Yes, I’m writing a book.

It’s a difficult commitment to make and, an even more difficult commitment to voice; it can sound pretentious, idealistic or just overly ambitious.

I’ve had a lot of fun taking notes of people’s initial reactions and will find it very motivating throughout the process (I’m weird like that).

« Everyone is writing a book, how is yours going to be different? »

Everyone is (my mom is actually writing one); I’ve long said that I would never write a business book for that very reason.

I would never write a book just to write a book. The only reason why I’m picking up the pen (laptop in this case) is to fill a gap.

I want to write the book I would have loved (and needed) to read when I was validating products as a second-time entrepreneur; the kind of book that would have saved us months of trial and error at HireVoice, my previous startup.

Now, if a book can save anyone a few months and the author is passionate about the topic, it has to be worth writing right?

« Authors rarely make money, are you sure of the ROI of writing a book? »

If writing a book was really about making money or ROI, it would be a terrible investment of my time.

I’m motivated to write because I’ve got unfinished business with validating new products in medium to large businesses. At the end of HireVoice, it felt like we were beginning to scratch the surface of an efficient framework for validating products in businesses. It feels like that framework deserves to be explored a bit further.

I write first to understand, second to help entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs take control of their product validation cycles.

Many entrepreneurs are still making the mistake of doing little or no initial product validation either because validating products feels foreign or because it feels difficult. It doesn’t have to be; with the right recipe any dish can be made easy.

« What makes you an expert on validating products in medium to large businesses ? »

We didn’t start from scratch when we began validating HireVoice. We started with the best literature available including the Lean Startup and Steve Blank’s the Fours Steps to Epiphany (great books).  We got to experience firsthand the limits of their models for validating products in businesses. We worked hard to adapt their models to B2B relationships and think these adaptations are of great value to entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs alike.

The book will retell some of the experiments we ran with my previous startups and share models, case studies and knowledge from some of the successful entrepreneurs I’m currently interviewing.

So, what’s the book about? 

Selling new technology to businesses is hard. People are busy, sales cycles are long, users are slow to adopt innovation and there are always other companies vying for the budgets you’re after. Getting feedback early and rapidly is crucial if any new technology is to reach the market on time.

The book I’m writing helps entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs find the right product for the right market in medium to large businesses. It will cover techniques to establish validation cycles and ways to speed up validation.

Who the reader

This book is written to guide entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs (product owners, management, marketing, etc) and sales people down the path of efficiently validating innovation in medium to large businesses.

Next steps

The writing and interviews have begun. We’re looking at Self publishing vs Traditional book publishing to help establish a timeframe for the book. I don’t like to lie so, for the time being, we’ll refrain from putting a date on the book release.

  • If you have experience validating B2B products or have ideas on how to speed up validation, connect. I’d love to hear about your experiences.
  • Follow my blog. We will be sharing interviews, experiments and insights as the book is being put together.