Week #4 – MBA 6101 – Ascend Your Start-Up, Chapter 4: Go From Market to Scale Camp

Go from Market to Scale Camp, the fourth chapter of Helen Yu’s Ascend Your Start-Up: Conquer the 5 Disconnects to Accelerate Growth, discusses the “product/ market fit disconnect.”  Ensuring product/ market fit, the marketability of a product, is a critical step towards long-term success.

According to Yu, at this stage in an entrepreneur’s start-up focus should be on calculating a “distribution channel strategy and scaling your customer.”  Yu explains that, when leveraged optimally, a distribution channel strategy serves as a “force multiplier” that can be used to accelerate revenue. In Go from Market to Scale Camp, Yu offers three more micro-decisions to consider.

Decision #10:  What distribution channel will you build as a pathway to customers?

Optimizing product/ market fit is an ongoing process. Factors, according to Yu, include the “[the entrepreneur’s] growth stage, buyer journey attributes, product characteristics, channel capacity, deal structure, verticals, ecosystem, partner dynamic, geographics and pricing strategy.” Incorporating reliable marketing concepts like the buyer’s journey funnel (awareness to consideration to decision) and buyer process (problem recognition to information gathering to evaluating solutions to purchase phase to post-purchase phase) can strengthen an entrepreneur’s distribution channel strategy while enhancing product/ market fit and, ultimately, growth.    

Decision #11: What is your pricing strategy?

According to Yu, deciding pricing strategy should start with determining the value of the product or service rather than basing the pricing strategy on cost.  Yu suggests that an ideal pricing strategy considers the “customer’s ability to pay” and the “persona of [buyers].” While many new start-ups may be tempted to offer their products
or services gratis to attract and engage customers, this strategy may be counterproductive. This may convey a lack of a “strong value proposition” or a failure to adequately communicate the product’s value.  Instead, Yu insists that “strategic pricing reflects the value you’re bringing to the table.”

Decision #12:  How will you help your customer’s customer scale and grow?

As explained by Yu, customer-centricity not only prioritizes the “direct customer,” but also accounts for the “customer’s customer.”  Creating relationships that are mutually reliant puts an entrepreneur in the position to be an “essential solution provider.”  Through thoughtful intertwining with a customer, an entrepreneur can expand their customer-base through “upselling and cross-selling,” raising the potential for growth through momentum.