Are You a Physicist or a Chemist?

Back in college one of my most frustrating courses was Organic Chemistry.    Favorite course, Physics.  Which caused me to leave veterinary medicine.  Why?  I just couldn't see the purpose of memorizing all those formulas and reactions.  And there were a lot of them.  In Physics, everything you ever needed to know fit on a single index card.  You just needed to know how to build on them.

The same principals apply to our products and our customers.   Do you require them to take lots of classes and read lots of documentation to figure out how to use your product?  Does your product do everything for them?  If so, you're a chemist.   

Or do you provide a useful foundation in which your customers can get functionality right away?  But leave them plenty of room so they can innovate, create and learn?  Then you're a Physicist.

Look at your marketing presence.  If it reminds you of a lecture hall I suspect your market may not be very engaged with you.

And for you producing an innovative product a must read by Grant McCracken.