Journey to product / market fit explained. What do the start-up's first stages look like and what you should keep in mind when identifying a problem worth solving, creating a product and getting your first customers
Kristóf Bárdos, the CEO of Digital Natives, Co-founder of Green Fox Academy and Social Fokus shares his thoughts on how leaders and communities are in charge to help people to achieve their highest potential.
Startup Workshops - Practical Workshops for StartupsPeter van Sabben
The document describes startup workshops that focus on practical skills rather than talks. It discusses organizing workshops that:
1) Pre-select the right participants based on their startup stage to ensure the workshops target the right audience.
2) Use experienced startup founders and industry specialists as trainers rather than one-person keynotes.
3) Involve only practical, actionable workshops tailored to participants' situations rather than general talks.
The goal is to help startups succeed by developing their skills in technology, business, and UX design through better education.
I Want My MVP (Digital Project Management Summit 2014)Anthony Armendariz
Presented by Anthony Armendariz and Danielle Moser from Funsize at the Digital Project Management Summit 2014 - Austin, Texas.
Twitter: #dpm2014, #iwantmymvp
The Minimum Viable Product (or MVP) is the first shippable version of a product containing purely core features, distributed as a test release in order to create useful feedback for the most basic features. Planning for a MVP release requires the Product Owner to know how to organize and prioritize a dense backlog of features, but in an agile environment with a diverse team and uniquely talented vendors we posit they need not do it alone.
Different lenses for knowing what MVP means to your internal and external team so you can know if you are building the right thing.
What must the MVP consist of to be meaningful to the target user? What’s the best way to phase out the release of everything else? What can be cut completely? Basic agile/lean design project management techniques. Important conflict resolution and emotional management techniques. How to sell it with a "Flexible Scope Retainer".
These are the slides from a workshop I delivered for the CIPR Scotland. It was a PR professionals workshop, meant to give them the skills to take a proper creative brief in order to, in turn, brief a designer to produce the creatives.
This document provides an overview of lean startup principles and methodologies. It discusses building minimum viable products to test hypotheses, iterating based on customer feedback through continuous learning and measurement, and making course corrections quickly. The document emphasizes focusing on learning goals, validating assumptions with real customers, and advancing customer conversations to the next step of commitment whenever possible.
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 2
Part I: THE IDEA .......................................................................................................... 4
Part II: A GREAT TEAM ............................................................................................... 8
Part III: A GREAT PRODUCT ..................................................................................... 10
Part IV: GREAT EXECUTION ..................................................................................... 13
Part IV: Execution - GROWTH ....................................................................................... 14
Part IV: Execution – FOCUS & INTENSITY ....................................................................... 18
Part IV: Execution – JOBS OF THE CEO ......................................................................... 21
Part IV: Execution – HIRING & MANAGING ................................................................. 25
Part IV: Execution – COMPETITORS............................................................................... 28
Part IV: Execution – MAKING MONEY .......................................................................... 29
Part IV: Execution – FUNDRAISING ............................................................................... 31
CLOSING THOUGHT ................................................................................................ 34
APPENDIX ................................................................................................................ 35
Appendix 1: Projects and Companies ........................................................................ 35
Appendix 2: How to hire ............................................................................................... 36
Appendix 3: Unit Economics ........................................................................................ 44
Appendix 4: Default Alive or Default Dead? .............................................................. 46
This document provides an overview of a Lean Startup event or workshop. It discusses principles of building iteratively to learn, focusing on learning goals and validating hypotheses through measurement. Key parts of the agenda include lean flow, prioritization, stakeholder analysis, and learning goals. Attendees are encouraged to limit work-in-progress, get early customer feedback, and present their weekly progress and learning goals to get advice from others. The overall message emphasizes rapid prototyping, testing assumptions, and using metrics to guide the business model rather than focusing too much on specific details.
