4. “Considering the incredible amount of human energy, passion, and
creativity that we invest in creating new products & services…
@HackerChick @EricRies
5. … it’s a terrible waste that so many of them fail.”
@HackerChick @EricRies
7. Single Biggest Predictor of Failure?
@HackerChick 300 startups surveyed (src: Don Sull, "The Upside of Turbulence”)
8. Single Biggest Predictor of Failure?
Sticking to Initial Business Plan
@HackerChick 300 startups surveyed (src: Don Sull, "The Upside of Turbulence”)
29. eliminate muda
(building things nobody wants is the worst kind of muda)
@HackerChick
30. $5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
@HackerChick
31. $5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
@HackerChick
32. $5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
One of the
Largest
Bankruptcies
@HackerChick
in US History
33. “We’re a classic MBA case study in how
NOT to introduce a product.
@HackerChick Iridium Interim CEO John A. Richardson
34. “We’re a classic MBA case study in how
NOT to introduce a product.
First, we created a marvelous tech. achievement
@HackerChick Iridium Interim CEO John A. Richardson
35. “We’re a classic MBA case study in how
NOT to introduce a product.
First, we created a marvelous tech. achievement
Then, we asked how to make money on it.”
@HackerChick Iridium Interim CEO John A. Richardson
36. “Most start-ups fail not because the technology
doesn’t work, but because they’re making something that
there is not a real market for”
@HackerChick @EricRies
46. “Papa built our last tree house in a day!”
“Yeah, but that tree house was a couple pallets
and a ladder”
@HackerChick The Minimum Viable Tree House by Christian Wyglendowski
56. Step #1a
Find a
problem
worth solving
@HackerChick
57. We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
@HackerChick
58. We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
Not a single person clicked thru to it
@HackerChick
59. We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
Not a single person clicked thru to it
What did we learn from that?
@HackerChick
60. We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
Not a single person clicked thru to it
Was there a faster way to get through
@HackerChick
that learning loop?
68. VC: “There are a million cloud storage startups!”
Drew: “Do you use any of them?”
VC: “No”
Drew: “…”
@HackerChick
69. Know where your
target audience
hangs out
& speak to them in an
authentic way
@HackerChick @drewhouston, Dropbox
70. Brainstorm
Customer Problem
anyone who cooks can’t find recipes
@HackerChick
71. Brainstorm
Customer Problem
anyone who cooks can’t find recipes
@HackerChick
72. Brainstorm
Customer Problem
anyone who cooks can’t find recipes
amateur gourmet want to make fabulous
chefs food for friends &
family
@HackerChick
73. Brainstorm
Customer Problem
anyone who cooks can’t find recipes
amateur gourmet want to make fabulous
chefs food for friends &
family
dieters need to lose weight
@HackerChick
74. Brainstorm
Customer Problem
anyone who cooks can’t find recipes
amateur gourmet want to make fabulous
chefs food for friends &
in college family
dieters
^ need to lose weight
@HackerChick
81. Customer Discovery
How important is the problem’s solution to the customer?
How valuable is the problem’s solution to the customer?@SGBlank
@HackerChick
82. Step #2
Find a
solution
that resonates
@HackerChick
83. Concierge Service
(AKA Wizard of Oz)
Xcelerate - @HackerChick
Boston Startup School - @HackerChick
@HackerChick
88. Step #n
launch!
when you have a
quantum of utility
@HackerChick @paulg, Y Combinator
89. Startup Lessons
1. Unit of progress: learning
2. Eliminate muda (waste)
3. No mansions, a couple of pallets & a ladder
4. Develop your customers not just your product
5. No facts live inside the building
@HackerChick
93. Who is your customer?
What problem are you solving?
@HackerChick
94. What are your riskiest assumptions?
What can you do to learn if true? (MVP)
@HackerChick
95. PITCH!
1. Your Name & Track
2. Bad Idea
3. Customer/Problem
4. Riskiest assumption
5. How you’ll learn if correct (MVP)
@HackerChick
96. Learn More
Eric Ries
@EricRies
http://startuplessonslearned.com/
Steve Blank
@sgblank
http://steveblank.com/
Ash Maurya
@ashmaurya
http://ashmaurya.com/
Abby Fichtner
@HackerChick
http://HackerChick.com
@HackerChick
Editor's Notes
I want to talk about Lean StartupThis is how the startups you’re going to be joining will be operating at their coreAnd the thing to know is that they’re really not at all like big companies -- which of course is why we have Startup SchoolAnd they can feel pretty crazy & chaotic, but there’s actually a method to the madness & that’s what I’m going to talk about today.
