All book summaries
Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey A. Moore (1991)
What makes it unique: It identifies the specific psychological gap between early adopters and the pragmatic majority, and gives a beachhead strategy for crossing it — a lens almost every tech go-to-market still uses.
Summary
Geoffrey Moore's classic explains why so many innovative products win early enthusiasts yet fail to reach the mainstream. Between the visionary early adopters and the pragmatic early majority lies a "chasm" — and the two groups buy for completely different reasons. Early adopters want a breakthrough; the mainstream wants a safe, complete, proven solution. Products die in the chasm when companies assume momentum will simply carry them across.
Moore's prescription is to cross the chasm by targeting a single beachhead niche, dominating it completely with a "whole product" that solves the pragmatist's entire problem, and using that foothold to expand. For B2B technology and innovation-led companies, this book is essential for sequencing go-to-market: focus narrowly, win a reference segment, then widen. It reinforces the niche-first discipline we apply to tenant positioning.
Ideas worth exploring
- There is a chasm between visionary early adopters and the pragmatic majority.
- Cross it by dominating one narrow beachhead niche, not attacking everyone.
- Pragmatists want a "whole product" — the complete solution, not just the core.
- Use reference customers to reassure the risk-averse majority.
- Focus beats breadth when you are trying to go mainstream.
Further resources
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