Bizsmart Lunch & Learn Webinar - Apprenticeships a GuideBizSmart Select
Nik Wall of LMPQ explains the process of taking on an apprentice. There are benefits to employing an apprentice such as reducing skill shortages, increasing productivity and receiving free training. Employers need to consider if they are suitable for an apprentice by assessing if they can provide experience, mentorship and empower their staff. When selecting an apprentice, employers should consider candidates' ability to get to work, personality fit for their business, and test competencies during interviews and work trials. Employers also need to select a training provider that knows their candidates well and can provide helpful advice and support rather than just focusing on money.
How to Turn a Full-time Job Into a B2B Business OpportunityÉtienne Garbugli
This document provides advice on how to turn a full-time job into a B2B business opportunity. It notes that 50% of founders of successful startups got their initial business ideas from problems they encountered in their previous jobs. The document then lists several advantages an "insider" has in starting a business in their industry, such as access to customers, knowledge of initiatives and priorities, and credibility from experience. It also discusses challenges like ensuring there is a large enough market and that others will purchase the product or service. Finally, it provides tips for employees on how to identify business opportunities, test ideas, and eventually transition from their job to becoming an entrepreneur.
VIEW FULL-SCREEN OR DOWNLOAD. (Tall format.)
Compiled audience notes from open interviews with 3 founders: Jordan Schilpf at Gift Cannon, Isaac Strang at Shootround and Paul Nel at Coordinate Gear.
Lessons learned about testing business models with physical products, mobile response channels and event-based behaviour.
Want to start a company? Have a product idea? Want to be a Founder or Entrepreneur? Here are the 3 things you need to do to launch a startup. I also provide tips, trick and thoughts on startup pitfalls and ways to succeed.
This document provides 27 presentation tips with examples of how to effectively create and deliver presentations. Some key tips include providing credentials upfront, using humor and interactive questions to engage audiences, supporting company success stories with credentials, and ending by thanking the audience and providing contact information. The tips are demonstrated through example slides that utilize images, charts, and questions to convey messages in an impactful way. Overall, the tips suggest optimizing presentations for audience engagement and memorability.
1. The document outlines an agenda for a seminar on passionate entrepreneurship, covering topics like finding problems to solve, conducting customer interviews, and launching products.
2. It provides tips for entrepreneurs such as solving your own problems, ensuring there is a problem customers want solved, talking to customers, and starting with a small product for a narrow target market.
3. The document advocates for an approach of pre-selling a product to validate customer interest before spending significant time and money developing it.
The document discusses applying Lean Startup and Scrum methodologies in enterprises. It describes Lean Startup as an iterative process for validating business hypotheses through customer feedback and experimentation. Scrum is defined as an agile framework for managing product development through short development cycles called sprints. The presentation emphasizes the importance of getting customer feedback, testing assumptions through experiments, and using metrics to measure progress and make data-driven decisions.
This document summarizes the key differences between a company and a startup. It notes that a company is a formal organization that exchanges products and services for money, while a startup is a temporary organization searching for a viable business model. It then discusses important aspects of defining a business model, including identifying customer pains and developing a valuable product proposition to solve those pains. A major focus is finding early adopters - customers who have the problem and are actively seeking a solution. Engaging early adopters allows startups to test assumptions, build their business model with low costs, and lay the foundation for future scaling.
This document provides guidance on designing and validating customer personas through primary research methods like interviews and surveys. It discusses choosing a target customer segment and finding those customers through online forums, social media, introductions, and focus groups. Validation methods covered include ethnography, netnography, surveys, and interviews. Key tips for interviews emphasize adopting a beginner's mindset, listening more than talking, asking factual questions not opinions, focusing on learning not selling, and keeping doors open to find more potential customers to speak with. Sample interview questions aim to uncover customer needs, pain points, wishes, and responsibilities.
One of the most helpful ways you can ensure your designer delivers work that wows you is by telling them exactly what you’re looking for up front. That’s where your creative brief comes in.
Here, Tim Reid of The Small Business Big Marketing Show and Aleks Witko of 99designs will walk you through the best practices of writing a great creative brief—one that puts your designer on the right track for delivering you a design solution that truly fits your business and your brand.
