Understanding the Job a Product is Doing

This chapter discusses the importance of understanding the job that a product is doing and the biases in how sales and product teams perceive competitors.

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Today I’m joined by Bob Moesta, the co-creator of the Jobs To Be Done framework, a concept he developed alongside the late Clayton Christensen. Bob's expertise spans a wide range of accomplishments, including the successful launch of over 3,500 new products, services, and businesses. He's also the CEO and founder of the Re-Wired Group, as well as the brains behind several other startup ventures. We discuss:

Why context matters as much as the product
Why people don’t buy products, they hire them. And how you can then design better products once you understand this
The famous milkshake story and how it led to a whole new category of yogurt smoothies
The importance of looking for the causes someone buys something, rather than convincing them to buy something
Why you need to be problem-aware
The distinction that positioning should be about guiding and helping customers to buy, rather than selling

I’m beyond excited for you to listen to today’s episode.

You’ll also hear that my latest book is launching soon! If you want to find out more, you can sign up for email updates here https://www.aprildunford.com/books

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If you want to skip ahead:

(00:00) Our guest, Bob Moesta

(04:50) What is jobs theory

(08:49) The famous milkshake story

(12:38) Competitive alternatives and their importance

(15:36) Why the camera industry failed

(17:01) How Intercom scaled massively

(22:20) Always be problem aware first

(24:12) Why positioning is about buying, not selling

(29:20) Bob’s take on product market fit

(35:01) Thanks for listening