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I'm an entrepreneur, product management leader, and advisor. I have over 20 years of…
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Jim Semick shared thisMany startups get it backwards. I just wrapped up my class where I’ve been teaching students how to first validate their ideas with potential customers. Then build the product.
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Jim Semick posted thisYou may have heard the phrase: “There are riches in niches.” But how niche is right? In my class at UCSB Department of Technology Management, we’re discussing market segmentation. I teach students that early-stage startups should narrow their focus dramatically at first. Students are now using customer discovery interviews to identify a narrow customer segment in high pain. It may not be the biggest or fastest-growing segment — but it’s often the smartest place to launch. Startups are resource-constrained, even if they have early funding. By narrowing the segment founders can: - Deeply understand customer pain - Move faster to quickly launch an MVP - Build a stronger value proposition - Increase the odds of product–market fit I’ve seen repeatedly how launching into a narrow market segment leads to success. Companies like AppFolio launched into a focused beachhead segment before expanding to become a multi-billion dollar company. At the extreme is the opposite approach of "It’s for everyone." (I’ve already told students I don't want to hear this 😀). Entering too broad a market usually means unclear positioning, slower development, and product launches that take longer. Broader market segments = more risk. That said, the overall opportunity still needs to be large (in the billions of dollars). A niche launch only works if there’s a big-enough market to grow into. What advice would you give founders on choosing the right-sized niche?
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Jim Semick posted thisWhat customer problems are actually worth solving? My course at UCSB Department of Technology Management is under way (Creating a Market-Tested Business Model). Students have come into class with some great startup ideas. I’m teaching them that everything starts with understanding the problems they are trying to solve. Like many founders, some have jumped straight to the solution. They explain the amazing features their product will have. And I get it…that’s the fun part, right? And, with vibe coding tools they can build products faster than ever and "see what works." I’m teaching students to pause and first thoroughly understand the pain for a defined customer segment before building the solution. 𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. One of the common traps I’ve seen founders fall into is falling in love with a product — and sometimes launching 😬— before proving the problem is a high-enough, specific priority for customers. With the market validation process I teach, we start by digging into the customer’s world and asking: * What “jobs” are they trying to get done today? * What’s painful about the way they do it now? * What’s the impact of that pain — e.g. financial? Emotional? * How high on the customer’s priority list is solving that pain? * Are they trying to solve it today in some way? Market validation starts with talking with people. And specifically asking them about the problems they’re trying to solve today. Not all problems are created equal. Some are minor annoyances. Others are deep frustrations that impact people’s lives, cost them (or their businesses) money, time, or make their jobs harder. Those are the problems that create successful startups. For most early-stage startups, the sweet spot is identifying a few problems with high customer impact that they can solve with reasonable effort. Solving a few painful, specific problems for a narrow customer segment is far less risky than trying to radically transform an entire industry at launch. Curious how others would approach this… 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝?
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Jim Semick posted thisUsing AI to test business ideas (without skipping the hard part)? I’m teaching again in the UCSB Technology Management, where my course Creating a Market-Tested Business Model teaches how to validate ideas through customer interviews before building. We recently had a good discussion in class: AI can accelerate market validation…but it also makes it easier than ever to build something fast and “launch” without truly understanding customer pain. Building a product is no longer the gating factor. Finding a painful enough problem + a compelling value proposition is still the difference between a product and a business. So I’m curious: Where have you seen AI genuinely improve market validation? What tools or workflows would you add? A few categories we discussed in class: * Business model ideation, generating hypotheses, competitive research, market sizing (Chat GPT, Gemini) * Interview support: drafting outreach messages, drafting interview questions * Interview transcription and summarization (Otter, Zoom AI, etc.) * Synthesizing interviews and research, organizing insights, Jobs to be Done (NotebookLM, etc.) * Rapid prototyping (Lovable, Replit) My take: AI is a powerful accelerant—but it can’t replace human judgment, team debate, and firsthand customer context (yet). I’m encouraging students to use AI, but validate everything.