Kaseya Connect 2013: How to Get IT Clients to Find You, Like You and Hire YouKaseya
This presentation will show attendees how to craft marketing messages that prospects will respond to. You will learn specific steps to configure your website to hook new prospects, then leverage email and other tactics to nurture leads that turn into clients.
How to Make Social Media Work for B2B and B2GMailerMailer
There is a lot of buzz about using social media to grow your business. Does it work for B2B or B2G companies? Yes. Forty years ago, researcher Mark Granovetter proposed a theory about social interaction. He suggested that people close to you know about the same opportunities, projects, people, job openings and events that you do. If you expand your reach beyond your closer circles, you tap into your other connections, which expose you to a whole new set of options. You can leverage social media to make this happen.
This presentation will provide actionable tips on using social media to grow your B2B/B2G business.
Join us and you’ll learn:
· Which social media activities result in the most traction and which are a waste of time
· How to position your company as a trusted source
· How to nurture leads that are not "sales-ready”
· What to share with businesses and government agencies so they think of you as they write their RFPs
Intro to Lean Startup and Customer Discovery for AgilistsShashi Jain
This is a short presentation I made to the Portland Agile and Scrum group giving a light introduction to Lean Startup, Customer Discovery, and how you use them together to create a product-market fit.
The document provides a summary of the top 10 mistakes that early stage startups can easily avoid. These include: not understanding the business model well enough; doing everything the first big client says; launching without customer input; building overly complex MVPs; designing for themselves without user research; pursuing too many opportunities; lacking a clear vision or monetization strategy; and not measuring product usage. Avoiding these common pitfalls can help startups focus their efforts and resources more effectively in the early stages.
Lecture Entrepreneurship -The Art of the Start - How to start a Venture Capit...Michael Altendorf
The document discusses starting a venture capital (VC) backed company and provides advice from Michael Altendorf on this process. It introduces ADTELLIGENCE, a German tech company founded by Altendorf and others with a team of experts from companies like SAP, Google, and IBM. Their technology creates the basis for successful business models in areas like web 2.0 and mobile platforms. The document then provides tips on developing the idea, building a team, creating a business plan, finding investors, developing the product and market strategy, and other key steps to starting a VC backed company.
10 Things Emerging Technology Companies Need to Know to Jump Start Their Way ...Debbie Gee
The document provides advice for emerging technology companies on how to jump start revenue generation. It discusses 10 key things companies need to know, including being wary of hastily hiring a sales force, being objective about their technology offering, knowing their competition, understanding where they are in the emerging technology curve, clearly communicating value to customers, being prepared to invest in winning customers, knowing when to partner, leveraging existing customers, simplifying their message, and being realistic about timelines. It also discusses how companies can execute their strategies through an outsourced sales and marketing option to help reduce costs and accelerate revenue.
This document provides an overview of data-driven content marketing strategies for B2B tech companies. It begins with an introduction to content marketing and how it differs for B2B versus B2C. It then provides examples of successful data-driven content marketing campaigns from Facebook, Mailchimp and Kippa. The document outlines key aspects of developing a content strategy, including research, segmentation, understanding the buyer's journey, and setting goals and metrics. It concludes with tips for an effective content strategy and examples of content formats and resources that B2B tech companies can utilize.
The demand to generate content and amplify it in B2B can be overwhelming. How do you make it seem like you’re everywhere when you can’t spend 24/7 making content and can’t spend every dime on paid social to promote it? We are going to uncover the ways you can repurpose your content quickly and easily. Better yet, potential customers will wonder how you manage to be everywhere — and how you always seem to know the problems they’re trying to solve. You’ll learn how to create a content generation machine that won’t burn you out, and the what/where/how of promoting it on LinkedIn and Facebook Ads to get the most out of everything you create. You’ll leave with a blueprint you can start following that very day to get a plan in place that turns hard content work into smart content marketing.
