, I think it becomes more useful if you expand on two areas:

  • What are the specific difficulties & risks in making a larger leap? How should I mitigate them?
  • If I want to work my way to, say, B2C, how should I work my way there? How much time should I spend at the in-between steps and what skills should I be honing along the way?

It’s an interesting framework for thinking about the journey. If you map the experiences of a few success & failure case studies onto it, there are probably some lessons that come out, that would help speed up the process for people who are getting started. What to focus on, what to ignore. “In the mind of the beginner, there are many possibilities…”