Congratulations on your truly remarkable innovation!
But here's the blunt truth: most new products, regardless of their brilliance, innovation, or potential to improve lives, ultimately fail. Innovators often clearly envision a world where their creation dominates the market, headlines and makes them rich along the way. However, this outcome is all too rare.
Consider MP3 players. Remember the MPman F10, the Rio, or the Creative Nomad Jukebox? Neither do I. But we all vividly recall the iPod – which came after many other similar products.
Why do many excellent products, services, or technologies falter while sometimes inferior ones succeed? It's because they attempt the impossible—they aim to capture everyone's attention. In doing so, they stumble into what Geoffrey Moore famously termed "the chasm"—a vast void between early adopters and the broader market. It's where promising ideas meet their demise.
You might argue, "But this new product is genuinely incredible!" However, two significant obstacles stand in your way. First, we're all bombarded with messages incessantly from all directions, forcing us to tune most of them out – making it nearly impossible to gain attention. Second, gaining acceptance for a new idea means challenging entrenched habits—a notoriously difficult feat.