Andy Rachleff, President & CEO of Wealthfront Presentation at the 2012 Lean Startup SXSW, Austin

1. Customer Development
Andy Rachleff
Founder & CEO

2. Those who can’t do, teach.

4. Customers Managers
(Demand) (Supply)

5. Always start with a
measureable customer
hypothesis
(It’s just the scientific method applied to business)

6. Our First Version (The Concierge Model)

7. Lesson #1
Crawl before you walk.
(Pencil & paper can be just as valuable as software)

8. 2

9. 4

10. 1

11. 5

12. Lesson #2
Understand the most important
attribute of your product.
(For us, it’s simplicity)

13. 6

14. 7

15. 8

16. 9

17. 10

18. 11

19. Lesson #3
You don’t need a designer to do
customer development.
(It’s better to have a “UX developer”)

20. 11

21. Lesson #4
Not everyone should
like your idea.
(Don’t be afraid to take risks)

22. Lessons Learned
 Crawl before you walk
 Understand the most important attribute of your product
 You don’t need to be a designer to do customer development
 Not everyone should like your idea

23. The Most Important Lesson
During the discovery phase,
it’s more important to learn and
iterate than to execute.