Let’s start off with – what do you think makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial? Any thoughtsThese are awesome – so this was actually the topic of some research done bySaras “saraswathy” at the University of Virginia and what she found was thatNormal people employ what she calls Causal Reasoning. That is, they set an end goal & come up with a strategy for how best to reach that goalStraight forward –They have something they want so they come up with a plan to get itEntrepreneurs however, use Effectual Reasoning.In effectual reasoning we don’t even start with a specific goal in mind.Instead, we take a hard look at where we are TODAY – who we are, what we know, WHO we knowAnd we start to tinker – we start imagining & implementing possible things that can be created with all of thisAnd so we progress, allowing our goals to emerge over time.And so causal reasoning is all about the perfect plan & then following through on itBut effectual reasoning is more about exploring. And it’s all about executing. It’s all about trying stuff & then adjusting our path based on what we learned from it.
Has anyone ever read Where Good Ideas Come From? By Steven JohnsonSUCH a good bookAnd in it he talks about these patterns of innovation that happen over and over again… but not innovation that happens in startupsHe’s talking about innovation in evolution & how our planet has evolved & how we’ve evolvedAnd he then ties this to innovations we think of – like the lightbulb or the combustion engineOne of patterns is called The Adjacent PossibleAnd the idea is that at any given point in time – there is a set amount of what’s possible.Things that can be done with the technology and the knowledge that we possess todaySo all innovation is going to happen at the adjacent possible – meaning what’s just beyond what’s possible todaySo if we can look at what’s possible today and take it just a little bit further, we’ve actually expanded that set of what’s possibleSo we’ve made the world a little bit better for everybody, because there’s more that can be doneAnd so I believe this idea of effectual reasoning where you look at what’s around you & see how you can build upon it to take things to the next levelI believe THAT is how we change the world.And what I love about lean startup is that it actually gives us a method for doing this.
Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology
9 out of 10 new products fail
Scary as hell,right? Because we’re used to tracking progress against plan to tell if we’re on track or not.Tie back to exploring rather than following
Scary as hell,right? Because we’re used to tracking progress against plan to tell if we’re on track or not.Tie back to exploring rather than following
We’re exploring, trying a bunch of different things…And it can be MESSY
We’re exploring, trying a bunch of different things…And it can be MESSY
We’re exploring, trying a bunch of different things…And it can be MESSYAnd scary too… because we maybe quit our well paying jobs to do this
And our goal with a lean startup is to identify where our big vision of how we’re going to change the world intersects with what reality can actually accommodateAnd that’s where the exploring comes in & the willingness to try different things out
And our goal with a lean startup is to identify where our big vision of how we’re going to change the world intersects with what reality can actually accommodateAnd that’s where the exploring comes in & the willingness to try different things out
Great example of this is a Startup called the Point.The Point’s idea or BIG VISION was to harness the collective power of all the people on the internet<Read Tagline: Whether you’re raising money, organizing people, or trying to influence change: if you can’t do it alone, you can do it on The Point>Fantastic vision! But totally unfocused. It could be used for anything from political activism to boycotting multinational corporations to getting a group discount at your favorite pizzeria.It wasn’t gaining traction, they had to lay off the co-founder. About to become one of those 9 out of 10 statistics…But the CEO looked harder and said is there anything in this vision that IS working?And actually – that getting people together for a group discount at a pizzeria, THAT was working.And if that sounds familiar, it should…
Because that CEO was Andrew Mason and he took that idea and turned it into Groupon, which became the fastest growing company EVER.Over 30MILLION Groupon subscribers in North America alone
So I want to share with you some of the key learnings that Andrew Mason took away from The Point -> Groupon experience<play video>
<read>Don’t get so encumbered in your vision that you spend 10 months building the wrong thingBuild that very small thing & get it out there to the masses, and keep on trying different things. Eventually you'll get it right
The takeaway here – and the reason you’re all at Startup Institute is that… <read>Large organizations are already operating in a known market, solving a known problem. They’re focused on execution: better ways to solve that problem for their market & reaching more customers
Startups are starting from nothing.They haven’t even validated that there’s a need for this fabulous idea of their’sThey’re about learning and discovery, not execution.
