Step 5: Persona for your Beachhead Market

How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Outline Overview How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Multiple personas? Workshop December 2, 2018

Choose one end user from one potential customer to be Persona Overview Choose one end user from one potential customer to be Persona Build detailed description of that real person Make Persona visible to all in new venture Will serve as ongoing reference December 2, 2018

Developing a Persona is unifying step Overview Developing a Persona is unifying step End User Profile – a composite of a person that represents target customer Persona – a person who represents primary customer from beachhead market December 2, 2018

All team members have clarity and focus on same goal Overview Persona- one end user that represents one potential customer who best exemplifies your beachhead market Process of defining Persona for beachhead market makes target customer more concrete All team members have clarity and focus on same goal Better than just guessing based on abstractions December 2, 2018

Persona- must be a real person, not a composite or abstraction Overview Persona- must be a real person, not a composite or abstraction Choose an actual end user as Persona No room for second-guessing Can ask them directly No one person will represent 100% of characteristics for ALL end users But defining Persona helps immensely Help develop product for this Persona December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Outline Overview How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Multiple personas? Workshop December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Very important step / exercise Must involve everyone on team Look to answer this question: If I had only one end user to represent our End User Profile, who would it be? December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Prepare a fact sheet about Persona Include a drawing or photo of person Include information: Born Raised Education Family Age Job Income ... December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Prepare a fact sheet about Persona Must be specific! E.g., Not “5-figure salary”, but “$65,000” Not “lives in PacNW”, but “lives in Bend” Use their real name … Impossible to be too detailed! December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Most important: Persona’s prioritized purchasing criteria Will dictate purchasing decisions Top priority Keeps them up at night Fear the most Gets most excited about Critical to understand how customer prioritizes wants / needs December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Will want to interview your Persona Open-ended conversation Add info to fact sheet Include non-verbal information Pictures Neatness … December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile Persona Post Persona on wall as constant reminder Never forget the customer!! Some startups make a cardboard cutout! Jeff Bezos puts empty chair in important meetings (customer) December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Outline Overview How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Multiple personas? Workshop December 2, 2018

More than Just an Exercise Value of Persona persists well beyond this step Should be used to help guide decisions later What features to drop? Prioritize? What should our message be? Where do we meet customers? Who should we partner with? … December 2, 2018

More than Just an Exercise Persona should be precise and accurate Correct any mistakes sooner rather than later Creating a Persona is NOT a one-time event Should be visible / accessible by ALL team members Should be your team’s “north star” December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Outline Overview How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Multiple personas? Workshop December 2, 2018

Yes, but only when dealing w/ two-sided market Multiple Personas? Yes, but only when dealing w/ two-sided market E.g., Ebay success requires both buyers and sellers In general, resist the urge to create multiple Personas Better to focus on one Don’t need the extra distractions Sometimes helpful to generate Personas that you will definitely NOT serve December 2, 2018

How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Outline Overview How to choose and profile your Persona More than just an exercise Multiple personas? Workshop December 2, 2018

Persona similar to End User Profile Workshop Persona similar to End User Profile Except it’s one specific individual person Much more in depth Want a clear picture of target end user Persona tells story of who your customer is And why it matters that you are solving their pain December 2, 2018

Important that Persona represents broader End User Profile Workshop Important that Persona represents broader End User Profile Don’t take first willing person Don’t choose someone from the team Persona is a simple way to keep focus in right place “keep the main thing the main thing” December 2, 2018

Want someone in the “middle” of the end user bell curve Not an outlier Workshop Want someone in the “middle” of the end user bell curve Not an outlier December 2, 2018

General info on Persona Persona profile for beachhead market Workshop Worksheets General info on Persona Persona profile for beachhead market Things to consider Must be real person Make it visual / omnipresent Specificity is good (cannot have too much detail) Team exercise December 2, 2018

Workshop December 2, 2018