Steve Jobs Cared Intensely About Market Research

Gaurav Chande / July 14, 2013 (163 Words, 1 Minutes)

Many people who are new to computer/software business make the right choice of learning from great people in the industry. But, you gotta be really aware of what values you choose to incorporate in you. This is because those same great people learn from their mistakes all the time, but they seldom go back and correct their famous words.

Steve Jobs once famously mentioned, “I think Henry Ford once said, ‘If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, “A faster horse!”’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research.” These words are often glorified by newbie entrepreneurs. To tell you the truth, following this “wisdom” can be the most dangerous thing you can do to your startup.

First of all, as far as I know, Steve Jobs said that before being ousted from Apple (which was when he was still learning to be an entrepreneur). And secondly, good market research has nothing to do with asking customers what they want. Market research is super important because it helps you answer, as our VP of Marketing would say, the single most important question: ‘how will I get people to use my product?’.

You have to be crazy to think that Steve Jobs did not care about market research. Just watch this video series (from the time he founded NeXT Computer) to know why. It is the most intense market research I’ve ever come across. If you have been sleeping with the “peaceful thought” of ‘no market research needed!’, this will open up your eyes nice & wide:

If you really want to learn important things from Steve Jobs, check out the stuff he talked about in the last 10 years of his life. That was the time he did the most important work of his life. And more importantly, that was when he was done making most mistakes in the book.