And this is REALLY hard…
So founder lesson #1 is….<read>And this is REALLY hard…
And this is REALLY hard…
Because building stuff is FUNAnd you’re at a startup. That’s really sexy. So your friends all want to know what you’re building.And you’re all – not much, but I’m learnin! Learnings sexy too right?Building stuff is fun.
In lean we have a term for that – we call it muda.Muda is a japenese term because all of these lean concepts stem from Lean Manufacturing, which actually came from the Toyota Production SystemAnd we might translate it to waste, but it’s actually much broader than thatIt means anything that doesn’t add value or is unproductive.
And this is REALLY hard…
So Startup Lesson #2 is eliminate Muda<click><read>In fact… Eric Ries said the the #1 most important thing for a startup is learning to tell the difference between value & waste.
So Startup Lesson #2 is eliminate Muda<click><read>In fact… Eric Ries said the the #1 most important thing for a startup is learning to tell the difference between value & waste.
So, to show a really big example of waste I had to go all the way back to the 90’s when we had really awesome phones.In the early 90’s, Motorola spun off a new company called Iridium to build satellite phonesAt the time, it was a HUGE engineering triumphThey spent $5 BILLION dollarsBuilt it to scale to MILLIONS of customersThey spent years and years on itAnd when they finally released, 11 years later, nobody wanted itAnd it became one of the largest bankruptcies in US history
So, to show a really big example of waste I had to go all the way back to the 90’s when we had really awesome phones.In the early 90’s, Motorola spun off a new company called Iridium to build satellite phonesAt the time, it was a HUGE engineering triumphThey spent $5 BILLION dollarsBuilt it to scale to MILLIONS of customersThey spent years and years on itAnd when they finally released, 11 years later, nobody wanted itAnd it became one of the largest bankruptcies in US history
So, to show a really big example of waste I had to go all the way back to the 90’s when we had really awesome phones.In the early 90’s, Motorola spun off a new company called Iridium to build satellite phonesAt the time, it was a HUGE engineering triumphThey spent $5 BILLION dollarsBuilt it to scale to MILLIONS of customersThey spent years and years on itAnd when they finally released, 11 years later, nobody wanted itAnd it became one of the largest bankruptcies in US history
John Richardson, who stepped in as CEO after all of this happened said<read>
John Richardson, who stepped in as CEO after all of this happened said<read>
John Richardson, who stepped in as CEO after all of this happened said<read>
The truth is… <read>And so we need a different model then that which big companies follow
What do you think startups should do differently then big companies?<split into groups of 3-5 people, take 5 minutes to think about how you’d run a startup differently><Have volunteers share their best idea>
The typical way we think about companies operating is… you’ve got a vision of what you want to do… <click> and you go build it.But when you’re creating something brand new & you haven’t yet validated that there’s a market for the product you’re buildingThat approach tends to lead to… WHAT?<click> 9 out 10 new products failingWhich is bad, right?
The typical way we think about companies operating is… you’ve got a vision of what you want to do… <click> and you go build it.But when you’re creating something brand new & you haven’t yet validated that there’s a market for the product you’re buildingThat approach tends to lead to… WHAT?<click> 9 out 10 new products failingWhich is bad, right?
So our goal instead is to do some exploring to figure out what piece of our vision reality can accommodateWhat is our group discounts for pizza?In Lean Startup, we do this with something called the Build-Measure-Learn loop. And this represents the process we’ll be iterating over to move us towards a successful business modelThe idea is – you start with some assumptionsAnd then you think about how you might be able to LEARN whether these assumptions are right or not(I am assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activism)So now you step back and say, okay, what can I BUILD that will let me capture the right DATA in order to learn if my idea is true or not?(maybe I can build the platform for group action & then capture some analytics to see how people use it)But – here’s the catch, and this is what Andrew Mason realized after he’d spent 10 months building The Point.We need something faster than taking 10 months to build the platform and see how people use it.We need to get that 1 little thing out there & see what people do with it.So the key to iterating through your ideas to a successful business plan is to <click>GET THROUGH THE WHOLE LOOP AS FAST AS POSSIBLEThink days or a week or two, NOT 10 monthsSo now we need to ask the question again. I’m assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activismHow can I learn if that is true or not in just a couple days or maybe a week?
