(2009-11-18) Blank Ries Web Free Customer Development

Steve Blank and Eric Ries are trying to fit the Customer Development model to revenue-free Start Up-s. In a web-business model you're looking for traffic, users, conversion, virality, etc - not revenue. Dave McClure's AARRR metrics and Andrew Chen's specifics on Freemium models, viral marketing, user acquisition and engagement both offer examples of exit criteria for Customer Discovery and Customer Validation for startups on the web. I'm a bit dubious, because I think the jump from no-revenue to having those lovely Metrics magically turn into revenue is unpredictable. Also because a lot of these models require huge scale, so a bit of error in your S-Curve prediction is a life-and-death issue. I Commented.