This article is part of a series of articles, as an example how to use Customer Development in practice. If you didn’t read the introduction, please read it first.
Before you start Customer Development there are 2 checklists to fill. The checklists are based on Customer Development from Steve Blank.

Below I filled the checklists for the example project. It is market with [Co-founders wanted:] explanation…
Checklist 1: Board and management Buy-in
Goal: Agreement among investors, founders and team commitment to the Customer Development Process
Reference: Manifesto Rule nr 14
- Commit to use of Business Model and Market Type [Co-founders wanted:] Only one founder. Founder is committed.
- Understand the difference between “search” for a business model and “execute” a business plan [Co-founders wanted:] Founder is familiar with the book Customer Development so he understands the difference.
- Learn differences between Product Development and Customer Development [Co-founders wanted:] Founder is familiar with the book Customer Development so he understands the difference.
- Discuss number of “funded Pivots” available and how board and team will measure the progress. [Co-founders wanted:] Founder is familiar with the book Customer Development so he understands the difference.
Customer Development process emphasizes learning and discovery
- Is there board and founding team buy-in process? [Co-founders wanted:] Yes, founding team is only one person.
- Is there is enough funding for 2 to 3 pivots in Discovery and Validation? [Co-founders wanted:] There is no extra funding. Founder doesn’t need income from Pivots. Small investments are covered.
Discuss Market Type (initial decision)
- Existing, Re-segmented, New or Clone? [Co-founders wanted:] Re-segment
- First pass with board on initial agreement of Market Type [Co-founders wanted:] Only Re-segment, focus is shorter Learning Cycles
- First pass with board on different funding needs by Market Type [Co-founders wanted:] Re-segment, funding in future depends on Co-founders. Target is that no extra funding is needed.
Agree on Customer Development Time Frame
- Approximate time for Discovery and Validation (cash) [Co-founders wanted:] Significant income is needed within 5 months. It is short but possible.
- Discovery exit criteria determined [Co-founders wanted:] Exit after 4 months, when no co-founded (is client in this case) is found.
- Validation exit criteria determined [Co-founders wanted:] Validation is 1 client after 4 months.
Exit criteria
- Buy-in of the team and board for Customer Development process [Co-founders wanted:] done
- Market Type and exit criteria for search step [Co-founders wanted:] defined (see previous step)
Checklist 2: The Customer Development Team
Goal: Set up the Customer Development Team
Reference: Manifesto Rule #1
Review the organizational differences between Customer Development and the traditional product introduction process:
- Founders spend time outside the building [Co-founders wanted:] clear
- No VP of Sales or Marketing [Co-founders wanted:] no way
- Initial Team responsibilities [Co-founders wanted:] Founder is doing customer development alone but has technical support.
Team setup and Goals
- Agree on who leads the team [Co-founders wanted:] founder is the lead
- Agree on the “getting out of the building” methodology [Co-founders wanted:] agreed
- Agree on % of customer feedback online vs eyeball [Co-founders wanted:] 20% eyeball, 40% by phone/skype, 40% online
- Agree on the team roles for each of the four Customer Development Steps [Co-founders wanted:] not defined yet
Enumerate 3 to 5 Core Values of the Founding Team
- Not a mission statement
- Not about profit or products
- Core ideology is about what the company believes in
[Co-founders wanted:] Core values:
- The learning cycles of Customer Development can be shorter and much more efficient then incubators and investors are doing
- Bootstrapping is the starting point, Co-founders take care about own income and minimal for the costs of first Minimum Viable Product.
- Customer development is the standard
Exit criteria:
- Buy-in of the team and board for Customer Development process
- Are the right people in those jobs? [Co-founders wanted:] Founder has people that can support him technically.
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