Clay Christensen, Professor at the Harvard Business School, describes this as job based market- ing. He offers a masked example of a fast food chain looking to sell more milkshakes. Their initial approach was to study the users and make changes based on demographic analysis, customer analysis, and psychographic variables. This failed, and they sold no extra milkshakes. There was no meaningful insight to be found in analyzing the users themselves. Instead, Clay suggested they focus on the job customers hire a milkshake to do. It certainly sounds weird (no one thinks of “hiring a milkshake”) but switching perspective offers new insights. It turns out more than 40% of milkshakes were hired first thing in the morning – to provide sus- tenance for a long commute. So milkshakes were actually competing with bagels, bananas, and energy bars, rather than the rest of the chain’s breakfast menu. Milkshakes had advantages over energy bars and bananas – they’re tidier and easier to consume in a car. They beat bagels – they’re too dry and leave you thirsty. And they beat coffee – they’re more filling and don’t leave you des- perate for a bathroom in the middle of a 40 minute drive. Once the chain realized this, they were able to make changes that made milkshakes the best tool for the job – a convenient, easy to con- sume snack to stave off hunger till lunch. Focusing on the job Here are some common jobs that have been around for a long time: • Get a package from A to B with confidence, certainty and speed. • Keep everyone up to date on a project they’re involved with. • Get me face to face with my colleague in San Francisco. Jobs can offer a long term view. Julius Caesar had to do the first job often, and he hired men and horses to solve it. Today we have FedEx. The job hasn’t changed. Using this perspective can expose your real product’s competitors. Email is the biggest com- petitor to project management software. People hire email many times a day to keep their colleagues in the loop. Economy travel and business travel are both capable candidates applying for the third job, though they’re looking for significantly different salaries. Video conferencing isn’t as capable, but is willing to work for a far smaller salary. I’ve a hiring choice to make. When do you hire an app? There are a several different jobs you might like to do once you’ve taken a photograph. Here are six: 1. Capture this moment privately between two people, so we can look back on it fondly in years to come. 2. Embarrass a friend in front of another friend. 3. Get this photo backed up online, so I can point others to it. 8