In previous posts I’ve reviewed books on the mechanics of getting a business running smoothly and books on the general rules of positioning a product. This review covers a seminal classic for technology companies, a book which combines these two concepts into something suitably focused for the required audience – defining the landscape for technology marketing and the management flexibility required to turn a great high-tech idea into money in the bank.

Geoffrey Moore’s bestseller “Crossing the Chasm” defined ideas that are now ubiquitous in startups such the categorization of technology customers into five main groupings and “the elevator pitch”. I got a particular sense of deju vu from one of the early chapters which described the usual ascent of a startup; initial customer interest prompting raised morale and a few swanky meals out for the staff, followed by the realisation that these aren’t being followed by sustained sales, and finally leading to a further round of financing – with the caveat that that a few minor tweaks in the staff will be required. My own experience of this process left me jobless when three of the original seven staff of our dot com rollercoaster were made redundant. The ironic part of this trip down memory lane is that the management of this particular startup swore by Geoffrey Moore’s principles, yet they didn’t hear the train coming even with their ears pressed to the tracks. C’est la vie.

Past war wounds aside, Moore’s doesn’t write the most readable of books. The information delivered is essential, yet the manner in which it is presented is a quite drawn out and verbose. This is my second attempt at the book, and the first time I’ve managed to make it through to the other side. The humourous style of the initial chapers is pushed aside, and the introduction of large amounts of labels slows the pace. With that said, this isn’t a Mills and Boone romance novel – it is an essential treatise on technology marketing, and it is worth the effort.

The book builds on the Everett Rogers diffusion of innovations, describing the five main technology customers arranged into a neat bell curve. These are:

• Innovators/ Enthusiasts– Visionaries who “dig” technology, and are adventurous in seeking out new ideas.
• Early Adopters / Visionaries– Customers willing to accept a few bugs in order to shape a promising concept.
• Early Majority / Pragmatists – The bulk of a technology market, and where the chasm lies. These customers want a stable product that has an independant level of support; a very different proposition from the early adopters.
• Late Majority / Conservatives – This demographic will accept a product when everyone else has it, talk about your catch-22 situation.
• Laggards / Skeptics – Bringing up the rear are the laggards. These customers are the technology equivalent of Charlton Heston – you’ll replace their old technology when you “prise it from their cold, dead hands”.

The key focus is how to take a technology company from the early adopter stage to the early majority, and through to the late majority and it’s associated riches, glory, and infamy. This is where the “chasm” of the books title comes into play – the needs of these market segments are very different and the skills required to develop the markets are completely at odds with each other. The author argues that to make the transition between these markets the company must move from focusing on products to a market-centric view.

The main flaw with the book is the overly verbose presentation. If the ideas were presented in a sharp point format and then expanded upon, or summarised at the end of each chapter it would make for a more readable and easily referenced manual, rather then the slightly more academic feel that the current format has. While trying to review the main items in Moore’s work in my usual postmortem I scratched out the main points from memory, but was unable to find succinct definitions or supporting points that would provide a reliable reference once my memory fades. Regardless, this book defines the battlefield for any technology entrepreneur and merits its status as a bestseller.