In thinking through the two most recent posts on 5 Ways to Identify Product/Market Fit and 5 Quick Steps to Go From Product/Market Fit Focused to Customer Acquisition Focused, it became clear to me that there’s value in organizing the startup lifecycle into generic stages. With simple stages, it’s easier to communicate and focus in on what’s important when talking with entrepreneurs (e.g. how often have you heard entrepreneurs worrying about scaling their product when they don’t have customers yet).

Here are the four stages of a B2B startup:

• Stage 1 – Search for Product/Market Fit (1 – 2 years)
  This involves putting the core team together, building a simple version of the product, signing the first 20+ customers, and honing in on the needs of the market. Most startups fail in this stage.
• Stage 2 – Build a Repeatable Customer Acquisition Process (1 – 2 years)
  This involves…