Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
153
 www.ideavirus.com
What happened? Turns out people on the right side of the chasm aren’t just lazier or less
intellectually curious than the folks on the left of the chasm. It turns out that people on the
right are 
fundamentally different
from the folks on the left. How?
Pre-chasm people want something cool. Post-chasm people want something that works.
A nerd wants the latest personal digital assistant. An executive wants to keep her
appointments straight.
A cutting-edge IT guy at Allstate wants a device that will use satellite technology to update
claims instantly. The CEO at Nationwide wants something that will reduce costs.
A fashionista wants the latest haute couture outfit from Paris, regardless of how ridiculous it
looks. The party girl wants something that’ll get her a hot date next week.
The foodie wants maple-jalapeño corncakes, layered with crème fraiche and bourbon. The
hungry person just wants something to eat.
As you can see, focusing on the folks who will give you early feedback, be your initial
sneezers, your first customers and probably your start-up’s employees is a one-way ticket to
doom. Their advice will help you make stuff that’s expensive, heavy, hard to use, awkward

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Unleashing the Ideavirus
154
 www.ideavirus.com
and difficult to understand. You’ll be the darling of some well-respected sneezers, and then
you’ll fail. This is why many ideaviruses start with plenty of powerful sneezers but end up
dying.
It happened to Apple with the Newton. It happened to Microsoft with almost every product
they’ve ever launched (Bill Gates is to the far, far left of the chasm—that’s why it takes
Microsoft to version 3 to build something that catches on). It happened to Reebok and to
Stephen Sondheim and to Lou Reed. In every case, they indulged the pre-chasm audience
and lost the big wins on the right. (Of course, in some cases—like Microsoft—sheer staying
power is able to 
force
you over the chasm.)
The challenge in launching an ideavirus is to understand who the pre-chasm sneezers are,
and using them but not letting them use you. In other words, they’re the ones who are most
likely to embrace your new idea and talk about it, but if you don’t get past them to the rest
of the curve, you’re doomed.
Why do Woody Allen movies consistently sell so few tickets? They’re certainly adored by
critics, nominated for awards and attended by a core group of sneezers. The reason is simple:
the virus hits a chasm. There’s a huge gap between the Woody Allen audience and the rest of
the population. Because of this chasm, the word rarely spreads as far and as wide as it could.
The success of his latest movie, “Small Time Crooks,” points to the problem. This movie has
box-office results that rank among the top four he’s ever released for one simple reason.
During the month it was released, it was the only clean family movie available. By focusing
(intentionally or not) on creating a wry, funny movie that was understandable at many levels
and worth bringing your kids to, Woody crossed the chasm. Suddenly, the sneezers were
saying, “This is a great movie for your family,” instead of saying, “this is another great
Woody Allen movie.”
Some viruses are just never going to cross the chasm. Try as they might, the computer nerds
are having no luck at all getting normal people to start using Linux. And the guys who sell
the hottest hot sauce in the world are just not going to find themselves on the table at TGI
Friday’s restaurant.

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