Takeaways:
How to create and repurpose content your target audience cares about, how to use tools to speed up the process, how to measure success, and how to run on paid social without breaking the bank.
How To Sell To Businesses - Sales Advice for StartupsNicolas Deville
How To Sell To Businesses: actionable insights from years in the trenches.
Sales Advice for Startups.
B2C vs. B2B
SME vs. Enterprise
How to differentiate yourself
How to get the first 10 clients
Presentation on 30th July 2015 in London to early stage startups, part of @WayraUK, Telefonica's startup accelerator.
The document provides an introduction to start-ups, explaining that they are temporary organizations designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. It discusses different types of market segments for start-ups, including new markets, existing markets, cloned markets, and re-segmented markets. Finally, it identifies four common reasons for start-up failure: failure to achieve product/market fit, lack of focus, being a one-person team, and premature scaling. Techniques are provided for avoiding each of these failure points, such as focusing on users and products, building the right team, and only scaling up when ready.
This document provides guidance on developing an effective project description and marketing strategy with little to no budget. It discusses finding a problem and providing a solution for customers. Marketing a product's benefits rather than just features is also emphasized. The document then covers developing a brand vision and voice through an concise project description that introduces the business and why the target audience should care about the solution being provided.
CEOFlow Introduction To Cold Calling 2.0 102007Aaron Ross
The document discusses how to build an effective "Cold Calling 2.0" outbound sales development team. It outlines establishing a repeatable prospecting process, developing people on the team, leveraging tools to accelerate qualified opportunities, and how marketing can work with the outbound team, such as through joint campaigns at trade shows. The goal is to transform cold calling into a major source of new customer revenue through a dedicated outbound team and proven prospecting methodology.
Sales Training Program.
Covered:
1. Basic Concepts of Sales/ Marketing (7P/ 4A)
2. 50 Tips
3. BCG Matrix/ few other Marketing Concepts
4. Cases studies/ Practical Examples
5. Sales Process
6. B2B/ B2C etc.
Duration: 5 Hours.
The PPT has content which we covered for a university in India. It was Online session where students did role play, case scenarios etc.
Various Sales tips were discussed.
Real cases were discussed to give students a complete idea about sales process.
For customized plan, please connect at partner@edu4sure.com or call/ whatsapp at +91-9555115533
The document discusses content marketing strategies and tips for B2B companies. It provides advice from various experts on developing compelling content to attract and engage prospects. Key tips include focusing content on buyer personas at different stages, telling your company story through customer insights and problems solved, and creating content in multiple formats tailored to online consumption. The overall strategy discussed is using consistent, valuable content to build trust and loyalty with customers over time.
The document discusses opportunity recognition for entrepreneurs. It emphasizes finding problems, needs or frustrations for specific customer segments that can be solved with solutions customers will pay for. It stresses validating that the target market is large enough and that the business model includes revenue streams. It also advises starting simply with apps or websites and understanding key metrics to determine the size of the opportunity.
This document provides guidance on developing a business plan to convert ideas into a business. It recommends:
1. Creating a business plan to think through your business ideas and gather important facts. The plan will reveal your knowledge and help fine-tune your product for customers.
2. Including key elements in the plan like your value proposition, revenue model, competitive environment, competitive advantages, marketing strategy, organization details, management team, fundraising strategy, and shareholders agreement.
3. Conducting market research like creating customer profiles and surveys to deeply understand customers' needs and pain points. The research will help design a product that customers will value.
Rehashing offline copy or boring marketing collateral for your website just doesn't cut it anymore. Your website, blogs, webinars, video and podcasts, social media, and other online content all offer you tremendous opportunities to connect with your customers and drive business. Sounds great right? It is. But only if you do it well, and create the kind of content that both resonates with your customers and meets your business objectives.
