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Inside the Tornado: Strategies for Developing, Leveraging, and Surviving Hypergrowth Markets
In this, the second of Geoff Moore's classic three-part marketing series, Moore provides highly useful guidelines for moving products beyond early adopters and into the lucrative mainstream market. Updated for the HarperBusiness Essentials series with a new author's note. Once a product "crosses the chasm" it is faced with the "tornado," a make or break time period where mainstream customers determine whether the product takes off or falls flat. In Inside the Tornado , Moore details various marketing strategies that will teach marketers how reach these customers and how to take advantage of living inside the tornado in order to reap the benefits of mainstream adoption.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 1995
About the author
Geoffrey A. Moore
30 books370 followersGeoffrey Moore is an author, speaker, and advisor who splits his consulting time between start-up companies in the Mohr Davidow portfolio and established high-tech enterprises, most recently including Salesforce, Microsoft, Intel, Box, Aruba, Cognizant, and Rackspace.
Moore’s life’s work has focused on the market dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations. His first book, Crossing the Chasm, focuses on the challenges start-up companies face transitioning from early adopting to mainstream customers. It has sold more than a million copies, and its third edition has been revised such that the majority of its examples and case studies reference companies come to prominence from the past decade. Moore’s most recent work, Escape Velocity, addresses the challenge large enterprises face when they seek to add a new line of business to their established portfolio. It has been the basis of much of his recent consulting.
Irish by heritage, Moore has yet to meet a microphone he didn’t like and gives between 50 and 80 speeches a year. One theme that has received a lot of attention recently is the transition in enterprise IT investment focus from Systems of Record to Systems of Engagement. This is driving the deployment of a new cloud infrastructure to complement the legacy client-server stack, creating massive markets for a next generation of tech industry leaders.
Moore has a bachelors in American literature from Stanford University and a PhD in English literature from the University of Washington. After teaching English for four years at Olivet College, he came back to the Bay Area with his wife and family and began a career in high tech as a training specialist. Over time he transitioned first into sales and then into marketing, finally finding his niche in marketing consulting, working first at Regis McKenna Inc, then with the three firms he helped found: The Chasm Group, Chasm Institute, and TCG Advisors. Today he is chairman emeritus of all three.
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Moore’s life’s work has focused on the market dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations. His first book, Crossing the Chasm, focuses on the challenges start-up companies face transitioning from early adopting to mainstream customers. It has sold more than a million copies, and its third edition has been revised such that the majority of its examples and case studies reference companies come to prominence from the past decade. Moore’s most recent work, Escape Velocity, addresses the challenge large enterprises face when they seek to add a new line of business to their established portfolio. It has been the basis of much of his recent consulting.
Irish by heritage, Moore has yet to meet a microphone he didn’t like and gives between 50 and 80 speeches a year. One theme that has received a lot of attention recently is the transition in enterprise IT investment focus from Systems of Record to Systems of Engagement. This is driving the deployment of a new cloud infrastructure to complement the legacy client-server stack, creating massive markets for a next generation of tech industry leaders.
Moore has a bachelors in American literature from Stanford University and a PhD in English literature from the University of Washington. After teaching English for four years at Olivet College, he came back to the Bay Area with his wife and family and began a career in high tech as a training specialist. Over time he transitioned first into sales and then into marketing, finally finding his niche in marketing consulting, working first at Regis McKenna Inc, then with the three firms he helped found: The Chasm Group, Chasm Institute, and TCG Advisors. Today he is chairman emeritus of all three.
Visit The Infinite Staircase Website
Twitter Account for The Infinite Staircase Website
Facebook Account for Geoffrey Moore
Geoffrey Moore Main Site
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
June 23, 2018
Pros
* The discussion on how to move from early adopters to early majority ("crossing the chasm") was insightful. In short: you need the "whole product." While early adopters will be willing to accept an unfinished, partial solution, the early majority need a 100% solution. They need the product, the ecosystem, the support contract, the integrations, and so on. The only way to build the "whole product" is to attack one specific niche at a time and to completely, totally fulfill their needs, and do noting else. That is, counter-intuitively, early stage companies need to put all their eggs in one basket to succeed.
Cons
* This book feels dated. It's more than 20 years old and comes from an era of boxed software. The Internet has changed many of the rules of software businesses and hypergrowth markets.
* The writing is poor. The number of buzzwords and amount business speak makes it painful to read.
* This book isn't predictive or actionable. It observes how some business have worked in the past and points to a few trends, but that's about it. Some markets can become a tornado; others can't. Some business succeed this way and others succeed that way. The big gorilla in the room is unbeatable and everyone else must grovel at their feet; except in all these exceptions. And so on.
