Stratrix

Quick reference

Key formula / structure

Early adopters buy the vision; pragmatists buy proof from peers. Cross with one use case, in one industry, done completely.

Memory aid

The first buyers' enthusiasm is not the second buyers' reason.

TL;DR

Sort your customers into those who bought the vision and those who bought proof. Expect sales to stall after the first group. Pick one segment, defined by industry and use case, where you can lead. Build everything that segment needs to succeed, make the first customers succeed visibly, and use them as references to win the adjacent segment.

What Is Crossing the Chasm?

The technology adoption life cycle sorts buyers of something new by how early they adopt it: innovators, early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and laggards. Geoffrey Moore's insight was that the line between early adopters and the early majority is not a smooth step but a chasm. Early adopters buy a vision. The early majority, whom Moore calls pragmatists, buy proof from people like them. To cross, a company picks one narrow segment of pragmatists, gives them everything they need to succeed, and uses them as references for the next segment.

Countless start-ups have captured the enthusiasm of early adopters only to languish in the chasm, a period when the majority of buyers are still taking a wait-and-see approach.

— Geoffrey A. Moore, geoffreyamoore.com

Most teams read early enthusiasm as proof that the rest of the market will follow. Moore's point is that the two groups buy for opposite reasons. "Early adopters buy into the vision of the entrepreneur and are willing to lean in to make it a reality," he writes, while "pragmatists want to see it proven out first, specifically in use cases that they themselves have and with customers they know and can reference." That is why so many products stall after a strong start: "Countless start-ups have captured the enthusiasm of early adopters only to languish in the chasm, a period when the majority of buyers are still taking a wait-and-see approach." The early adopters' praise does not carry over, because a pragmatist wants proof in their own use case, from customers they know. Google Glass is the vivid case: it sold to Explorers at $1,500, and the public had a slur for its wearers before the first units shipped. When it returned it was an Enterprise Edition, aimed at workers. Moore's answer is to stop marketing to everyone and win one segment completely.

The technology adoption life cycle, and the chasm

Five groups of buyers, in the order they adopt. The chasm sits between the second and the third.

Innovators

Try it for its own sake

→

Early adopters

Buy the vision

→

The chasm

Sales stall while the majority waits

→

Early majority

Pragmatists: want proof from peers

→

Late majority

Buy once it is the standard

→

Laggards

Adopt last, if ever

Origin & context

Geoffrey A. Moore, who had worked in marketing consulting at Regis McKenna Inc., published Crossing the Chasm with HarperBusiness in 1991, with revised editions in 1999 and 2014; by his own account it has sold over 1 million copies. The book builds on the technology adoption life cycle and on diffusion research, in which Everett M. Rogers, in Diffusion of Innovations (Free Press, 1962), set out five adopter categories: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Moore's contribution was the gap: the critical transition, as his site puts it, from "serving early adopters to capturing the early majority market."

Builds on: Everett M. Rogers (1962), Diffusion of Innovations (Free Press; fifth edition 2003); Geoffrey A. Moore (1991), Crossing the Chasm (HarperBusiness; revised 1999; third edition 2014).

Crossing the Chasm in action

Google Glass

Sold to the visionaries, judged by everyone else

On June 27, 2012, at its developer conference, Google opened sales of Glass through its Explorer Program, for $1,500: a price and a name aimed at the people who wanted to build on it.

The mainstream's verdict came before the product. The word "Glasshole" appeared in a TechCrunch article dated January 28, 2013. The first Explorer units did not ship until April 16, 2013, and broad public sale did not open until April 15, 2014.

On January 15, 2015, Google ended the Explorer Program, with a last purchase date of January 19, and called it a "graduation" rather than a cancellation. Astro Teller, the head of Google X, later said the team "got a little off track" by "trying to jump all the way to the consumer applications" before there was a clear use case.

When Glass came back, in July 2017, it came back narrow: an Enterprise Edition, tested at Boeing and GE, for people using it at work. A second enterprise version followed in May 2019.

Google discontinued all Glass sales on March 15, 2023. The enterprise niche gave Glass a second life; it did not lead to a wider market.

Read the full story: how Google Glass lost the public →

Salesforce and Merrill Lynch

The reference that nearly walked

In late February 2007, at an event in New York, Salesforce, a company that mostly sold software to small sales teams, announced a deal with Merrill Lynch that the trade press described at 25,000 seats. Merrill became its biggest customer overnight, and the deal was timed to the launch of a purpose-built Wealth Management Edition.

For a company living with the reputation that the cloud was for startups, it was the kind of reference a cautious enterprise buyer looks for. Marc Benioff said the on-demand model was "winning the war for the enterprise over more traditional on-premise rivals."

But a reference is only as good as its users' experience. In Benioff's own later account, Merrill had installed Salesforce for "22,000 client advisers," "the first truly massive business to sign with us." By 2013 those advisers "didn't like" the software, and the account nearly left, in what Benioff calls the "Merrill Lynch Mutiny of 2013."