The document discusses the lean startup methodology for validating business hypotheses through customer development and pivoting. It emphasizes that startups should explicitly test their business assumptions by getting customer feedback on problems, solutions, and business models, rather than assuming their ideas are correct. If problems arise, startups should pivot one element and test again rather than persisting blindly with their initial plan. The lean startup process helps companies find a working business model more quickly through a scientific approach of iterative experimentation and adaptation based on customer input.
How to have success in your new/small businessReg Gupton Inc
The document discusses the three roles that every small business owner takes on: entrepreneur, manager, and technician. It notes that most small business owners start as technicians and get into business to do the technical work they enjoy. However, being a successful business owner requires balancing all three roles. The document provides tips for developing a business blueprint, understanding the phases of business growth, creating systems and processes, and focusing on customers. It emphasizes that the key to success is adopting an entrepreneurial perspective and building a business system rather than just doing the technical work.
BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY - Advantages and DisadvantagesSAI KAILASH R
Explore the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain technology in this comprehensive SlideShare presentation. Blockchain, the backbone of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, is revolutionizing various industries by offering enhanced security, transparency, and efficiency. However, it also comes with challenges such as scalability issues and energy consumption. This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of the key benefits and drawbacks of blockchain, helping you understand its potential impact on the future of technology and business.
The Zaitechno Handheld Raman Spectrometer is a powerful and portable tool for rapid, non-destructive chemical analysis. It utilizes Raman spectroscopy, a technique that analyzes the vibrational fingerprint of molecules to identify their chemical composition. This handheld instrument allows for on-site analysis of materials, making it ideal for a variety of applications, including:
Material identification: Identify unknown materials, minerals, and contaminants.
Quality control: Ensure the quality and consistency of raw materials and finished products.
Pharmaceutical analysis: Verify the identity and purity of pharmaceutical compounds.
Food safety testing: Detect contaminants and adulterants in food products.
Field analysis: Analyze materials in the field, such as during environmental monitoring or forensic investigations.
The Zaitechno Handheld Raman Spectrometer is easy to use and features a user-friendly interface. It is compact and lightweight, making it ideal for field applications. With its rapid analysis capabilities, the Zaitechno Handheld Raman Spectrometer can help you improve efficiency and productivity in your research or quality control workflows.
COVID-19 and the Level of Cloud Computing Adoption: A Study of Sri Lankan Inf...AimanAthambawa1
The study’s main objective is to analyse the level of cloud computing adoption and usage during COVID-19 in Sri
Lanka, especially in Information Technology (IT) organisations. Using senior IT employees, this study investigates
what extent their organisation adopts with cloud computing, the level of cloud computing usage, current use of
cloud service model, usage of cloud deployment model, preferred cloud service providers and reasons for adopting
and not adopting cloud computing. The study also describes why cloud computing is a solution for new normal
situations and the cloud-enabled services used during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The finding suggests
that 87.7% of the organisations currently use cloud-enabled services, whereas 12.3% do not and intend to adopt.
Considering the benefits, cloud computing is the solution post COVID-19 pandemic to run the business way
forward.
Develop Secure Enterprise Solutions with iOS Mobile App Development ServicesDamco Solutions
The security of enterprise apps should not be overlooked by organizations. Since these apps handle confidential finance/user data and business operations, ensuring greater security is crucial. That’s why, businesses should hire dedicated iOS mobile application development services providers for creating super-secured enterprise apps. By incorporating sophisticated security mechanisms, these developers make enterprise apps resistant to a range of cyber threats.
Content source - https://www.bizbangboom.com/articles/enterprise-mobile-app-development-with-ios-augmenting-business-security
Read more - https://www.damcogroup.com/ios-application-development-services
LeadMagnet IQ Review: Unlock the Secret to Effortless Traffic and Leads.pdfSelfMade bd
Imagine being able to generate high-quality traffic and leads effortlessly. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, it’s not. It’s called LeadMagnet IQ, and it’s here to revolutionize your marketing efforts.
(Note: Download the paper about this software. After that, click on [Click for Instant Access] inside the paper, and it will take you to the sales page of the product.)
