What is the Traction Gap?
The Traction Gap is the period between a startup’s or enterprise product team’s initial product release and achieving market traction. Many teams fail to cross this gap, leading to lower valuations, financing challenges, and in many cases business failure.
Five Stages of a Product Lifecycle
Minimum Viable Category
- Define or redefine a market category.
- Identify a large addressable market to compete in.
- Avoid entering overcrowded categories dominated by incumbents.
Initial Product Release
Launch the first public iteration of the product.
Validate customer interest and gather feedback.
Start the journey into the Traction Gap.
Minimum Viable Product
Build a product that customers are willing to pay for.
Complete market engineering tasks such as positioning and messaging.
Secure early adopters and refine based on user feedback.
Minimum Viable Repeatability
- Achieve consistent revenue and scalable growth.
- Develop repeatable sales and marketing processes.
- Show early signs of market-product fit.
Minimum Viable Traction
- Exit the Traction Gap with sustained, repeatable growth.
- Scale operations successfully for long-term success.
- Investors recognize market acceptance and revenue velocity.
Four Architectural Elements
Assemble a high-performance core team.
Address challenges in hiring, leadership, and team structure.
- Build a product that fits the market needs.
- Ensure technology, features, and integrations are aligned with user demand
Implement scalable internal processes.
Use the right tools for growth, sales, and operations.
- Develop a business model that converts engagement into revenue.
- Optimize customer acquisition cost (CAC) vs. lifetime value (LTV).