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Jim Semick shared thisProud of these students and all the teams that worked so hard in the UCSB New Venture Competition. It's been so rewarding as I've gotten to know the students in my Technology Management class where they learned how to validate their business ideas. Congratulations to all of them!Jim Semick shared thisWe won first place at UCSB’s New Venture Competition! 🏆 This wasn’t a hackathon or a 30-day sprint. It was a 9-month startup accelerator run by UCSB Technology Management, where over 300 students attended weekly workshops, worked with mentors, and validated real business ideas. Over the course of the program, we built RazeMath—an AI-powered math tutor—through intensive sessions on Customer Discovery, Go-To-Market Strategy, Financial Forecasting, and more. The program culminated in a public trade show and final pitch competition… where we took home the $10,000 grand prize. Huge shoutout to Nico Lehner and our incredible dev team who helped bring this idea to life. And a heartfelt thank you to the mentors who guided us, especially Dave Adornetto for leading the program and Jim Semick for his insight and support in TMP 149. We're now exploring funding opportunities to grow RazeMath and would love to connect with anyone looking to disrupt the education space with AI. 🚀
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Jim Semick reposted thisJim Semick reposted thisThis week the New Venture Program is deep-diving into the business model canvas. Thank you Jim Semick for coming back year after year to lend your invaluable knowledge on this topic! 🙏 #newventureprogram #businessmodelcanvas
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Jim Semick reposted thisJim Semick reposted this📣 Attention all product professionals! 📣 Help us make ProductPlan's 9th annual State of Product Management Report our best yet! Click the link below to fill out a brief survey 👇 https://lnkd.in/g9Ng3GHa
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Jim Semick shared thisI'm thrilled for the next chapter at ProductPlan - this week we announced a significant growth equity investment from Bow River Capital. Our partnership with Bow River will accelerate product innovation and growth across the company. Since we founded ProductPlan in 2013 Greg Goodman and I bootstrapped the company to become a market leader in product management software. We're so proud of the culture we've built and what our team has accomplished! Now with this investment and partnership with Bow River's Software Growth Equity team we're taking the company to the next level. Exciting things are coming for our customers, partners, and employees! #productmanagement #saas
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Jim Semick shared thisOur 7th Annual State of Product Management Report is now live! It's free to download and contains so many great insights for you to understand the latest trends and how how you compare with your peers. So proud of the great information ProductPlan provides to the #productmanagement community.Jim Semick shared thisProductPlan's 🎉2022 State of Product Management Report has officially launched.🚀 Download our free report today and discover the emerging trends impacting the product field. You'll find data-packed insights on the rise of product operations, the value of product team autonomy, and how to foster alignment amongst your team and stakeholders. https://hubs.li/Q011CHMW0
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Jim Semick liked thisJim Semick liked thisLast December, after 15 years, I said goodbye to TDF on my terms. Since then, I’ve been focused on two things I’m deeply invested in: First, evolving my consulting work. I’m partnering with founders and operators building high-impact, new-economy businesses that don't rely on the extractive models of the past. Second, I'm building one of my own. nina is a network of beautifully designed, financially accessible creative spaces in Los Angeles and Idyllwild. We host workshops, readings, salons, coworking, and intentional gatherings, and offer a seasonal residency for LGBTQ+ artists in California. nina is a response to rising costs and the loss of creative infrastructure, which have made it harder for artists and independent creatives to sustain a practice and build meaningful community. If you’re building or funding in this direction, or if you’d just like to reconnect, I’d love to hear from you.
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Jim Semick liked thisJim Semick liked thisWhat separates a good idea from one that actually gets funded? Sometimes, it comes down to a few minutes on stage. PitchFest Santa Barbara is back! Ventech’s annual startup pitch competition brings founders into the spotlight to present live in front of investors, operators, and the Central Coast innovation community. Four startups. One stage. Real feedback. This year’s competitors: • ODIN Diagnostics | Connor Heffler • Ecoplasticity | Mayela Fernandez • SoundDose | Gregg Peterson • MindClay | Marco Pinter, PhD Judged by: • Burton Tripathi • Kezi Cheng • Kelly Mooney It’s fast-paced, high-stakes, and a rare chance to see how companies are actually built, positioned, and challenged in real time. Whether you’re building, investing, or just want a clearer view into what makes a pitch land, you’ll walk away sharper. 📍 April 22 | 5:30 PM | Cabrillo Pavilion 🔗 For details + registration, click on the event Presented by Russell Terry & Maya Dentzel Event Sponsors: Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy LLP Solera & Co.. Catering Connection #SantaBarbara #Startups #VentureCapital #PitchCompetition #Entrepreneurship #Innovation
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Jim Semick liked this"When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." That's Goodhart's Law. And it's killing your data strategy. Here's what happens: You set "support tickets closed" as the goal. → Teams rush closures, quality tanks, tickets reopen. You optimize for "active users." → Teams game logins, but users get zero value. You track "features shipped." → Teams ship fast, break things, create tech debt. The pattern: The moment you incentivize a metric, people find shortcuts. Not because they're malicious, because you told them that's what matters. The fix isn't better metrics. It's better thinking about what behavior you actually want to drive. Ask: "If we optimize for this, what breaks?" If you can't answer that, you're about to learn the hard way. What's a metric your team gamed (intentionally or not)? ➤ Hit Follow Marcel for insights on metrics that survive reality. 🔔 Tap the bell on my profile for updates. ♻️ Repost if you've seen Goodhart's Law in action.
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Jim Semick liked thisJim Semick liked thisTwo years ago, I experienced one of the hardest days of my professional life. After more than half a decade at IBM, my role was ending as part of layoffs and restructuring (the ol' "I've Been Moved"). As painful as that was, it was not the hardest part. On my final day, I was also facilitating and emceeing the annual IBM Bay Area Conference for Women and Allies, an event I had co-founded and executive produced for several years. It was deeply personal to me. It represented community, leadership, visibility, and the kind of meaningful work I believed in wholeheartedly. That day, I had a choice. I could let heartbreak take over, or I could show up with grace for the community I had helped build. So I stood on that stage for a full day. I shared insights on personal and professional growth. I moderated conversations. I hosted panels. I held space for others, even as I quietly carried the weight of knowing I would no longer be part of the company the next morning. Admittedly, I silently cried a few times in the bathroom over breaks. My first official day of being laid off was April 1, April Fool’s Day. At the time, it felt like a cruel cosmic joke. The truth is, I loved my work at IBM. I still do. Had life unfolded differently, I likely would have stayed for the long haul. Even now, I sometimes wonder whether anyone in that room could sense the pain I was carrying behind the professionalism, poise, and smile. It has taken me two years to fully reclaim my voice, rebuild my confidence, and return to the professional stage as myself again. What I know now is this: sometimes leadership means showing up with integrity while your own world is shifting beneath your feet. Sometimes resilience is quiet. Sometimes it is simply choosing to carry yourself with dignity in a moment that could have broken you. Cheers to the next chapter. <3 #IBM #FormerIBMer #Leadership #WomenInTech #STEAM #STEM
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Jim Semick reacted on thisJim Semick reacted on thisAs Vice President of Product, Jaimi "J.J." K. brings a depth of experience that is rare in any room. She has been shaping Toro's product vision for over five years, and her fingerprints are on everything. From her early days helping bring Toro to market in the trucking vertical to where the product stands today, she has been the driving force behind building something customers actually love. And she doesn't just build for customers. She engages with them. J.J. is the kind of product leader who stays close to the people using the product, ensuring that what gets built reflects real needs and real workflows. That customer obsession, combined with a sharp strategic mind, is what sets her apart. Her career speaks for itself. Nearly nine years at AppFolio, scaling a UX team from one to fifty, leading customer experience strategy, and helping take the company public. J.J. has seen what great looks like, and she brings that standard to Toro every single day. We're proud to have J.J. on the team and thrilled to celebrate her as part of our Women at Toro series!
Experience & Education
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UC Santa Barbara
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Volunteer Experience
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Guest Lecturer & Mentor
UC Santa Barbara
- Present 11 years
Education
Guest lecturer and mentor in entrepreneurial programs at UCSB including the Technology Management Program (TMP), Master of Technology Management (MTM), and New Venture Competition (NVC)
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