{"product_id":"build-first-market-later-farhad-abtahi-9789153175599","title":"Build First, Market Later: The Engineers Argument for Breakthrough Innovation","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost innovation advice breaks down when technology leads the market.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor decades, we've been taught that innovation starts with customer validation, empathy maps, and rapid feedback loops. That approach works when problems are well understood and solutions are incremental. But it quietly fails when feedback loops are slow, expensive, or nonexistent, when the technology itself must exist before customers can even imagine what is possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuild First, Market Later\u003c\/strong\u003e is a contrarian but practical book for engineers, technical founders, and system builders working at the edge of what is possible. It explains why breakthrough innovation rarely starts with market demand, why customers often cannot articulate needs for capabilities that do not yet exist, and why the most important innovations emerge from building first, then engaging the market when it is ready.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book is not a rejection of Lean Startup or design thinking. It is an explanation of their limits, and a guide to when different innovation methods actually apply.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on examples ranging from lasers and semiconductors to software platforms, AI systems, medical technology, and open-source infrastructure, Farhad Abtahi shows how innovation fails not because of bad ideas, but because of misordered steps. Validation without physics. Stories without systems. Markets consulted before capabilities exist.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuild First, Market Later\u003c\/strong\u003e does not offer a recipe. It offers something more useful: a way to reason about innovation when the usual playbooks stop working.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you are optimizing features, this book is not for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you are building something that has never existed before, it is.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Farhad Abtahi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 915317559X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9789153175599\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farhad Abtahi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/02\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d","brand":"Farhad Abtahi","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48154312802559,"sku":"9789153175599","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8c204d91-ffcf-4e13-8b85-07a33b73b247.jpg?v=1770789324","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/build-first-market-later-farhad-abtahi-9789153175599","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}