California-based thrv LLC has launched a jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) software and services platform that uses artificial intelligence to speed up equity value creation for private equity portfolio companies.

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The thrv platform combines software and services using AI to identify customer needs in a matter of minutes, which can significantly reduce the time and resources spent on market research. thrv's customers include private equity investors and CEOs of companies that have between $25 million and $300 million in annual revenue.

According to Jay Haynes, the company's founder and CEO, thrv's method identifies market growth opportunities by analyzing the customer's goal independent of any solutions. thrv calls customer goals jobs-to-be-done (JTBD). Customer jobs-to-be-done can be very complex, as they have a series of actions and variables that a customer has to take to get the job done successfully, and these actions and variables are independent of any product or solution. When customers struggle with the job-to-be-done, they are likely to purchase solutions that help them overcome the struggle.

To identify customer struggles, thrv's platform helps product, marketing, and sales teams break down jobs into 10 to 20 different steps and 50 to 100 different customer needs. thrv's platform also helps teams identify unmet needs: where customers face the most difficulty because satisfying the needs is slow and inaccurate. With unmet customer needs in focus, thrv can identify underserved customer segments, who represent the biggest market opportunities for equity value creation.

Haynes says that traditional growth methods are inefficient and too frequently end up confusing solutions with customer needs. Most new product development investments fail because they don't satisfy customer needs. Confusion about customer needs leads to companies failing to accelerate growth and create equity value.

"Our JTBD platform also allows more effective competitive analysis by identifying competitor product weaknesses using the needs of the customer's job to assess speed and accuracy. It also measures the size of the market using the customer's willingness to pay to get the job done, not the price of the current products. This identifies hidden opportunities for growth acceleration and equity value creation. Using AI with our platform helps speed up new product development, optimize marketing messages, and improve sales tactics.

Haynes believes thrv's AI-powered platform can help businesses properly identify opportunities and set priorities before making any large capital investments in innovation. This optimizes a company's investment in growth, giving them a higher probability of success and driving faster equity value creation by solving real customer problems.

"Our software ensures the product, marketing, and sales teams work together and perform like a band in harmony – they're all playing the same song, in the same key, and at the same tempo," Haynes says.

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