Geoffrey Moore on finding your beachhead, crossing the chasm, and dominating a market

Geoffrey Moore is an author, speaker, and advisor, widely known for his seminal book Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers, which many consider the most important book ever written on go-to-market strategy. Moore’s work is focused on the market dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations, and how one overcomes the challenge of transitioning from serving early adopters to the mainstream. In this episode, we discuss:
• What “crossing the chasm” means
• What steps to take before you try crossing the chasm
• The importance of winning a marquee customer
• The role of executive sponsors in the sales process
• The differences between visionaries and pragmatists, and how to build for each
• Geoffrey’s four go-to-market playbooks based on stage: Early Market, Bowling Alley, Tornado, and Main Street
• The problem with discounting before crossing the chasm
• “Deadly sins” to avoid when crossing the chasm
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Find the transcript and references at: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ge...
Where to find Geoffrey Moore:
• X: / geoffreyamoore
• LinkedIn: / geoffreyamoore
• LinkedIn posts: / articles
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Geoffrey’s background
(04:03) What people often get wrong about Crossing the Chasm
(05:58) Finding your beachhead segment
(09:29) The four inflection points of the technology adoption lifestyle
(15:45) Geoffrey’s bonfire and bowling alley analogies
(18:36) Steps to take before trying to cross the chasm
(22:19) Signs you’re ready to cross the chasm
(25:19) Advice for startups on where to start
(27:31) Thoughts on venture capital
(27:53) A general timeline for crossing the chasm
(30:52) What exactly is the “chasm”?
(32:35) The difference between visionaries and pragmatists
(36:05) Finding the compelling reason to buy
(43:45) The Early Market playbook
(45:46) The Bowling Alley playbook
(48:39) Different sales approaches for early market and bowling alley
(51:26) Changing the value state of the company
(53:28) The Tornado playbook
(57:35) Why combining playbooks doesn’t work
(59:10) Using generative AI in different market phases
(01:03:02) The risks of discounting
(01:04:21) Other “deadly sins” of crossing the chasm
(01:09:09) Positioning in crossing the chasm
(01:10:36) Product-led growth and crossing the chasm
(01:13:54) The challenges of software and entrepreneurship
(01:16:35) How Geoffrey’s thinking has evolved
(01:19:30) The importance of entrepreneurship and impact
(01:20:42) His book The Infinite Staircase
(01:23:58) Connect with Geoffrey Moore
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[@geoffreyamoore]

Thanks for the great conversation, Lenny!

[@jamiemccue]

Wonderful interview, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

[@joapen]

I love your last words at the end of the podcast about doing something for a living. many thanks both for this great episode

[@mariedean3051]

Is location a good or bad way to niche down? Say Chicago?

[@JonSchleicher]

@37:05 - what an absolute gem of an insight "... That's what gives them the ENERGY, to go against the inertia momentum of the decision making process in their company..."

[@GameThinkingTV]

Thank you Lenny for bringing Geoff's wisdom & POV to a fresh new audience - great interview!

[@faithrich_]

Great episode! When Geoffrey says you can be a visionary with some thing, a pragmatist with other things, and a conservative with other things... That is just brilliant!

[@segelmark]

So cool! So happy you reached out to Geoffrey :) Keep up the great work!

[@TDSkj80]

People with so much genius to share with you. Please listen and learn!!!

[@teste4570]

Wow you interviewd him! Watching excited

[@ieraj7428]

Awesome content, the book is even better:-)

[@webalite]

Excellent questions Lenny, nice work. And thank you Geoffrey for sharing your insights, extremely inspiring.

[@rilwanj]

Genius, just a Genius. I’m about to follow him on LinkedIn

[@conradz3]

Fantastic interview!

[@hcubill]

Awesome podcast!🎉

[@TDSkj80]

Lenny - Your interviews are amazing. Let me know how I can help your cause.

[@chrisll3684]

Another great podcast Lenny. Great B2B insights from Geoff and the bonfire analogy was amazing!

[@TDSkj80]

Brilliance

[@ghanemzadeh]

Thanks Lenny, @geoffreyamoore is Really a legend

[@martypstuart1123]

Love your style. Encore 👏

[@Hastingsnow]

Thank you for sharing

[@beibeihu4992]

I found that interviews with book authors are often more thoughtful and richer than interviews with some company executives. Maybe some company executives are just pragmists or process persons as described by the author of this book. Lenny, can you interview more book authors in the future?

[@LennysPodcast]

Absolutely. Who would be on your wishlist?

[@beibeihu4992]

@@LennysPodcast Peter Thiel ( the author of book:zero to one)

[@eduardoPicazzo]

I'm sure he's full of wisdom but I could barely understand what the heck he was talking about, partly because of his audio but he speaks so cryptically... Bowling alleys, tornadoes, chasms??? Should have spent a bit of time clarifying these concepts for people not familiar with his work.