The relationship held, and the 2007 win gave Salesforce the enterprise credibility it was after, but it came close to unraveling six years later.

Read the full story: the Merrill Lynch deal →

Using it in the room

Use it when early sales are strong but mainstream buyers are not following, when choosing the first market for a new product, and in any growth review that assumes adoption will keep climbing at its early pace.

Questions to ask

  • ?Which of our customers bought the vision, and which bought because a peer already used it?
  • ?Would a cautious buyer in our target industry call any of our current customers?
  • ?Which single segment has the most painful problem we can solve completely?
  • ?What else does that segment need, beyond our product, to get the result?
  • ?Once we lead that segment, which segment next will trust its references?

The 30-minute version

Ten minutes to sort your current customers into visionaries and pragmatists. Ten minutes to list three candidate segments by industry and use case. Five minutes to pick one. The rest to list what that segment needs beyond the product, and to name the first two customers you will make succeed.

Core Components

1

The adoption groups

Buyers of something new arrive in groups, from the earliest to the most reluctant. Everett Rogers named five adopter categories: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.

Example

For a new kind of software, the first buyers are often the teams that like trying tools before anyone else, and the last are the ones who switch only when the old tool stops being supported.

2

Visionaries and pragmatists

Early adopters buy the vision and will put up with rough edges to make it real. The early majority, Moore's pragmatists, want it proven in their own use case, with customers they know.

Example

An early adopter signs up after a demo; a pragmatist asks which other companies in their industry are already using it, and calls one of them.

3

The chasm

The gap between the two, where sales stall because the majority waits to see and the early adopters' praise does not persuade them.

Example

A product has enthusiastic users and press coverage, yet mainstream buyers keep saying "not yet".

4

One target segment

Moore's way across is a segment-focused approach that targets one demanding use case in one industry, rather than evangelistic marketing to everyone.

Example

Instead of selling a new device to the public, sell it to one kind of worker, for one job it does better than anything they use now.

5

The whole product

Everything the target customer needs to get the result, not just the core product: the partners, services and fit with how they work. Moore's book covers "building out the whole product" and "recruiting the right partners and allies."

Example

A software company sells to one industry and builds an edition for that industry's workflow, with the integrations its customers already depend on.

Moore's book has had three editions, in 1991, 1999 and 2014, and the subtitle changed with the times: technology products, then high-tech products, then disruptive products, each "to Mainstream Customers."

When to Use Crossing the Chasm

Scenario 1

After a strong launch that has started to stall

Problem it solves: Early sales and press were good, but mainstream buyers are not following.

Real-world application

A start-up with hundreds of enthusiastic users finds that larger companies keep asking for references it does not have.

Scenario 2

Choosing the first market for a new product line

Problem it solves: The team wants to sell to everyone and ends up winning no one completely.

Real-world application

A device maker picks one industry and one job before it builds marketing for the public.

Scenario 3

Planning reference customers

Problem it solves: The company has logos but no references a cautious buyer would trust.

Real-world application

A software company lands one well-known customer in its target industry and builds an edition for it.

Scenario 4

Reviewing a growth plan

Problem it solves: The plan assumes adoption will keep climbing at the early rate.

Real-world application

A board asks which segment the next year's growth comes from and who in that segment has already bought.

Your happiest customers may be the wrong references

Early adopters love the product for the very things a cautious buyer fears: newness, ambition, rough edges they enjoy working around. Before you put a customer on a slide, ask whether a pragmatist in your target industry would recognize them as a peer.

How to Apply Crossing the Chasm: Step by Step

Before you start

  • →A product with some early adopters already using it
  • →Honest data on who bought and why
  • →Willingness to say no to segments outside the target
Tools:A list of current customers with the reason each boughtA segment scoring sheetInterviews with target buyers
1

Sort the customers you have

List your customers and mark which bought the vision and which bought because a peer already used it. Most early customers will be the first kind.

Tips

  • ✓Ask each customer why they bought, in their words

Common mistakes

  • ✗Counting enthusiasm as evidence that the mainstream will follow
2

List candidate segments

Name segments by industry and use case together, narrow enough that buyers in one segment talk to each other.

Tips

  • ✓A segment is defined by a shared problem and a shared network

Common mistakes

  • ✗Defining a segment so broadly that no one in it knows anyone else in it
3

Pick one

Choose the segment with the most compelling reason to buy and where you can become the clear leader. Moore's book frames this as finding the compelling reason to buy and positioning to lead the chosen niche.

Tips

  • ✓Prefer a painful problem in a small segment over a mild one in a large segment

Common mistakes

  • ✗Choosing two or three segments to hedge
4

Build the whole product

Work out everything that segment needs to get the result: integrations, services, partners, training. Fill the gaps yourself or with partners.

Tips

  • ✓Ask a target customer what would stop them from going live in 90 days

Common mistakes

  • ✗Shipping the core product and leaving the customer to assemble the rest
5

Make the first customers succeed, visibly

Put your best people on the first accounts in the segment. A reference counts only if its users get the result.

