Why do most startups fail? Today, Bruce Cleveland joins Follow Your Different for a master class in building a massively successful B2B and why market engineering is a skill every executive needs. Listen in to learn how you can build your company and category to scale.

“Venture capital is a fairly interesting term or phrase. Because what I found is that there’s not a lot of venture in venture capital.” – Bruce Cleveland

Basic Patterns to Engineer Success

CEOs demonstrate basic patterns in engineering their success. But a lot of startups are not executing these patterns. Over the course of a decade in his prior firm, Bruce began to see which teams would have an actual chance for success.

He decided to explore these patterns, and he discovered three phases that every startup goes through. Even a new product offering in a large company will have to go through these same phases.

Go-to-Product and Go-to-Scale Phases

The first phase is the go-to-product phase. It begins with an idea, one that is hopefully informed by research. In this phase, you will have a prototype that you put in the market for some customers to get and provide feedback for in order to reach a more polished version called minimum viable product.

Skipping to the third phase, which is the go-to-scale phase, is where you finally get some customers and things are really working. Now, you have converted from being a PowerPoint company to a spreadsheet company. And you can finally show how good your product actually is.

Investors Look for Traction

Beyond reaching profitability, what most firms want to see is this thing called traction. They want to see demonstrable evidence that there’s a market and that people will purchase your product. And most of all, it needs to be enough evidence.

“That go-to-scale phase, there’s a lot of companies that will finance that. And there’s a lot of great brands that are out there that wait until you get to that point before they will invest in you.” – Bruce Cleveland

To learn more about the traction gap from Bruce, download and listen to the episode.

ABOUT FOLLOW YOUR DIFFERENT PODCAST

Christopher Lochhead explores the differences that make the difference. In life and business.

What happens when you stop trying to fit in, and start capitalizing on what makes you different?

Some of our guests are legends whose name you know. And others are everyday legends you’ll love getting to know, but all of them honed their different and made it their super power.

Listen in to a wide range of business and life topics, in a formula-free, insight-packed, no bullshit conversation all featuring captivating guests and the wicked, whiskey soaked mind of Christopher Lochhead.