Evil EntreKnievel This side of the chasm: a few geeky clients. The other side: everybody. Ready to jump?
By Geoff Williams •
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They call him the Chasm Guy, because he can leap over one in asingle bound. But the chasm that mild-mannered Geoff Mooretraverses is on the edge of the technology world. If you own ahigh-tech firm and want to market to low-tech people, you'llwant to see more of Moore, the founder of The Chasm Group, aconsulting firm in San Mateo, California. He's also a venturepartner at Mohr, Davidow Ventures in Menlo Park, California, andthe author of books like-what else?-Crossing the Chasm (HarperBusiness).
Explain what this chasm is, and whyentrepreneurs should care.
Geoff Moore:"Chasm" comes from the technology-adoption/life-cyclemodel. The early adopters, whom we call the technology enthusiastsand visionaries, love to buy something before anybody else does.They're before the chasm. The next adoption strategy ispragmatism-which says, "I want to buy when I see everybodyelse doing it." That creates a lull in the market, because thepragmatist is waiting for the other pragmatists, and they'rewaiting for him. So you have this effect we call the "juniorhigh dance" problem-who's going to get on the dance floor?Crossing the chasm becomes a really critical point in developinghigh-tech markets.
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