Jobs to be Done Theory: A Startup’s Secret Weapon

Did you know that 95% of businesses fail within the first five years? The number one reason for this failure is lack of product-market fit, which means building something that customers do not want or need. But how can you avoid this pitfall and create products that customers love? In this article, I will share with you a simple but powerful framework called jobs to be done theory which could help early-stage startups create products that customers love. But first, let me ask you a question: Do you know what customers really want and need from your product?

The main takeaway of this post is that by using jobs to be done theory, you can shift your perspective from product-centric to customer-centric and create products that solve real customer problems and deliver real customer value.

Experience: How I Applied Jobs to be Done Theory in My Work as a Mentor and Entrepreneur

As a mentor and entrepreneur in residence at Startup Ecosystem, I have worked with hundreds of early-stage founders across various domains and industries. One of the most common challenges that I encountered was that many founders were too focused on their product features and specifications, rather than on their customer needs and desires. They often assumed that they knew what customers wanted, without validating their assumptions or testing their solutions.

To help these founders shift their perspective from product-centric to customer-centric, I introduced them to jobs to be done theory. This is a framework that helps you understand what customers want from the products they buy, not in terms of features or attributes, but in terms of outcomes and benefits. According to this theory, customers don’t buy products; they hire them to do jobs that they need to get done in specific situations or circumstances.

Using this framework, we were able to identify the functional, emotional, and social aspects of the jobs that customers wanted to get done with our products. For instance, one of the startups I mentored was developing a mobile app for language learning. By applying jobs to be done theory, we discovered that their customers wanted to hire their app not only to learn a new language (functional aspect), but also to feel confident and proud of themselves (emotional aspect), and to connect with other learners and native speakers (social aspect). Based on these insights, we were able to prioritize the features and functionalities that would deliver these outcomes and benefits for our customers.

I applied jobs to be done theory in my own startup journey. I founded Loyalty Credit, a platform that provides lending recommendations for SMEs who might not otherwise be eligible for traditional loans. However, the challenge I faced was that I focused more on the mechanics of how to do the credit scoring and providing a lending recommendation, rather than on prioritizing the ease of actually getting the loan and paying it back. The second part was the key differentiator to make the business viable. By using jobs to be done theory, I realized that my customers wanted to hire my platform not only to get access to credit (functional aspect), but also to feel secure and supported (emotional aspect), and to grow their businesses and achieve their goals (social aspect). Based on these insights, I was able to redesign my platform to offer features and functionalities that would deliver these outcomes and benefits for my customers.

Background: What is Jobs to be Done Theory and Where Did It Come From?

Bob Moesta, the president and CEO of Re-Wired Group, helped develop the JTBD framework alongside innovation strategist and former IBM senior product planner Tony Ulwick and Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen. The theory holds that to create a product or service that customers will want to buy, you must first understand what fundamental measures of performance those customers use to measure success when getting the job done.

“The theory itself,” Ulwick explained, “is based on this notion that people buy products to get a job done. So instead of studying the products and asking people what products they want, let’s talk to them about what they’re trying to achieve and how they measure success at each step of the way.”

Knowing what these “jobs” are — in essence, people’s desires — is the first step toward meeting customer demand in the right way.

Or as Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt famously put it: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”

Examples: How Spotify, Uber, and Duolingo Used Jobs to be Done Theory to Disrupt Their Markets

Some well-known startups that have used jobs to be done theory successfully are Spotify, Uber, and Duolingo.

Spotify understood that their customers wanted to hire their product not only to listen to music (functional aspect), but also to discover new songs and artists (emotional aspect), and to share their playlists and preferences with others (social aspect).

Uber understood that their customers wanted to hire their product not only to get from point A to point B (functional aspect), but also to save time and money (emotional aspect), and to enjoy a comfortable and convenient ride (social aspect).

Duolingo understood that their customers wanted to hire their product not only to learn a new language (functional aspect), but also to have fun and challenge themselves (emotional aspect), and to communicate with other cultures and people (social aspect).

More examples are in this article.

Conclusion: Jobs to be Done Theory: A Simple but Powerful Framework for Startups

By using jobs to be done theory, we were able to create products that met our customers’ true needs and desires, rather than our own assumptions or preferences. We were also able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by offering unique value propositions that addressed not only the functional aspects of the jobs, but also the emotional and social ones. As a result, we were able to increase our customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty, as well as our market share and revenue.

Jobs to be done theory is a simple but powerful framework that can help you create products that customers love. By focusing on what customers want from your products, rather than on what your products can do for them, you can deliver solutions that solve their problems and fulfill their desires in specific situations or circumstances. I hope this post has inspired you to apply jobs to be done theory in your own startup journey.

If you have any questions or feedback for me, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to me via LinkedIn.