The Core of Crossing the Chasm: Understand the Gap, Then Win One Focused Segment

Geoffrey Moore’s classic Crossing the Chasm was first published in 1991. Thirty years on, it has deeply influenced today’s technology innovators and entrepreneurs. All right, perhaps you are like Robin: you bought it but have not finished reading it. Verification note: The thirty-year calculation reflects the post’s 2021 publication date. The book’s first edition was published in 1991. The book is best known for describing five stages in the development of high-tech products and five corresponding types of consumers. Its central question is why a promising technology company can suddenly stall or even decline, and how to address that problem. The author sees market understanding as the key: before this book, understanding of the market was partial and inaccurate; afterward, a better understanding can help you cross the “chasm” of failure. The core idea is that high-tech companies fail with a product because they cannot cross the market’s “chasm.” Breaking that pattern requires recognizing the chasm and crossing it. First, recognize the chasm. Before the mainstream market comes an early market. A huge chasm separates the early market from the mainstream market for high-tech companies. Whether a high-tech product can cross it and enter the mainstream determines the success or failure of its commercialization. Second, cross the chasm. Target a very specific segment within the mainstream market and concentrate all your resources on winning it. Then use that foothold to expand gradually across the broader mainstream market. When there is time, we can return to the book’s three main topics: the technology adoption life cycle, understanding the chasm, and crossing it.