* The discussion on how to move from early adopters to early majority ("crossing the chasm") was insightful. In short: you need the "whole product." While early adopters will be willing to accept an unfinished, partial solution, the early majority need a 100% solution. They need the product, the ecosystem, the support contract, the integrations, and so on. The only way to build the "whole product" is to attack one specific niche at a time and to completely, totally fulfill their needs, and do noting else. That is, counter-intuitively, early stage companies need to put all their eggs in one basket to succeed.
Cons
* This book feels dated. It's more than 20 years old and comes from an era of boxed software. The Internet has changed many of the rules of software businesses and hypergrowth markets.
* The writing is poor. The number of buzzwords and amount business speak makes it painful to read.
* This book isn't predictive or actionable. It observes how some business have worked in the past and points to a few trends, but that's about it. Some markets can become a tornado; others can't. Some business succeed this way and others succeed that way. The big gorilla in the room is unbeatable and everyone else must grovel at their feet; except in all these exceptions. And so on.
October 4, 2010
Since this business book focuses on the technology market most, if not all, of it's examples are rather archaic since they come from the last ten years. What is amazing is that the framework it postulates (as a way to judge technology business success) seems to be accurate. Some of the companies that they earmark for success, have disappeared from the market, but using the theory in the book it is easy to see what those companies did wrong. Others have followed the predictions and are now sitting pretty as the market leaders in their category.
I'd recommend this to any technology geeks who want to read up on business strategy or to learn about how to succeed in an emerging market where the stakes are high and the action extremely fast-paced.
I'd recommend this to any technology geeks who want to read up on business strategy or to learn about how to succeed in an emerging market where the stakes are high and the action extremely fast-paced.
December 10, 2018
Listened to this in one morning due to its ability to maintain my interest and flow well.
A great layout to the sales process in a new market. Did focus mainly on the technology market but EASY application to other markets.
A great layout to the sales process in a new market. Did focus mainly on the technology market but EASY application to other markets.
November 15, 2018
(B school) Very specific guidance for navigating different levels of the adoption curve for a company. I liked that the recommendations were specific, but being so specific made the book hard to read. It would be much more beneficial if you were actually running a software company going through these cycles to provide context. The book is also outdated, making the company and product examples in the book difficult to follow because I wasn't familiar with most of the companies. I also think some of the advice doesn't apply in the current environment because the technology industry isn't as dependent on microprocessor development as we were 10 or 20 years ago, which is a major argument of Moore's.
May 7, 2009
Interestingly, not only did I find this book a stimulating introduction to guerilla marketing tactics in Silicon Valley's tech industries. I believe that I have also benefited in other areas from the unique brand of intelligence Moore advocates by the models he advances. I read it as part of an entrepreneurial strategy class at BYU and found it pretty fascinating in its own right. It gave me a fresh insight into the dynamics of business growth in a relatively volatile competitive landscape.
June 1, 2019
Interesting extension of Crossing the Chasm, but over done
The ideas in Crossing the Chasm were fundamental insights into technology markets that have shaped the thinking and vernacular of future leaders. Inside the Tornado falls well short of this standard.
Tornado is at its best when summarising and extending ideas from Chasm. However, too few of the new ideas feel like compelling insights, in their own right. More problematic, many of the ideas are lost in the author’s attempt to code them in too much new vernacular that is more confusing them helpful. Many of the examples in the book are too niche and dated at this point to be instructive.
The ideas in Crossing the Chasm were fundamental insights into technology markets that have shaped the thinking and vernacular of future leaders. Inside the Tornado falls well short of this standard.
Tornado is at its best when summarising and extending ideas from Chasm. However, too few of the new ideas feel like compelling insights, in their own right. More problematic, many of the ideas are lost in the author’s attempt to code them in too much new vernacular that is more confusing them helpful. Many of the examples in the book are too niche and dated at this point to be instructive.
September 28, 2019
For some reason, I have not come across to this business book earlier. Probably because in today's business one's perception might be that any strategic observation and suggested consideration is already out-of-date after a decade. So I was absolutely amazed to read about how Moore sees the role of high tech companies during the Technical Adoption Life Cycle. For me, it explained quite a few personal experiences in different industries - why and how the competition developed. Though some of the findings are not necessarily relevant to smaller (and medium) businesses, anyone aiming to generate hypergrowth or just curious should read!
