Crossing the Chasm
by Geoffrey A. Moore · first published 1991
62% recommend37% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Framework for taking a tech product from early adopters to the mainstream: pick a niche beachhead, understand adopter types, and shape marketing strategy. Suits startup founders and technical people new to marketing.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Crossing the Chasm (1991; rev. 1999) demonstrates the existence of distinct marketing challenges for each market segment in the life cycle of new technology-based products. A significant gulf -- the "chasm" -- exists between the market made up of early adopters and the markets of more pragmatic buyers. To cross the chasm, a product team must identify the needs of pragmatic buyers and deliver a "whole product" that more than meets those needs. This landmark book, part of the HarperBusiness Essentials series, shows just how to do that.
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…a big market gap, that customers will put up with a buggy, incomplete app, and pay for the privilege. That is the secret to a successful startup - certainly not polishing the turd til it glows. (Read Crossing the Chasm for great depth on this, if you don't mind a bunch of boring soft-skill reading.)
on “Stop Learning Frameworks” ↗I have waited for months for Geoffery Moore's classic book Crossing The Chasm to be "available as in my country" . Normally, changing my country to US will make the Kindle verson available to me. So here I am, literally card in hand, unable to pay for a product that is available.…
on “Tell HN: Why I will Pirate 'Crossing The Chasm' .” ↗…6. Why We Buy 7. Hackers and Painters 8. The E-Myth revisited 9. The Art of the Start 10. On War, The Art of War by Machiavelli and Sun Tzu (not exactly for startups, but definitely useful) 11. Crossing the Chasm
on “Startup founders, what books did you find most helpful?” ↗None of this startup porn is new. The best source I've found discussing all stages of company development is Geoffrey Moore's work (Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado).
on “How to Become a Must-Have” ↗www.venture1st.com/marketing-pr/ Crossing the Chasm by Geoff Moore and the workbook, which is much more practical For Dev focused companies http://www.heavybit.com/
on “The Best Marketing Resources for Startups” ↗…ago. So yes, you have to keep learning. But that doesn't mean you have to live on the bleeding edge, either! A tech that is proven out, used widely and stable, that's worth investing time to learn. In Crossing the Chasm terms (great book on marketing!), you need to learn early majority tech, not early adopter tech. You can be an early adopter for kicks, of course, but don't pretend it's to be more valuable.
on “Programmers are not different, they need simple UIs” ↗…Eat The Small, It's The Fast That Eat The Slow - Jason Jennings The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Jack Trout and Al Ries Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - Al Ries, Jack Trout, Philip Kotler Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore Mastering The Complex Sale - Jeff Thull - lays out an approach to selling that I believe is one of the best out there for enterprise / B2B. May not be as relevant for B2C or other approaches.…
on “Ask HN: As a technical founder what is the best business book you've read?” ↗…awesome basic textbook on 'Computer Networks' like the one by Andrew S. Tanenbaum 'Digital Signal Processing' by Oppenheim and Schafer Although these are not textbooks but among other good reads are 'Crossing the Chasm' by Geoffrey Moore, 'The Innovators Dilema' by C. M. Christensen, give amazing insights.
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗Because Tesla's initial target audience is not you and me, but people who buy the fanciest, latest iPhones every year. If you're curious, I'd recommend reading Moore's "Crossing the Chasm". I'm entirely for electric cars, but I'm part of what Moore would call the "mainstream market". I don't want a car to be amazing and cutting edge. I want it to work unobtrusively and very reliably. That…
on “Tesla is found guilty of throttling charging speed” ↗…phase change concepts from physics/chemistry Amplify Positive Deviance model from Jerry Sternin (Save the Children) "The Empowered Manager" by Peter Block, in particular his trust vs. agreement matrix "Crossing the Chasm" & "Inside the Tornado" by Geoffrey Moore "Maneuver Warfare Handbook" by William Lind "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" by Daniel Amen "Micromotives and Macrobehavior" by Thomas Schelling Appreciative…
on “Articles, Ideas, Books and/or Concepts that have changed your life” ↗Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Geoffrey-Moore/dp/00605...
on “Ask YC: What books on marketing do you recomend?” ↗Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm Bosworth/Holland's Customer-Centric Selling
on “Ask HN: Sales book recommendation?” ↗…uncontrollable and unpredictable. At FreshBooks, we have slogged it out every day, day in an day out, trying to introduce FreshBooks to new people every day. The book that has inspired me the most is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. Building excellent word of mouth praise in a focused niche that will lead to following niches is a very repeatable path to success. It takes a long time, but it does build year after…
on “How to use Social Capital to Market Your Web App” ↗I'd recommend "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore. It almost perfectly describes the lifecycle and challenges faced by the two software-product-based startups that I've worked for.
on “Ask HN: What's the best first business book for a programmer?” ↗I recommend Crossing the Chasm. It is older but still relevan especially if you still find marketing a technology start up challenging. http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Mai...
on “Ask HN: Marketing Books for Developers?” ↗