Chapter 4 – KNOW WHO Finding and interviewing potential customers and understanding customer problems

objective Given an industry contract, identify a possible innovation opportunity for that company using the one-day validation approach.

Market Pull Customer Needs Integrated Solution Differentiation Benefits Up “We will make what we can sell” Given an industry contract, identify a possible innovation opportunity for that company using the one-day validation approach.

Six Degrees of Separation Concept “… people in the US are separated by about six people on the average…” Stanley Milgram on the small-world experiment “Proof! Just six degrees of separation between us. After checking 30 billion electronic message. Microsoft researchers say the theory stands up.” “Six degrees of separation doesn’t mean everyone is linked to everyone else in just six steps. It means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps, and the rest of us are linked to the world through those a special few.” Malcolm Gladwell, “ The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” Six Degrees of Separation

Six degrees of separation DOS DON’TS 1 Get out of the building and campus and try to meet working and industry professionals. We are looking for people who will buy/use/distribute technology 2 Ask professors, researchers, orgmates or older students to refer you to alumni 3 If your contact happens to a family member or relative, list their industry affiliation (e.g., head of manufacturing 1 List professors/ researchers who are just developing technology

Activity Creating the Know-Who Funnel List 5 contacts and schedule a phone or in-person interview Role: At a minimum supply their job title, but ideally ask them what they are responsible for, e.g., making sure manufacturing equipment is still in good condition Name Company Role Contact Number Relationship

Activity Qualifying Know-Who Funnel Individual ranking Add 1 point for the entry if you are confident in getting an interview Add 1 point for the entry if the contact is in your industry Name Company Peer-Ranking: Ask a classmate to go through your list Classmate add 1 point for the entry if the contact is likely to have knowledge of the core problem in the company. Classmate: Subtract 2 points in the entry if the contract falls in the Don’ts category Classmate: Total the points (individual land peer-ranking) and rank the list of contacts from highest to lowest

DOS DON’TS 1 Find a warm lead – find out who you to know in common and ask that person to introduce you to via email, SMS or IM 2 Work your way up Make a good impression with the available contact and make them to refer you to someone in the company who can provide additional perspective 3 Offer some benefit to other person (an opportunity to connect to technology solutions or experts from the academe Do a background review of the contact and their company, e.g., check online for the company’s products and how they are produced or distributed, the contact’s role and background. Doing this background work gives you the confidence to ask questions 1 List professors/ researchers who are just developing technology