December 31, 2017
Great book that is a companion to "Crossing the Chasm". The tornado comes up in the chasm when the market leader is propelled into it by the sudden stampede of pragmatist buyers who choose a vendor to become the de facto standard. Then the rest quickly follow as a self-fulfilling prophecy. As more pragmatic buyers choose the same company, the decision for which vendor to choose eventually goes away and the market has a dominant leader.
July 16, 2019
some good ideas. i'm convinced: the geek needs the despised salesperson promising the ridiculous. but a lot of this book was the author restating the same ideas which could have been written much more succinctly. i wonder if the publisher pushed him to make it more long-winded so consumers think they got their money's worth, in # of pages. would i pay the same price for... a pamphlet? (i got it used for $2) does the repetition make me remember his ideas more?
May 4, 2023
Читать тяжело, написано оч сложным и нудным языком. Но оно того стоит!
Мысли полезные. Подход к маркетингу, описанный в книге, фундаментальный - поэтому она все еще актуальна в 2022, спустя десятки лет. Да, примеры из книги устарели и неплохо бы ее актуализировать и переиздать.
Резюмируя, идеи в книги ни капли не устарели и стоит прочтения. Для меня нашлось много нового, полезного и совсем не очевидного. Рекомендую.
Мысли полезные. Подход к маркетингу, описанный в книге, фундаментальный - поэтому она все еще актуальна в 2022, спустя десятки лет. Да, примеры из книги устарели и неплохо бы ее актуализировать и переиздать.
Резюмируя, идеи в книги ни капли не устарели и стоит прочтения. Для меня нашлось много нового, полезного и совсем не очевидного. Рекомендую.
May 25, 2022
There are parts of this book that I liked and there are the ones that felt outdated. Lots of examples are based on business cases from the 80s and 90s (which is not that bad in itself) but there's a staggering number of them that refers to hardware businesses instead of software ones. There are not a lot of actionable items one could derive from this book.
May 24, 2021
Great continuation of original crossing the chasm. This part of the book is dedicated to the problem of what to do, once the chasm is crossed over and how to win the early and late majority in the bell curve
October 22, 2023
Pretty unique argument that the organizational skills and personal traits it takes to succeed vary categorically in different ages of the product life cycle, and that an organisation could conceivably face multiple life cycles in parallel across the different markets it sells in
June 13, 2017
A super technical book that offers very practical guidance on how companies should maneuver through the high tech technology adoption cycle
August 29, 2017
The book that the gang of steve jobs and gate read and that I highly recommend.
How to produce an IT product in the marketplace
How to produce an IT product in the marketplace
January 9, 2018
I heard Geoffrey speak about this books when I worked at Hewlett Packard in (roughly) 1996. It was great content then and it still is now.
April 10, 2018
Dated and verbose, but some of it is relevant to the current market climate my company is in. I think the story could be told more simply and less pretentiously.
November 15, 2018
The book is equally good as “crossing the chasm”. It bring a clear picture on what needs to be done after crossing the chasm. It gives in-depth advice on strategies.
February 14, 2019
Great read, analysis of competitiveness of markets and how it emerges and shifts. Old one but still always relevent. One of the few that worth a second read
November 27, 2019
Creo que la teoría del libro es muy buena y sigue aplicando hasta nuestros días, por lo cual merece una actualización en los ejemplos de empresas que se utilizan.
January 13, 2020
Book tells us how to bring company from pre-chasm to chasm and to post-chasm inside tornados and tornados.
June 18, 2021
Dated at this point...
August 30, 2021
Still relevant
January 2, 2022
Not nearly as good as crossing the chasm but still enjoyed it.
August 13, 2022
Although not as good as Crossing the Chasm, this book from Moore was still groundbreaking.
November 9, 2022
Anyone in the startup, growth or investing world needs to read this
Want to read
January 30, 2023Bill recommended on how to use it tapping into customers
It helped him significantly
It helped him significantly
July 2, 2023
At first this felt like your average business book but after half way through I started to see the key points and their value. The book has a nice set of useful and thought-provoking concepts.
July 6, 2023
Very intriguing for those companies who want to be market leaders. Jeff discussed different stages of tech adoption life cycle and how companies should position themselves against competitors.
December 10, 2008
Geoffrey A. Moore
Main Points
• High-tech marketing philosophy
• Claims that marketing technology-based products is different from marketing standard consumer products
• Explores marketing stages with “Technology Adoption Life Cycle”
• Charts power distribution within a company and the marketplace as high-tech companies engage in traditional business strategies (strategic partnerships, competitive advantage, positioning, organizational leadership)
• Provides examples from high-tech firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and Pyramid
• Discontinuous innovations or paradigm shifts begin when a new category of product appears, incorporating breakthrough technology—require end user and marketplace to dramatically change past behavior. The new thing either succeeds or fails, but if it is embraced by the marketplace, the tornado begins.
