Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation

I live and die by these concepts I read in this book years ago. There’s nothing more important than nailing a concept cheaply and quickly before investing heavily in any idea or concept.

The goal of any entrepreneur is to build something customers want, for a problem they're willing to pay for. Yet 90% of businesses fail because they can't get anyone to buy. Why is this the case?Y Combinator founder Paul Graham promotes the motto "Make something people want." Paradoxically, research shows that the natural tendencies of entrepreneurs jeopardize that mission, every step of the way. For example, entrepreneurs easily fall into the habit of following their own beliefs rather than facing up to the realities of the market before it's too late. Ultimately, our greatest enemy is ourselves--investing our time and money into things that won't work, at the cost of not discovering and pursuing the things that will work. NISI outlines a process that emphasizes having a scientific, unemotional mindset and maximizes time to failure, thereby minimizing the potential sunk cost of trying to realize a true business opportunity. NISI also warns us of the natural psychological traps of entrepreneurs and how to avoid them. At its core, the NISI about avoiding dangerous path of "I've got a great idea", and instead taking the road of "customer data indicates that this is true".The NISI process is straightforward and methodical: start with hypothesis about the customer pain, then test it. Once you've identified and validated the customer pain, hypothesize the minimum feature-set necessary to drive a customer purchase. From there, build a series of gradually more advanced prototypes, while discussing and validating with customers each step of the way. Eventually, you build a usable solution and sign up pilot customers, who help you refine your product and develop a go-to-market strategy.This process can be applied to startups, new ventures within, and to turn around lagging companies. But while this process sounds simple--even conventional--the true challenge is avoiding common entrepreneurial pitfalls and having the discipline to adhere to this process in full. My main takeaways? Talk to customers starting on day one, and don't stop. Be a scientist, not a hero.Two criticisms of the book:1) I thought that the third phase, "Nail the Go-to-Market Strategy" was presented weakly compared to the earlier phases. I give the authors credit for trying to condense positioning, marketing, and sales into a relatively small number of pages. But I felt that the sections on understanding the customer buying process and market communication and distribution infrastructure were not as practical as I would have hoped.2) The process, or at least the explanations and examples (eg. cold email scripts), is tilted toward B2B. I've started a B2B business previously, and from that perspective the content seemed spot-on. But as someone working on a B2C business now, I felt a little bit short-changed.

This book is utterly amazing, filled with useful, practical information (not to mention real case studies) and is easy to read. I did myself a real favour buying this book, and my copy is already filled with highlighted text.The only negative comment is that I wish the layout of information was improved under relevant headings/sections and there were a few spelling errors. I also experienced some hassle on the kindle version at the end of the book where the page turns wouldn't go further into the references without crashing. (I have since been informed that the problem has been sorted out on kindle edition, but haven't checked).Buy it if you are contemplating a business or would like to know more about the best process for idea/product development. It's an excellent resource with references to other good books focussing on other specialised areas.

Nail It then Scale It ranks up there with game changing classics like Porter's Competitive Advantage, McKenna's Relationship Marketing, and Moore's Crossing the Chasm. Nail It then Scale It is based on real-world experience that is validated by many millions of dollars of investment in entrepreneurial startups. The Nail It then Scale It process underscores that the seeds to entrepreneurial success are sown before you build anything.Nail the customers' pain.Nail the solution customers are willing to pay for.Avoid the traps of conventional wisdom that lead most entrepreneurs to failure.Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:Why Believing in Your Product Leads to Failure. "All too often, entrepreneurs fall in love with their product or technology, they ignore negative feedback from customers, and they spend years building a product based on a vision that no one else shares."Why Having too Much Money Leads to Failure. "Money allowed the entrepreneurs to execute their flawed business plan rather than to stay laser focused on the market so that they could find the facts about what customers wanted and adjust accordingly."Where Do Winning Innovations Come From? "The key difference... is not to just ask customers what they want but to deeply understand the customers--their motivations, their needs, and most important, the job they are trying to get done... Thomas Edison stated that `I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it'."As Ahlstrom points out, commitment of money is a very powerful validation. "The price your customers are willing to pay is the measure of the degree to which you have nailed the solution."Fail Fast and Learn to Change. "By remembering to fail fast, you focus on rapidly testing your assumptions, iterating swiftly, and then, because you have less attachment, you can see when you need to abandon one approach in favor of a better approach."Focus on Simplicity. "Somewhat counter-intuitively, simplifying increases customer adoption and reduces costs. Customers are attracted by simplicity and confused by complexity... Entrepreneurs should focus on developing the minimum feature set to close a customer purchase."Unquestionably worth my time.

This was the book I needed to get me going on an adventure that I've been dreaming about for decades. I now have the tools to avoid the pitfalls that I feared and allowed to hold me back. I will be referring back to this book for myself and to others forever. Thank you.

Bémol est la livraison. Le colis est arrivé endommagé mais je l’ai gardé car je devais le lire rapidement…

This book is really good for aspiring future Enterpeuners, many points are worth practicing. As a startup this book can be real time guide.

FORMAL education cannot be replaced by the school of life.After the first 100 pages I almost fell asleep and I felt so betrayed because you cannot use an e-book in the loo for more than to waste your time.

Mind blowing full of truth. Let's get focused on what matters for the customers. This book is a must if you are planning to start a business

A pesar de ser un libro chico es un libro completo, a su vez por su tamaño lo hace fácilmente digerible