Acquiring first customers: Avoiding common mistakes and finding pockets of demand

Many founders try to emulate startups that have already become successful. But Thales Teixeira says that approach, which often involves trying to do too much, too quickly, can lead to failure.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to find customers who aren’t being served by existing businesses and how to work with early adopters to improve your product and service. You’ll also learn when to focus on developing your technology and when to make key hires — with real-world examples from Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix.

Thales Teixeira is a former associate professor at Harvard Business School, where he taught a course in e-commerce and digital marketing. He’s now the co-founder of digital disruption consultancy Decoupling and the author of the book, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Customer Disruption. 

Key episode topics include: strategy, customer service, disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, early adopters, scaling, digital disruption, digital marketing, founders, e-commerce.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: The Right Way to Get Your First 1,000 Customers (2019)
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