Finetuning GenAI For Hacking and DefendingPriyanka Aash
Generative AI, particularly through the lens of large language models (LLMs), represents a transformative leap in artificial intelligence. With advancements that have fundamentally altered our approach to AI, understanding and leveraging these technologies is crucial for innovators and practitioners alike. This comprehensive exploration delves into the intricacies of GenAI, from its foundational principles and historical evolution to its practical applications in security and beyond.
Latest Tech Trends Series 2024 By EY IndiaEYIndia1
Stay ahead of the curve with our comprehensive Tech Trends Series! Explore the latest technology trends shaping the world today, from the 2024 Tech Trends report and top emerging technologies to their impact on business technology trends. This series delves into the most significant technological advancements, giving you insights into both established and emerging tech trends that will revolutionize various industries.
Retrieval Augmented Generation Evaluation with RagasZilliz
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) enhances chatbots by incorporating custom data in the prompt. Using large language models (LLMs) as judge has gained prominence in modern RAG systems. This talk will demo Ragas, an open-source automation tool for RAG evaluations. Christy will talk about and demo evaluating a RAG pipeline using Milvus and RAG metrics like context F1-score and answer correctness.
Welcome to Cyberbiosecurity. Because regular cybersecurity wasn't complicated...Snarky Security
How wonderful it is that in our modern age, every bit of our biological data can be digitized, stored, and potentially pilfered by cyber thieves! Isn't it just splendid to think that while scientists are busy pushing the boundaries of biotechnology, hackers could be plotting the next big bio-data heist? This delightful scenario is brought to you by the ever-expanding digital landscape of biology and biotechnology, where the integration of computer science, engineering, and data science transforms our understanding and manipulation of biological systems.
While the fusion of technology and biology offers immense benefits, it also necessitates a careful consideration of the ethical, security, and associated social implications. But let's be honest, in the grand scheme of things, what's a little risk compared to potential scientific achievements? After all, progress in biotechnology waits for no one, and we're just along for the ride in this thrilling, slightly terrifying, adventure.
So, as we continue to navigate this complex landscape, let's not forget the importance of robust data protection measures and collaborative international efforts to safeguard sensitive biological information. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
-------------------------
This document provides a comprehensive analysis of the security implications biological data use. The analysis explores various aspects of biological data security, including the vulnerabilities associated with data access, the potential for misuse by state and non-state actors, and the implications for national and transnational security. Key aspects considered include the impact of technological advancements on data security, the role of international policies in data governance, and the strategies for mitigating risks associated with unauthorized data access.
This view offers valuable insights for security professionals, policymakers, and industry leaders across various sectors, highlighting the importance of robust data protection measures and collaborative international efforts to safeguard sensitive biological information. The analysis serves as a crucial resource for understanding the complex dynamics at the intersection of biotechnology and security, providing actionable recommendations to enhance biosecurity in an digital and interconnected world.
The evolving landscape of biology and biotechnology, significantly influenced by advancements in computer science, engineering, and data science, is reshaping our understanding and manipulation of biological systems. The integration of these disciplines has led to the development of fields such as computational biology and synthetic biology, which utilize computational power and engineering principles to solve complex biological problems and innovate new biotechnological applications. This interdisciplinary approach has not only accelerated research and development but also introduced new capabilities such as gene editing and biomanufact
It's your unstructured data: How to get your GenAI app to production (and spe...Zilliz
So you've successfully built a GenAI app POC for your company -- now comes the hard part: bringing it to production. Aparavi addresses the challenges of AI projects while addressing data privacy and PII. Our Service for RAG helps AI developers and data scientists to scale their app to 1000s to millions of users using corporate unstructured data. Aparavi’s AI Data Loader cleans, prepares and then loads only the relevant unstructured data for each AI project/app, enabling you to operationalize the creation of GenAI apps easily and accurately while giving you the time to focus on what you really want to do - building a great AI application with useful and relevant context. All within your environment and never having to share private corporate data with anyone - not even Aparavi.
Connector Corner: Leveraging Snowflake Integration for Smarter Decision MakingDianaGray10
The power of Snowflake analytics enables CRM systems to improve operational efficiency, while gaining deeper insights into closed/won opportunities.
In this webinar, learn how infusing Snowflake into your CRM can quickly provide analysis for sales wins by region, product, customer segmentation, customer lifecycle—and more!
Using prebuilt connectors, we’ll show how workflows using Snowflake, Salesforce, and Zendesk tickets can significantly impact future sales.
Keynote : AI & Future Of Offensive SecurityPriyanka Aash
In the presentation, the focus is on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity, particularly in the context of malware generation and adversarial attacks. AI promises to revolutionize the field by enabling scalable solutions to historically challenging problems such as continuous threat simulation, autonomous attack path generation, and the creation of sophisticated attack payloads. The discussions underscore how AI-powered tools like AI-based penetration testing can outpace traditional methods, enhancing security posture by efficiently identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities across complex attack surfaces. The use of AI in red teaming further amplifies these capabilities, allowing organizations to validate security controls effectively against diverse adversarial scenarios. These advancements not only streamline testing processes but also bolster defense strategies, ensuring readiness against evolving cyber threats.
2. Mikko Seppä
Run / Advised / Invested in SaaS-
companies (10+)
10+ years working with all kinds of
startups (SaaS, Service, etc)
Serial entrepreneur: 2 x exit
Frequent guest lecturer in various
Start-up Accelerators & Universities
Author of 3 books
3. What I’m going to present here is based on
my own experiences & learnings,
no textbook theory examples.
4. 3 stages of start-up growth
Problem / Solution Fit Product / Market Fit Scale
0-12m 12-36m
5. 3 stages of start-up growth
Problem / Solution Fit Product / Market Fit Scale
0-12m 12-36m
8. Three big questions to solve
1. Market
2. Problem
3. Solution
Who are your customers?
What is the problem worth solving?
What is a feasible solution?
10. Problem & Market
1. Domain knowledge aka Solving your own problem
If you have worked with the problem previously, you might have
suf
fi
cient information about the problem.
2. Customer Research / Customer Development
Talk with customers / users, a lot. Gather understanding of the
problem & people.
11. There is no substitute for
talking to customers
Yes, you might have had the problem yourself, but you are not
your customer.
Do the customer research and learn how potential customers
perceive the problem & various ways to solve it
Too often our view of problem differs from customers’
12. Customer is not a…
- Company in [insert industry here]
- 38 year old Linda who likes traveling and books
- Fortune 500 company
13. It’s the job they want to get done
When you start, your ideal customer de
fi
nition should be more
about the people who share the same job to be done (JTBD)
When you reach PMF, you need to be able to de
fi
ne your ideal
customer pro
fi
le in more detail. At this stage the most important
thing is to nail the JTBD
Further reading: Intercom On Jobs To Be Done
18. Please note!
Just because something is a problem, it doesn’t mean you should
start a business solving it. Not all problems are the same.
Just because you came up with a crazy cool product idea, it doesn’t
mean there will be a market for that
Just because YOU think something is a problem, it doesn’t mean
there actually is one.
Only way making sure is to complete the Customer Development
19. Is the problem you’re solving signi
fi
cant
enough?
Small problem
Big problem
Rare
Frequent
20. Is the problem you’re solving signi
fi
cant
enough?
Small problem
Big problem
Rare
Frequent
21. Is the problem you’re solving signi
fi
cant
enough?
Small problem
Big problem
Rare
Frequent
22. Is the problem you’re solving signi
fi
cant
enough?
Small problem
Big problem
Rare
Frequent
23. Is the problem you’re solving signi
fi
cant
enough?
Small problem
Big problem
Rare
Frequent
24. There’s a gap in the market,
but is there a market in the
gap
”
28. Complete solution -trap
Find prospect Reach out
Contact /
company data
management
Pipeline
management
Close deals and
get signatures
29. Complete solution -trap
Find prospect Reach out
Contact /
company data
management
Pipeline
management
Close deals and
get signatures
Several products - not one!
