The Four Steps to the Epiphany

W

HAT

’

S 

W

RONG WITH 

T

HIS 

P

ICTURE

? 

Given that the product development model is used by almost every organization launching a new 

product, asking what’s wrong with it might seem as heretical as asking “What’s wrong with 

breathing?” Nevertheless, for Webvan and thousands of other startups, it has failed miserably.  

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model. Not a marketing model, not a 

sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model. Yet startup 

companies have traditionally used a product development model to manage and pace all these non-

engineering activities. The misnamed process is merely a hint of the ten major flaws of the product 

development model.