Jargon Smackdown: Prosumer vs Microvertical

smackdown

Yesterday I wrote about the connection between successful innovation and a strong MicroVertical. I got some great feedback – including @dantobias complaining about the word MicroVertical itself 🙂

He has a good point. Why introduce new jargon? Simple: Useful Shorthand for framing a problem. Microvertical is shorthand for  “enthusiastic early adopters who WANT and NEED your product or service,  and have the means, access and available time to get involved and give you feedback and early sales.” This is a meaningful description; it invites you to think about your early adopters as the people you co-create your project with – the people who help you bring it to life.

In some circles Prosumer means generally the same thing. I tried using that word – but in practice, I’ve found that MicroVertical leads to better discussions because it frames the early adopters as a discrete Vertical (or set of Verticals) that we could target and seek to understand.

What do you think? Do  you prefer Prosumer or MicroVertical? Or something else entirely? Got a better idea?  Love to hear your thoughts in the comments.