How Johannes Gutenberg Can Make You a Better Product Manager
The story of how the first product of the information age was created and found product/market fit.
During the 1400s, Europe was still recovering from the Black Death- with up to 2/3 of the population lost. The Church burned Joan of Arc burned on the stake. Many considered lenders vile. The average lifespan was only 35. Half of all people died before 16. There was no medical treatment. Anyone was able to copy an author’s works — an early version of open source. Reading rates for women were around one percent, while libraries were the domain of wealthy private collectors. Christopher Columbus only reached the new world at the end of the 1400s — 1492, to be exact.
A prominent monk named Trithemius of Sponheim wrote in 1492, “Printed books will never be the equivalent of handwritten codices.” Why? “Because scribes display more diligence and industry than printers.”
Gutenberg’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Under these conditions, imagine how hard it was to launch a world-changing product. Yet, close to 1400, the story of Johannes Gutenberg begins (birth records were not necessarily exact back then). Clearly things were rough, and records are lacking from the time.
However, by many accounts his product journey started with exile from his home in Mainz around 1428 leading him to Strassburg. Personally, I can’t imagine most entrepreneur’s journey started with exile. Yet many consider this the critical turning point in his life. He started as a goldsmith and also enrolled in a militia. Around that time, while in Strassburg, he had his ‘aha’ and decided his future lay in printing.
So what did he do? He did what many entrepreneurs do, raise money. However, it’s important to remember at that time borrowing was not looked on favorably. Too many potential investors, Gutenberg’s plan to build on technology more than a thousand years old lacked imagination. I can see his investors saying, “You want us to invest in a product that incrementally improves on something a thousand years old?”
Gutenberg’s reply — “Yes. Can’t you see the future? It’s not about printing, it’s about information. We are building a platform that will change the world.”
Despite likely resistance, he made it happen. Instead of venture capital (which didn’t exist) or taking out a loan, he was advanced money and supplies by three men — who essentially became his ‘early investors’. Gutenberg closed his seed round.
Yet, over time, the investors grew frustrated by Gutenberg’s secrecy — things never change (sigh). This secrecy led his early investors to demand to be partners. The result… a five year contract whereby three men became official partners. Excited, Gutenberg continued to work in secret. He clearly fell in love with his customer’s problem — broad access to information.
Then, when one of his partners, Andreas Dritzehn, died in 1438 his heirs attempted to circumvent the deal Andreas agreed to. Gutenberg faced his first lawsuit. Yet he prevailed, continuing his work.
A man of many ideas, in 1439 while working on the printing press, he experienced his first failed “start-up.” He built and sold mirrors to capture holy light from religious relics. Maybe the snake oil of its time, either way, he failed due to timing. The city in which he lived planned to exhibit such relics that year. However, it was delayed due to a flood — leaving Gutenberg in debt and his venture dead.
Burdened with this debt, Gutenberg’s take on the printing press became less of a sure thing.
So how did he persevere in the face of adversity?
He continued his work on the printing press even with money tight. Who knows what work he took on to move forward. However in 1448, with a working minimal viable product he approached relatives in Mainz for a bridge loan, which they granted.
By 1450 his concept of the printing press reached a commercial ready state with proof. At this time, he approached Johann Fust, a man of means. Fust took him up on the opportunity, investing 800 guilders (a lot of money back then) — the Series A of its time. Fust’s secured his investment with the tools and equipment for printing.
Two years later came Series B — again from Fust. With this round complete, Fust was expecting a quick exit — through a printed version of the Bible. Gutenberg instead focused on perfection. Clearly misaligned expectations — an important issue to avoid with investors.
So Fust sued in 1455 to recover his investment. Fust prevailed. Due to Gutenberg’s lack of means to pay back, Fust received the machinery, type set and supplies. The Gutenberg Bible was then printed by Fust in 1457.
Not deterred, Gutenberg secured yet another partner, Conrad Humery. From there on, he continued to print, advancing the complexity of his machine and type set. “What about the lawsuit and patents?.” Apparently they were of little consequence.
How did the printing press scale?
Slowly. And only thanks to a catalyst moment.