• High-tech marketplace is constantly restructuring, power moving from one place to another as new technology is created and new companies emerge as leaders.
• This book is about high-tech but can be applied to other “high-change sectors where discontinuous forces are driving an analogous kind of reengineering to their infrastructures.” “Publishing: This used to mean putting words on paper. Enough said.” (p.9)
• Point of book is to map out the new landscape and explore its implications for setting business strategy (what does it look like and how do we use it to our advantage?).
• 6 different stages in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle—points where market forces drive companies to change strategies dramatically. Model = bell curve with different market communities. Product may enjoy early success, but then fall into the chasm and fail.
Early Market
o Innovators (technology enthusiasts)
o Early Adopters (visionaries)
CHASM
Mainstream Market
o Early Majority (pragmatists)
o Late Majority (conservatives)
o Laggards (skeptics)
• To cross the chasm, pick one segment of pragmatist customers and give them everything they want (put all eggs in one basket) to gain a niche.
o Get foothold, move on from there
• Need different business strategies for the different stages of post-chasm life (p.25):
o The Early Market
o The Chasm
o The Bowling Alley
o The Tornado
o Main Street
o End of Life
• 4 major areas of business strategy profoundly impacted by the Technology Adoption Life Cycle’s forces:
o Strategic partnerships (trace how power moves from service providers to product suppliers and back again)
o Competitive advantage (look at interaction among leaders, challengers, and followers and how each enjoys a period of advantage as they move through the stages)
o Positioning (how do we assert our place within the hierarchy of power relationships in the market)
o Organizational leadership (top management must learn to entertain and support contradictory marketing principles)
• Strategy must change as marketplace moves through the stages (p.26).
How It Applies to W&N
• Major publishers are beginning to adopt technology in their products.
• Still working out how to use it in the classroom—need to transition from giving it away to selling it.
• What stage are we in? Need to identify stage and adjust business strategy accordingly.
Main Points
• High-tech marketing philosophy
• Claims that marketing technology-based products is different from marketing standard consumer products
• Explores marketing stages with “Technology Adoption Life Cycle”
• Charts power distribution within a company and the marketplace as high-tech companies engage in traditional business strategies (strategic partnerships, competitive advantage, positioning, organizational leadership)
• Provides examples from high-tech firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and Pyramid
• Discontinuous innovations or paradigm shifts begin when a new category of product appears, incorporating breakthrough technology—require end user and marketplace to dramatically change past behavior. The new thing either succeeds or fails, but if it is embraced by the marketplace, the tornado begins.
• High-tech marketplace is constantly restructuring, power moving from one place to another as new technology is created and new companies emerge as leaders.
• This book is about high-tech but can be applied to other “high-change sectors where discontinuous forces are driving an analogous kind of reengineering to their infrastructures.” “Publishing: This used to mean putting words on paper. Enough said.” (p.9)
• Point of book is to map out the new landscape and explore its implications for setting business strategy (what does it look like and how do we use it to our advantage?).
• 6 different stages in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle—points where market forces drive companies to change strategies dramatically. Model = bell curve with different market communities. Product may enjoy early success, but then fall into the chasm and fail.
Early Market
o Innovators (technology enthusiasts)
o Early Adopters (visionaries)
CHASM
Mainstream Market
o Early Majority (pragmatists)
o Late Majority (conservatives)
o Laggards (skeptics)
• To cross the chasm, pick one segment of pragmatist customers and give them everything they want (put all eggs in one basket) to gain a niche.
o Get foothold, move on from there
• Need different business strategies for the different stages of post-chasm life (p.25):
o The Early Market
o The Chasm
o The Bowling Alley
o The Tornado
o Main Street
o End of Life
• 4 major areas of business strategy profoundly impacted by the Technology Adoption Life Cycle’s forces:
o Strategic partnerships (trace how power moves from service providers to product suppliers and back again)
o Competitive advantage (look at interaction among leaders, challengers, and followers and how each enjoys a period of advantage as they move through the stages)
o Positioning (how do we assert our place within the hierarchy of power relationships in the market)
o Organizational leadership (top management must learn to entertain and support contradictory marketing principles)
• Strategy must change as marketplace moves through the stages (p.26).
How It Applies to W&N
• Major publishers are beginning to adopt technology in their products.
• Still working out how to use it in the classroom—need to transition from giving it away to selling it.
• What stage are we in? Need to identify stage and adjust business strategy accordingly.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews