Who are you talking to?

In open new markets, I talk about the idea of taking your product to new markets to help drive growth.  The first step in opening new markets is to consider who you are talking to.  How often do products find amazing success in markets other than the original intent?  Twitter in the Arab Spring, Skype as a tool for grandparents, Post-It notes, WD-40...here is a list of products that found success beyond their original purpose. 

You may be in technology, so you don't spend the time speaking with your grandfather or younger kids, instead looking for the big score with some tech guru.  That could be a huge mistake.  For instance, as of July 24, 2013 Facebook has 100 million monthly users of its low tech feature phone app. 

In an effort to improve the Facebook experience on the simple, cheap “feature phones” prevalent in emerging markets, a pair of Facebook researchers spent most of last July conducting user research in Indonesia, India, and Nigeria. After a month of navigating cell phone markets, visiting homes, and watching locals use Facebook in these countries, the researchers, Mateo Rando and Lufi Paris, brought back several insights that helped inform a revamp of Facebook’s feature-phone experience.

They sent researchers to Indonesia, India, and Nigeria to find out how to improve the app.  That is a long way from Silicon Valley.  So who are you talking to?