The VC Field Guide

6Why = Solution

When I was first creating this framework, I initially called this component of the framework “customer empathy.” My rationale was that when you look at companies in the long term, including companies that can sustain their success for a long time, one reason for their prolonged performance is that these companies have been able to serve their customers––existing and new––and in multiple different ways. One example, on the consumer side, is Apple. They have been able to serve the consumer in multiple different ways, really incredibly well. Starting with the Mac and continuing with the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple Music, they really built an ecosystem around their company. They've continued building so many tools and solutions that have delighted their consumers over and over again and they have been able to serve both consumers and enterprise with their products. But the key thing here is, what are they really good at? They're really good at serving their consumers, the tech consumers, with products that keep those same customers coming back again and again. Apple didn't create completely new products for completely new customers, but products that evolve with the same customers.

Another really good example on the enterprise side is Microsoft. Microsoft has demonstrated over and over again their ability to serve the enterprise. Starting from, of course, Windows, the operating system, but then also the Office suite of applications, and then one wild card for them, ...