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Business Planning

UNDERSTANDING TALC – THE TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION LIFE CYCLE

Before addressing issues of sales, marketing and marketing communication the astute CEO determines that the product is right for the markets that have been chosen. This means understanding the Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC) as defined in Geoffrey Moore’s seminal books on technology marketing, Crossing the Chasm, and Inside the Tornado. There is a process for this analysis which we can help you work through.

Applied to market development strategy, the TALC model postulates that when a community or marketplace is faced with a discontinuous innovation--one that has the possibility and likelihood of necessitating an infrastructure shift--customers for the innovation will self-select themselves into groups according to their attraction or aversion to risk. We will focus on six fundamental phases of market development, considered in as inflection points. Each inflection point represents a fundamental change point in how a technology market will develop, and therefore how we must change in order to capitalize on each new phase.

We can work with you through Paul Wiefels’ book The Chasm Companion, or if you choose more formal training we will invite Mark Cavender of the Chasm Institute, a client of KBA, to set up a training program. Chasm Institute offers professional development programs in market development strategy for management, marketing, engineering and sales based on Geoffrey Moore's high-tech business best-sellers: Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, The Gorilla Game, and Living on the Fault Line, plus The Chasm Companion by Paul Wiefels. Chasm Institute can be found at www.chasminstitute.com.

MENTORING AVAILABLE AT ALL MARKETING MANAGEMENT LEVELS

We can guide CEOs, sales and marketing execs, and venture capitalists down the path that best fits their unique requirements whether its reviewing/revising the marketing component of your business plan, lead generation, branding issues, or due diligence.

Our mentoring has been primarily focused on software/services startups and small to medium sized companies. We have written innumerable business plans with particular focus on the Executive Summary and can help with the communications issues required for taking your business strategy to market. We are familiar with both Geoffrey Moore’s Chasm Strategy and the Technology Adoption Life Cycle and will bring Geoff in occasionally to counsel clients. For more information click on the links to the left.

Need a Virtual VP Marketing, for a long time, or just a little while?

Over the years Keith Bates has been asked to serve in this capacity for many companies for periods ranging from 90 days to three years. If you’re a startup and would rather not budget $75,000 to $150,000 annually for a seasoned pro this buys you some time. For larger companies Bates’ has filled in for situations where the company is being managed by the CEO and a VP Sales, or those situations where a protracted search has been on for a qualified CMO ... but there is work that must be done in the meantime.

Website and corporate ID for Bates client Mark Cavender, founder of the Chasm Institute