In today's rapidly shifting technological landscape, the specter of obsolescence looms large, threatening even the most innovative products. Companies that chase fleeting technological trends often find their offerings quickly outdated, leading to significant financial and operational burdens. At thrv, we champion a more enduring approach: reducing technology obsolescence with our proprietary and patented Jobs to be Done (JTBD) driven product evolution. This article explains how a deep understanding of customer Jobs to be Done guides our portfolio companies in developing products that maintain relevance and create superior equity returns over time through proactive product roadmaps.
Technology obsolescence is not a new problem, but its impact is intensifying. As innovation cycles shorten, the pressure on companies to adapt their products and systems grows exponentially. Understanding this challenge is the first step towards effectively addressing it.
Technology obsolescence occurs when a product, service, or technology is no longer wanted or useful, even though it may still be in good working order. This can happen for various reasons:
Essentially, technology becomes obsolete when it can no longer adequately help a customer get their job done compared to newer alternatives.
The speed of technological advancement means that what is cutting-edge today can become a liability tomorrow. Consider that 69% of currently active hardware may no longer be supported by 2027. This rapid churn presents substantial risks:
These risks underscore the necessity for a strategic approach to product evolution, moving beyond reactive fixes.
Many companies attempt to manage obsolescence through conventional methods such as:
While these tactics can provide temporary relief, they are fundamentally reactive. They address the symptoms of obsolescence—an outdated component, a security flaw—rather than the root cause: a misalignment between the product and the customer's evolving Job to be Done. Chasing technology for technology's sake is a race with no finish line.
At thrv, we employ a proactive, customer-centric methodology to guide product evolution in our portfolio companies: Jobs to be Done (JTBD). This framework shifts the focus from the transient nature of technology to the enduring nature of customer needs.
Jobs to be Done theory posits that customers "hire" products or services to accomplish a specific "job." As Theodore Levitt famously said, "People don't want a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole." The "job" is the fundamental problem the customer is trying to solve or the goal they are trying to achieve in a given circumstance.
Key tenets of JTBD include:
Our AI-powered platform significantly accelerates the process of finding and analyzing these customer jobs, helping our teams generate insights in hours rather than weeks. This gives our portfolio companies a critical speed advantage.
Our JTBD approach provides a robust defense against technology obsolescence because:
At thrv, we operate as an independent private equity sponsor implementing our proprietary JTBD methodology and platform within our portfolio companies to drive growth and build resilient, future-ready products. This process involves several key steps:
Our process begins with in-depth research to precisely define the customer's functional Job to be Done. This involves qualitative research techniques to understand the customer's context, motivations, and the process they currently follow. We identify unmet customer needs by looking for areas where customers struggle to execute steps in their job.
For example, for a B2B software company, the core job might be "manage customer relationships," and specific customer needs could include:
Once the job and its associated needs are defined, we quantify the customer's experience. thrv uses Customer Effort Scores (CES) to determine where customers are struggling the most to get their job done. A high CES indicates a significant unmet need and a valuable target for innovation. Difficulty is assessed based on:
Our platform helps analyze customer inputs to pinpoint specific steps in the job that cause high effort. This quantitative insight is crucial for prioritizing development efforts.
With a clear understanding of the customer's job and high-effort needs, we guide our portfolio companies in building proactive product roadmaps. These roadmaps are not dictated by competitor moves or emerging technologies alone. Instead, new features and technologies are evaluated against a critical criterion:
Does this innovation help customers execute their job, or specific steps within it, significantly better (faster, more accurately, with less effort)?
This approach ensures that product evolution is purposeful and directly tied to creating customer value, thereby reducing the risk of investing in features or technologies that will quickly become obsolete. Effective roadmaps incorporate obsolescence management into product lifecycle planning from the outset.
Our involvement extends to embedding JTBD principles within the product, marketing, and sales teams of our portfolio companies. We provide JTBD training and access to our JTBD software, ensuring that the focus on customer jobs becomes an integral part of their operational DNA. This creates a continuous cycle of innovation and adaptation, fortifying the company against future technological shifts.
By implementing our JTBD methodology, thrv accelerates growth and creates superior equity returns for our portfolio companies. The benefits are clear:
Our AI-powered platform further boosts these benefits by enabling faster identification of unmet needs and quicker translation of those needs into actionable product roadmaps.
Consider two software companies in the project management space.
Company A (Traditional Approach): Focuses on adding the latest features touted by industry analysts—AI-driven scheduling, blockchain-based task verification, etc. Their roadmap is largely technology-driven.
Our Portfolio Company (JTBD-Driven Approach): Through JTBD research, we find the core job is "coordinate team efforts to complete projects on time and within budget." Key customer needs include "determine project status quickly," "identify potential roadblocks early," and "allocate resources efficiently."
When a new technology like advanced predictive analytics emerges, Company A might integrate it broadly, hoping it sticks. Our portfolio company, guided by JTBD, would first assess how this technology can specifically help customers "identify potential roadblocks early" or "allocate resources efficiently" with less effort. If the technology offers a significant improvement in speed or accuracy for these needs, it's prioritized. If not, resources are allocated elsewhere.
As a result, our portfolio company builds a product that consistently solves the core customer job better, retaining customers and growing market share, while Company A may struggle with feature bloat and a product that doesn't quite hit the mark, facing higher obsolescence risk.
Technology will continue to evolve at a breathtaking pace. Companies that anchor their product strategies to the stable foundation of customer Jobs to be Done are best positioned to navigate these changes, reduce obsolescence risk, and achieve sustained growth.
At thrv, our proprietary JTBD methodology and platform enable our portfolio companies to move faster and with less risk, transforming customer needs into innovative products that win in the market. We actively build businesses poised for long-term success by ensuring their products remain indispensable to customers.
Ready to build products that stand the test of time and drive superior equity returns? Contact thrv today to learn how our JTBD-driven approach can transform your product strategy and safeguard your investments against technology obsolescence.
Q1: What is technology obsolescence?
Technology obsolescence occurs when a technology or product is no longer considered useful or wanted, despite potentially still being functional. This is often because newer, more effective solutions have become available that better help customers achieve their goals.
Q2: How does Jobs to be Done (JTBD) help reduce technology obsolescence?
Our JTBD methodology shifts the focus from evolving technologies to stable customer "Jobs." By understanding the underlying job a customer is trying to get done, companies can evolve their products to better serve that job, regardless of specific technological shifts. This makes products more resilient to obsolescence.
Q3: Why are customer jobs more stable than technology?
Core human needs and the fundamental tasks people and businesses need to accomplish change very slowly, if at all. For example, the job of "communicating information" has existed for centuries. The technologies used to perform this job (letters, telegraph, phone, email, messaging apps) have changed dramatically, but the core job remains.
Q4: How does thrv use JTBD with its portfolio companies?
We implement our proprietary JTBD methodology by first finding the customer's core Job to be Done and associated needs. We then use Customer Effort Scores (CES) to identify areas where customers struggle. These insights inform proactive product roadmaps, ensuring that product evolution is tied to delivering measurable improvements in how customers get their job done. Our AI-powered platform accelerates this entire process.
Q5: What are Customer Effort Scores (CES)?
Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric we use to measure the percentage of customers who report difficulty in executing a specific step of their Job to be Done. Difficulty is assessed based on the effort required, speed of execution, and accuracy of execution. High CES indicates significant unmet customer needs and opportunities for innovation.
Q6: How does thrv's approach differ from traditional consulting?
thrv is an independent sponsor that acquires, operates, and grows portfolio companies using our proprietary JTBD methodology and platform. We are operators who implement our system to create equity value, not consultants offering advisory services.