# #018 - Why not to out-innovate your customer, with Alan Klement, Entrepreneur & Innovator, USA

- Show: [The Hardware Entrepreneur](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur)
- Published: 2017-03-22
- Length: 32m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat
- Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thehardwareentrepreneur/018.mp3

## Summary

Alan Klement, author of 'When Coffee and Kale Compete', explains the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework, arguing that customers define competition by the progress they seek rather than product categories. He analyzes the failure of the ChotuKool fridge in India, noting that Godrej and Clayton Christensen failed to account for the deep-seated habits and anxiety surrounding unreliable power that kept customers using clay pots. Klement warns innovators not to 'out-innovate' the customer, using the iPhone's delayed launch relative to the iPod as an example of preparing the market before introducing disruptive technology.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat#t=0) Introduction and Book Title Origin
- [10:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat#t=621) JTBD Theory and Steve Jobs' Innovation Style
- [14:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat#t=850) The ChotuKool Failure and Switching Costs
- [21:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat#t=1308) Don't Out-Innovate the Customer: The iPhone Example
- [24:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-22-018-why-not-to-out-innovate-your-customer-with-alan-klement-entrepreneur-innovat#t=1467) Personal Advice, Books, and Cultural Differences

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- When Coffee and Kale Compete (product)
- ChotuKool (product)
- Godrej (company)
- Clayton Christensen (other)
- iPhone (product)
- iPod (product)
- Apple (company)
- Nokia (company)
- The New Economics (product)
- The Design Way (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Less competition, more creation with Renée Mauborgne](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-04-04-less-competition-more-creation-with-renee-mauborgne) (How I Built This)
- [Five Biggest Mistakes Hardware Startups Make with Customers with Dave Millman of BizDev Global](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-01-07-five-biggest-mistakes-hardware-startups-make-with-customers-with-dave-millman-of) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [121: Disrupt an Industry with your Hardware Invention](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-04-06-121-disrupt-an-industry-with-your-hardware-invention) (Product Startup)
- [115: How to Successfully Design & Launch a Toy Invention](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-23-115-how-to-successfully-design-launch-a-toy-invention) (Product Startup)
- [Start With the Problem, Not the Technology w/ Jonathon Hensley](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-10-06-start-with-the-problem-not-the-technology-w-jonathon-hensley) (The Manufacturing Executive)

## Citing this page

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