The Four Steps to the Epiphany summary

As stated in the previous blink, when a startup sets out to fulfill its visions, it may not yet know what path it will follow. This is why it needs to make some decisions right from the get go to help keep it on the right path.

The first thing a startup must define is a set of fundamental and long-lasting core values to guide it on its journey.

Each startup is different, and so it follows that the right strategy for each startup is, too. Mostly, the right strategy depends on the environment, or market type.

The crucial question is whether the startup faces an existing or new market.

Sooner or later, every startup will make a mistake.

While it’s impossible to avoid any and all mistakes, it is better to catch them early. Startups can reduce mistakes and their impact by collecting lots of feedback from their users as soon as possible – even before there’s an actual product to sell!

In the first blink, you learned that startups cannot follow the product development process used by big companies. Doing so can lead to a disaster.

Startups who try this approach believe they can just build and launch a great product, after which customers simply appear. It rarely works.

Have you ever had a problem so pressing that you’d be willing to pay anything for a solution, even if it wasn’t perfect?

The ideal first customers of startups are in this position.

No startup can remain a startup forever. To grow, it has to continuously build a customer base.

This goal is achieved by targeting different customers over time:

These days, companies bombard consumers with advertisements and messages every waking hour.

For a startup, it is crucial to send the right messages, because they can strongly influence the consumers’ perception of the company. A company’s messages range from how it names its products to the advertisements it uses.