Many founders think of marketing as a necessary evil: “If only we could get our product out there, people will love it.” But your product’s story starts before you think it does, and it begins with the WHO, not with the what.

Come to this workshop to learn an accessible approach to consumer intelligence gathering that Stephanie calls ‘Marketing Thinking.’ Marketing Thinking exposes the right product decisions, pinpoints the ideal first customer, and deciphers what drives demand for your solution.

Speaker Name: Stephanie Connaughton

Stephanie Connaughton is an innovation expert grounded in classical marketing principles. Naturally curious about customer problems, and adept at putting frameworks into practice, she helps companies navigate through early stage ambiguity or architect a path to market. Her areas of expertise include product/market fit, consumer-centric design, go-to-market strategy, business model development, branding, messaging and idea validation. After a start in strategic consulting at Bain & Company, Stephanie had a long, successful career at the Gillette Company (later P&G), where she learned the full spectrum of marketing & new product development best practices. Stephanie’s teams pioneered some of Gillette’s most innovative breakthroughs including Venus, M3Power and a disruptive technology: a home laser hair removal device. Stephanie has practical experience as an entrepreneur. In 2009, she started a venture and launched an inventive yoga mat in 2012 anchored by four patents for layered grip technology. Beginning in 2016, she joined TechStars, MassChallenge and the Harvard Innovation Labs as a mentor and as a judge at MassChallenge. In addition to the consumer sector, Stephanie has worked with startups in tech, media, retail, social services and B2B.

A Beginner’s Guide to Customer Discovery