{"id":499,"date":"2025-03-12T13:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T18:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.american.edu\/carbonremoval\/?p=499"},"modified":"2025-03-12T13:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T18:41:19","slug":"how-cdr-can-cross-the-chasm-part-2-of-2-climagination-with-jason-grillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.american.edu\/carbonremoval\/2025\/03\/12\/how-cdr-can-cross-the-chasm-part-2-of-2-climagination-with-jason-grillo\/","title":{"rendered":"How CDR can cross \u2018The Chasm\u2019 (Part 2 of 2) \u2013 Climagination with Jason Grillo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting to a mainstream market is possible in carbon removal; here\u2019s some thoughts on how<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA bit of advice given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Jump.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It is not as wide as you think.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2015 Joseph Campbell<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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Welcome back! I\u2019m writing this as a companion post to <\/span>Part 1<\/span><\/a> where I proposed that CDR is at a \u2018chasm\u2019 point between an early market and a more mainstream class of customer. In this post (Part 2 of 2), I will offer some suggestions on how a carbon removal project developer might make that transition. Once again, I\u2019ll adapt key principles from Geoffrey Moore\u2019s <\/span>Crossing the Chasm<\/span><\/a> to durable carbon removal, this time talking about specific actions which early stage companies can take that might yield success.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a reminder, here is a graphic of Moore\u2019s technology adoption lifecycle curve:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image: https:\/\/smashfly.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/crossing-the-chas.jpg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And a shorthand reminder of the three segments most in play for CDR now:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. \n
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    1. \n
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      1. Enthusiasts (AKA Innovators) who are most interested in technology for technology\u2019s sake.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Visionary customers who want to be the first to implement new solutions as the start of revolutionizing the way businesses operate.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Pragmatists who are Mainstream customers less interested in being the first to lead, desiring lower risk products at higher volume, with more sensitivity on price.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Because these Mainstream customers are qualitatively quite different in their needs from Early Adopters, succeeding with that group is akin to bridging a marketing Chasm.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Achieving product adoption in this third, Pragmatist group requires a different set of tools compared to the first two. To that end, based on my reading of Moore\u2019s principles here are some strategies that I have adapted to durable CDR.<\/span><\/p>\n

        A: Target a segment of customers, not a whole market.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

        Moore talks a bit about finding a market larger enough to be A) financially meaningful but B) small enough that a company can achieve at least 50% of market share among those customers. Pragmatist customers are seeking \u2018the market leader\u2019 no matter what that market might be – this group might be geographically defined, or psychographically defined, but the critical point is to <\/span>define a small enough segment that you can dominate while still making meaningful financial gains.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

        Many companies fail by trying to define their market too broadly: \u201cWe\u2019ll target all of forestry with our innovative CDR solution!\u201d is, for a startup, an impossible task. Venture investors do like a 10-year \u2018hockey stick\u2019 growth curve showing how the company (and its investors) could be zillionaires\u2026in 2037; but they also really like a startup who shows how the initial, well-defined, smaller market segment will get the company through the next 2-3 years. Defining and dominating a tiny segment of the market and getting your business started among mainstream customers in that group is a way to win.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Examples: <\/span>Carbicrete<\/span><\/a> is manufacturing cast concrete pieces using CO2 as a feedstock. It would be one thing if they were to target \u201call concrete producers\u201d – a daunting task. Rather, they fixate on a specific starting point that would likely yield success, and then build from that initial group of customers in which the solution you provide is the dominant one.\u00a0 Example 2: <\/span>Goal300<\/span><\/a> is targeting Christmas Tree farms in the Pacific Northwest as customers who would apply enhanced rock weathering to soils. It\u2019s a specific type of customer, who has a customized set of needs, but large enough to get the business started to bridge later to a more mainstream market.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Generating reference customers through word of mouth is the goal here. One mainstream Pragmatist customer will talk to other Pragmatist customers about their product experience: as they are more risk averse relative to Visionary customers, they value the assurance of having another person\u2019s opinion on a product before buying it. Cast concrete purchasers who speak to other cast concrete purchasers. Christmas Tree farmers who talk to other Christmas Tree farmers in a particular region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        Talk to a variety of customers in different segments when thinking through which one to target. And also listen for the needs of various internal stakeholders within that customer company (more on this coming up in Part \u2018B\u2019 below!).<\/span><\/p>\n

        A great way for such customer discovery is to attend the industry conference for that particular customer segment! Learn who they talk to, and how they relate to each other, and what their common needs are. Because insofar as a market exists, it moves at the speed of word of mouth from reference customer to reference customer, building momentum for success among the first mainstream segment to target, so that the product can get adopted by other segments after establishing itself as the market leader in that initial \u2018beachhead\u2019 segment.<\/span><\/p>\n

        B: Figure out how to satisfy three crucial stakeholder roles in your target customer.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

        Those influencers within the customer entity, per Moore, are:<\/span><\/p>\n

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        1. \n
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          1. \n
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            1. The end-user<\/b>: who uses the product you sell<\/span><\/li>\n
            2. The technical buyer<\/b>: who evaluates the qualifications of your product<\/span><\/li>\n
            3. The economic buyer<\/b>: who provides the financial resource to pay for the product<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              To illustrate, I\u2019ll use the best non-climate example from my professional experience in pharmaceuticals:<\/span><\/p>\n