By trying to build this you will run out of money.
This can be your end-game but you need to start smaller.
30. Feasible solution
Economical:
It’s actually possible
to build the product
with the resources
you have
Legal:
It’s according to the
law in the market
your operating. e.g
3rd party cookies /
ePrivacy
Technical:
It actually can be
done and your
technical solution
will be valid within 5
years
31. CASE: BUILDERHEAD
Once problem was validated,
they acquired pilot customers
20 pilot customers, 5 paying
customers.
All customers use their time
and provide feedback.
Faster way to validate the
solution with co-creation
32. Don’t build product that
creates more problems
Most solutions actually cause
more problems for customer than
what they actually solve
Think: Google+ Circles
Watch what customers do, not
what they say.
33. Should we do a private beta?
”What do we need to learn as early on as possible?”
If you have big crucial assumptions you need to validate, private
beta might just be right for you.
Further reading: Nick Lesains on How to run a successful beta in 7 steps
34. How do you know you’ve
achieved Problem / solution
fi
t
35. You’re there when…
…feedback (on mockups or MVP) is great and customers say they’d
buy your product)
….customers want to share the news about your product and are
happy to refer you forward
…you no-more have unvalidated big assumption about the
problem, solution or customer
37. PMF - What you need to nail
1. Sales
2. Marketing
3. Data & analytics
4. Product
5. Processes
38. 1. How to get your 1st customers
Talk with the people you talked when you validated problem
Cold outreach: email / LinkedIn / calls
Test the messaging / value proposition / RTB AND different
audience segments.
This takes much more effort than you think and everybody on the
founding team should do it. Yes, even the ”CTO”.
40. DO NOT HIRE SALES REPS
BEFORE YOU…
…have sold 10-50 by yourself and you have 3-5 customer reference
cases
…know how to create demand / leads
…have strong positioning and can differentiate your product
42. 2. Marketing
Your
fi
rst priority should be a product marketer.
Person who ideally sits in the intersection of product & marketing
Person who’s keen on understanding user motivation, can help
with messaging, positioning and all things in on-boarding
43. 3. Data & Analytics
In order to succeed, you need to instill data driven / data-informed
culture in your start-up. Make sure you master at least these
What Tools
Product usage How people use your software. Amplitude / Heap / Mixpanel
Subscription data Retention + upsell data
Chartmogul / Baremetrics /
Pro
fi
twell
Acqusition How well you market & sell HubSpot / Pipedrive / Salesforce
Customer happiness How happy customers are SurveyMonkey / HubSpot
Feedback Qualitative feedback from different user groups
Talking to customers, chat
transcripts, emails, support tickets
44. 4. Product
Build what you sell, sell what you build
Find which features makes your product stick and what are nice to
have. Double down on your strengths, don’t build more weak
features
Design systems, documentation etc.
Further reading: ThinkGrowth HubSpot’s playbook for going from startup to scale up
45. 5. Processes
You don’t have PMF if you don’t have key business processes in
place.
Marketing, sales, success
People processes: Hiring, promoting, development
Product: Learn how to support other things besides creating new
- Improve a feature (Customer satisfaction)
- Getting more people to use feature (adoption rate)
- Getting people to use feature more (frequency)
46. How do you know you’ve
achieved product / market
fi
t
47. How do you know you’ve succeeded
Retention: Customers use your product and you’re able to retain them
”How would you feel if you no longer couldn’t use the product” —>
>50% very disappointed is ok
When customers understand your product and use it right way AND
can successfully solve the problems they got it for
You have at least 2-3 channels that bring you customers, with
suf
fi
cient unit economics (spend less money that what pay to get)
48. Last remark
Product / market
fi
t is not something you achieve once and live
happily ever after.
You need to achieve PMF every time you…
• Start selling to new market / new audience
• Introduce a new product
• Every 3-5 years since you don’t live in vacuum