Demand creation hypothesis

Goal

Develop a hypothesis of

1. How you will reach customes and drive them into your distribution channel
2. Who besides your company can reach and influence these customers

Checklist

• How will your users hear about you?
• Begin to build a list of companies in adjacent markets / infrastructure (not competitors)
  • Companies you would partner with / connect to
  • Professional service organisations
  • Understand their positioning / distribution / products
• Begin to build a list of key industry influencers recommenders
  • Technically credible individuals
  • Key industry analysist (Gartner, Yankee, Jupiter)
  • Key Wall Street Analysts who follow adjacent markets
  • Read their stuff - be able to draw their view of the world today and tomorrow
  • Modify their view of the future with your company / products
• Begin to build a list of key conferences / trade-shows
• Begin to build a list of key press contacts
  • Trade press
  • Technical press
  • Industry press
  • Business press
  • Keep track of the names of the authors of key articles
• What are the key trends customers / influencers / press think are occurring?
  • Infrastructure
  • Technical
  • Users
  • Distribution
  • Marketing
• Begin to assemble an advisory boards
  • Begin to recruit members of the technical advisory board now. Initially for technical advice and pointers to technica talent. Later as a technical reference for customers
  • Understand needs for the customer, business and marketing advisory board.

Exit deliverables

• List of adjacent companies
• List of outside influencers, shows, press
• Advisory board contacts
• Key trend summary

Part of: Customer Development Checklist - Customer Discovery Part of book: The Four Steps to the Epiphany