Overview
When launching a new venture, entrepreneurs face numerous questions about both market dynamics and product specifics. GLIDR enables validation through experiments—testing market assumptions reveals business model viability, while product experiments determine solution design.
Market vs. Product
The framework distinguishes between two categories of inquiry:
Market Questions focus on customer identity and acquisition:
- Customer identification and pain points
- Job-to-be-done analysis
- Current solution landscape
- Willingness to pay
- Customer acquisition costs and channels
- Persuasion strategies
Product Questions address value delivery:
- Solution approaches and form
- Feature prioritization
- Design importance and optimization
- User adoption and engagement
- Feature-set minimization
- Performance and preference feedback
The distinction clarifies that "market" encompasses customer-segment identity and reach channels, while "product" refers to value propositions and their creation mechanisms—including resources, activities, partners, and costs.
Where to Start?
The guidance favors beginning with customer research: "If the customer segment changes, then the product usually must be adapted to the customer. However, if the product changes, customers may simply use a different product."
Human behavior remains stubbornly resistant to change, making customer-first validation the pragmatic approach.
Adapted from The Real Startup Book, edited by Tristan Kromer and published by Kromatic, under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.