In 'Crossing the Chasm', Geoffrey A. Moore explores the Technology Adoption Life Cycle, which includes innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. He highlights the significant gap or 'chasm' between early adopters and the early majority, where early adopters are willing to sacrifice for the advantage of being first, while the early majority waits for evidence of productivity improvements. The book provides strategies for narrowing this chasm, including choosing a target market, understanding the whole product concept, positioning the product, building a marketing strategy, and selecting the most appropriate distribution channels and pricing. The third edition includes new examples, strategies for digital marketing, and connections to Moore's subsequent works like 'Inside the Tornado'.
Crucial Conversations provides tools and strategies for handling difficult conversations where stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. The book focuses on creating a safe environment for candid discussions, using techniques like STATE (Share, Tell, Ask, Talk, Encourage) and CRIB (Commit, Recognize, Invent, Brainstorm) to ensure productive and respectful communication. It underscores the importance of shared understanding, mutual purpose, and active listening in achieving successful outcomes in crucial conversations.
The story takes place after a successful war against the Denebians, where three influential leaders discuss the role of the supercomputer Multivac in their victory. Each leader reveals that they did not trust Multivac's outputs and instead relied on their own intuition or even chance (in the case of Lamar Swift, who made decisions by flipping a coin). The tale highlights the irony that despite the advanced technology, human intuition and luck were the actual factors in winning the war.
This book bridges the gap between current business practices and the need to adopt the product operating model to compete in an era of rapidly changing technology. It educates readers on the product operating model, convinces them of its feasibility through detailed case studies, and inspires with examples of product innovation. Cagan emphasizes empowering teams, fostering an environment of experimentation and learning, and overcoming challenges such as silos and risk aversion. The book is filled with real-world examples and practical advice from Cagan and his partners at the Silicon Valley Product Group[2][3][5].
Eilon Reshef is the co-founder and chief product officer at Gong, one of the most ubiquitous B2B products in the world. In our conversation, we discuss:
• Gong’s unique approach to working with design partners
• Their unique pod model
• Why Eilon makes big decisions quickly
• Lessons learned from being early in AI
• The power of extreme focus
• His “spiral method” for learning complex topics quickly
• How to maintain quality while optimizing for speed
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-gong-eilon-reshef
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Where to find Eilon Reshef:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilonreshef
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Eilon’s background
(04:20) The pod model
(06:33) Working with design partners
(09:13) Finding and coordinating design partners
(13:12) Balancing customer feedback and vision
(15:10) Gong's 95% feature adoption
(17:05) The importance of autonomy and trust
(23:30) How to implement this unique way of working
(27:15) Speed and decision-making
(31:47) Early AI adoption and lessons learned
(35:50) Building effective AI teams
(38:16) The spiral method for learning
(41:36) Narrowing down the initial customer profile
(44:24) Failure corner
(46:35) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Gong: https://www.gong.io
• Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/
• How Gong builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-gong-builds-product
• What is Montessori education?: https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/What-Is-Montessori
• Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
• Amit Bendov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbendov/
• Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the
• Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com
• Figma: https://www.figma.com
• The Spiral Method: https://www.gong.io/blog/using-the-spiral-method/
• Webex: https://www.webex.com/
• L’Oréal: https://www.lorealparisusa.com/
• American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/
• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o
• Dishwasher basket: https://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-High-Capacity-Dishwasher-Basket/dp/B07ZPMYKKS/
• What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-most-people-miss-about-marketing
• Occam’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
• Hanlon’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
• Sabich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabich#Ingredients_and_description
• Careers at Gong: https://www.gong.io/careers
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Recommended books:
• Marty Cagan’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marty-Cagan/author/B00J21JTNM
• “The Machine That Won the War”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18402398-the-machine-that-won-the-war
• Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986
• The Ideal Executive: https://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Executive-Ichak-Kalderon-Adizes/dp/0937120030/
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes Are High: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/1260474186/
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
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