In 1462, Mainz was taken by Archbishop Adolph II. In the process, the Archbishop destroyed Fust and Gutenberg’s operations . This led to many of the city’s typographers moving elsewhere in Germany and Europe, taking Gutenberg’s techniques and technology with them.
While Gutenberg continued his work funded now by the Archbishop, his innovations now spread across Europe. Others began to ‘borrow’ Gutenberg’s design and build upon it. Maybe an early precursor to today’s open source community.
With Gutenberg’s take on the printing press and a growing community of users, printing finally took off and found its product / market fit. The growing demand for knowledge amongst an increasingly educated population.
So how does the story end?
Despite Gutenberg’s previous failures and a thousand-year-old product, he became known as the father of modern printing, the catalyst of the first information revolution and the spark igniting cultural change.
A similar pattern emerges in many stories. A product brought forward building on the past from an unknown person, often seen as a failure, changing the world. Literally. Many times, it has as much to do with the idea behind the product (information revolution) as the product itself (printing press) coupled with flawless execution.
Gutenberg’s work ultimately played a crucial role in the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, spreading knowledge to the masses, and today’s knowledge-based economy.
Not bad for a man who faced challenges at every turn — raising money, lawsuits, destruction of his business and ultimately blindness.
What were his innovations?
He advanced components of the printing press that led to faster and easier printing.
- Ink thick enough to adhere to the metal type, transferring well to paper.
- A metal alloy that could melt easily and cool quickly. This allowed rapid creation of a durable type.
- A new design for the press — applying firm pressure to the printing surfaces.
While I am sure there were many more, his idea that information should be available to all was the true innovation. Coupled with a community of printers able to use his technology, his dreams spread across Europe and the world.
Can I take anything from Gutenberg’s journey that can help me today?
Absolutely! The idea you should take away is vision coupled with incrementalism works. Many times you must imagine the market as it can be — information available to all — as opposed to how it exists at the time — printed material as the domain of the church and the wealthy. Gutenberg had a vision and iterated on existing product, making some radical improvements.
He also taught us that game-changing products can come from improving aspects of an existing product. Many times we think we need something entirely new and novel. However almost all products, with rare exception are an improvement on what already exists. Apple didn’t invent the MP3 player, they iterated on it while focusing on a bigger vision to create the iPod.
How do I apply themes from Gutenberg’s journey?
Whether you want to create a new product or improve on one you already own, there are three takeaways from Gutenberg’s journey.
- What is your product or opportunity? If its an existing product, take stock of what you have. Where does your product sit in the industry? What are the macro trends? Do you have customer feedback? Is there a better way to serve the end users that would be revolutionary, surprising and delightful? To answer these questions, spend time researching, share the information and host a brainstorming session with a diverse set of colleagues to narrow in on an opportunity. If you don’t have a product and are starting from a blank state, the same questions apply.
- Narrow in on your vision, your North Star, the driving purpose. What are you aiming for? Tesla provides a great example in its mission statement “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” In some cases these are short, other’s the span 2–3 sentences. A vision or North Star should articulate the problem to solve — energy production at its present state is unsustainable. It also must present an end state that is clear to see — sustainable energy. Finally, it must excite your team and your customer. A format you can use, although there are many is “Today, when [customers] want to [outcome customer desire], they have to [what’s it like for them now]. This doesn’t work [why — problem]. [Company] envisions a world where [problem] is [solved by]. [Company] will make the world a better place through [solution]. Obviously not all of us can be Elon Musk :) so take it one step at a time.
- Understand what’s out attempting to solve the problem for your customer. Make a list of all the products you feel are at least doing a decent job. Next to each product in a table, articulate how they solve the problem (mission, product description). Then, in a third column, articulate how you would improve each product based on your North Star. This will paint a picture of where you should focus and the incremental changes that can get your there.
Question to reflect on…
Questions often help bring clarity. They are often the spark needed to see a problem in a different way.
1. How can my product make the world a better place?
2. If I could only solve one problem for my customers, what would be their highest priority?
3. What don’t I like about the products already attempting to solve the problem?
If you are stuck its likely you haven’t asked the right question. For the questions below let your mind wander and day dream. Keep a journal on hand and write down your thoughts.
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Special thanks to Tremis Skeete, Executive Editor at Product Coalition for the valuable input which contributed to the editing of this article.
Sources for further reading:
