Geoffrey Moore
Using the Early Market Playbook on a Pragmatist
Inspired by Geoffrey Moore episode
Geoffrey says using the wrong go-to-market playbook in the wrong phase kills companies. You're doing this with practice—forcing your early-market kid to use a tornado playbook.
Geoffrey Moore says companies die when they use the wrong playbook for their growth phase. The visionary customer needs a demo of the magic. The pragmatist needs proof it solves their actual problem. Use the wrong approach with the wrong customer and nothing works.
You're mismatching the playbook with piano practice.
Your kid's in the early market phase with piano. They need to see the magic—play "Happy Birthday" badly but THEY PLAYED IT. That's the demo. That's what hooks a visionary.
But you're using the tornado playbook: scales, technique, daily practice, metronome. That's for a kid who already believes piano is worth it. Your kid hasn't crossed that chasm yet.
The pragmatist playbook won't work either ("this will help you get into college" is not compelling to a six-year-old). They're not ready for that pitch.
Go back to the early market: Let them play the magic. Let them bang out a song they recognize. Let them show grandma. The technical stuff comes later, after they believe this thing is actually cool.
Wrong playbook, wrong phase, everyone's miserable.
