Video: Introducing the Traction Gap

On March 2, 2017, Traction Gap Institute (TGI) joined Wildcat Venture Partners, Velocity Coaching and Shasta Ventures to host Building the Perfect Team.

During this video clip, Wildcat founding partner, Bruce Cleveland, shares his insights on the Traction Gap.

The Lean LaunchPad, introduced by Steve Blank, and the Lean Startup initiative, led by Eric Ries, have been instrumental in helping early-stage startups make the transition from idea to minimum viable product; this is what we call the “go-to-product” phase.

Similarly, Crossing the Chasm, developed by author Geoffrey Moore, has helped later-stage startups advance from selling first to visionaries and early adopters and eventually to Main Street, what we call the “go-to-scale” phase.

What occurs between early-stage idea and Main Street success, however, has remained largely undocumented. Consequently, too often companies have faltered during the go-to-market phase, as they fail to generate sufficient momentum to attract new investors. This is what we call the Traction Gap™.

To help companies that find themselves in the gap between product-market-fit and scale, we’ve developed “The Traction Gap Framework” — a methodology for helping startups think through the problems that are unique to companies stuck between product and scale.