Tips

  • ✓Track the users' results, not just the signed contract

Common mistakes

  • ✗Announcing a big logo and moving on before its users are happy
6

Use the segment to reach the next

Once you lead the first segment, move to the adjacent one whose buyers will trust references from the first.

Tips

  • ✓Pick the next segment that shares a use case or a network with the first

Common mistakes

  • ✗Jumping to a distant segment where your references mean nothing

Showing the result

One slide: the adoption life cycle with your customers placed on it, the chasm marked, and one arrow across it to the named target segment. Under it, the segment's compelling reason to buy, the whole-product gaps you will fill, and the first two reference customers you will make succeed.

On the slide

  • ✓The one target segment, named by industry and use case
  • ✓Its reason to buy now
  • ✓The first references and what they must achieve

Left off

  • ✕A long list of segments you might also serve
  • ✕Total market size for the whole category
  • ✕Early adopters' praise presented as mainstream demand

Value & Outcomes

Primary benefit

It explains why early success stalls and gives a concrete way through: one segment, won completely.

Additional benefits

  • ✓Separates the buyers who want a vision from those who want proof
  • ✓Forces a choice of target segment instead of marketing to everyone
  • ✓Turns references into a deliberate plan

What you'll learn

  • →How to tell an early adopter from a pragmatist
  • →How to choose a target segment you can lead
  • →Why a reference counts only when its users succeed

Typical outcomes

One named target segment and the reason it will buyA whole-product list for that segmentA plan for the first reference customers

Best Practices

📋 Preparation

  • •Interview recent buyers about why they bought
  • •Separate enthusiasts from pragmatists in your customer list
  • •Gather what you know about each candidate segment's problem and network

🚀 Execution

  • •Choose one segment and say no to the rest for now
  • •Define the whole product with a target customer in the room
  • •Staff the first accounts in the segment with your best people

🔄 Follow-Up

  • •Measure users' results at reference accounts, not only renewals
  • •Pick the next segment from those that trust the first
  • •Revisit the target if the segment's buyers still will not move

💎 Pro Tips

  • •A cautious buyer calls a peer, not your case study
  • •The narrower the first segment, the faster word spreads inside it
  • •If you cannot name the segment in one sentence, you have not chosen one
Choose the segment you can win completely

The test of a target segment is not its size but whether you can become the obvious choice in it. A small segment you lead gives you references; a large one where you are one of many gives you none.

Limitations & Pitfalls

⚡

It was written for technology products, and fits less neatly where buyers do not look to peers before they buy.

Mitigation: Ask first whether your buyers do check with peers before buying; if they do not, the chasm may be narrower

⚡

Choosing one segment means turning down revenue elsewhere, which is hard for a company that needs cash.

Mitigation: Take opportunistic sales but do not build for them; keep product and marketing on the target

⚡

A narrow segment can be won and still be too small, or can disappear. Glass's Enterprise Edition gave it a second life, and Google still discontinued all Glass sales on March 15, 2023.

Mitigation: Pick a first segment that leads to adjacent ones, and plan the next move before the first is won

⚡

A marquee reference helps only while its users are happy.

Mitigation: Measure the users' results at your references, not just the contract

What comes before and after

Run first

Lean startup →

Find out whether anyone wants the product before you plan how the mainstream will buy it.

Product-market fit →

The early market's fit is the starting point; the chasm asks whether it holds for pragmatists.

Run next

Beachhead market →

Size and commit to the one segment you chose.

STP marketing →

Position the product for that segment and against its incumbent.

Where this comes fromGeoffrey A. Moore introduced this (1991).

Sources & further reading

More Management Frameworks

Other frameworks in the Stratrix library.

Marketing & Customer

The Flywheel Model

The flywheel, Jim Collins's idea, describes momentum built by drivers that feed each other in a loop, so each turn makes the next one easier. Its power is in the links between the drivers, not the drivers themselves: Amazon had third-party sellers twice before it had a flywheel.

Marketing & Customer

Pirate Metrics (AARRR)

A startup metrics framework tracking five stages of the customer lifecycle — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral — to identify the biggest growth levers and optimize the full funnel.

Marketing & Customer

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

A customer loyalty measurement system based on one question — 'How likely are you to recommend us?' — that categorizes customers as Promoters, Passives, or Detractors and calculates a score from -100 to +100.

Marketing & Customer

Customer Journey Mapping

A visual representation of every interaction a customer has with your brand across all touchpoints and channels, from initial awareness through purchase to post-purchase, revealing pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Marketing & Customer

Customer Development

A four-step framework for validating business assumptions through direct customer interaction: Customer Discovery (understand the problem), Customer Validation (prove the solution sells), Customer Creation (scale demand), and Company Building (transition from startup to organization).

Marketing & Customer

Marketing Mix (4Ps/7Ps)

A foundational framework — the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion), extended to 7Ps for services — that marketers use to align and deliver offerings to target markets.

Tools to try

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