So our goal instead is to do some exploring to figure out what piece of our vision reality can accommodateWhat is our group discounts for pizza?In Lean Startup, we do this with something called the Build-Measure-Learn loop. And this represents the process we’ll be iterating over to move us towards a successful business modelThe idea is – you start with some assumptionsAnd then you think about how you might be able to LEARN whether these assumptions are right or not(I am assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activism)So now you step back and say, okay, what can I BUILD that will let me capture the right DATA in order to learn if my idea is true or not?(maybe I can build the platform for group action & then capture some analytics to see how people use it)But – here’s the catch, and this is what Andrew Mason realized after he’d spent 10 months building The Point.We need something faster than taking 10 months to build the platform and see how people use it.We need to get that 1 little thing out there & see what people do with it.So the key to iterating through your ideas to a successful business plan is to <click>GET THROUGH THE WHOLE LOOP AS FAST AS POSSIBLEThink days or a week or two, NOT 10 monthsSo now we need to ask the question again. I’m assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activismHow can I learn if that is true or not in just a couple days or maybe a week?
So our goal instead is to do some exploring to figure out what piece of our vision reality can accommodateWhat is our group discounts for pizza?In Lean Startup, we do this with something called the Build-Measure-Learn loop. And this represents the process we’ll be iterating over to move us towards a successful business modelThe idea is – you start with some assumptionsAnd then you think about how you might be able to LEARN whether these assumptions are right or not(I am assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activism)So now you step back and say, okay, what can I BUILD that will let me capture the right DATA in order to learn if my idea is true or not?(maybe I can build the platform for group action & then capture some analytics to see how people use it)But – here’s the catch, and this is what Andrew Mason realized after he’d spent 10 months building The Point.We need something faster than taking 10 months to build the platform and see how people use it.We need to get that 1 little thing out there & see what people do with it.So the key to iterating through your ideas to a successful business plan is to <click>GET THROUGH THE WHOLE LOOP AS FAST AS POSSIBLEThink days or a week or two, NOT 10 monthsSo now we need to ask the question again. I’m assuming that if I give people a platform for group action, they’ll use it for worthy causes – like political activismHow can I learn if that is true or not in just a couple days or maybe a week?
Our strategy for doing this is something called Minimum Viable Product
Which says – what’s the SMALLEST thing I can build that will take us to the next step?
Which says – what’s the SMALLEST thing I can build that will take us to the next step?
So a story about this that I like is a blog post that Christian Wyglendowski wrote called The Minimum Viable Tree HouseAnd he’s talking about how he’s building a tree house for his kidsAnd it’s taking a while…And his oldest one says <read>This time, Christian had a WAY bigger vision…
This kind of ROCKS, right? But here’s the thing – if we built this, is this really want our target market wants?If we’ve got kids – they’re probably looking for something high up, away from the adults, that feels like a secret stealthy kids only placeThis – ain’t stealthyFurthermore – if we actually BUILT something like this – you just KNOW we’d be inviting ALL our friends over & be all “look at what I built for my kids”Do you think kids really want to be hanging out in the place that mom & dad and all their friends are?Kind of defeats the purpose, right?
And so kids might actually LOVE thisTHIS is our minimum viable feature set: It’s up high, away from the adults, and best of all, it’s available in a day so they can start playing NOWAs opposed to the other one where maybe it’ll be ready by the time they go off to college.You should NOT be building this (flip back)You should build THIS (slide) — something so crude that it embarrasses you to put it in front of your market.
And this is REALLY hard…
So Startup Lesson #3 is <read>
In a startup it’s obviously essential that you’re able to BUILD a productBut it’s just as, if not MORE important to BUILD your customers.So Lean Startup combines agile development (for how to dev your product)With Customer Development (for how to develop your customers)
And this is REALLY hard…
So Startup Lesson #4… (just point & pause), OK.
I want to walk through what it’s like to develop a startup
And like I said…It’s kind of messyBut what you’re trying to do is explore a space to learn where their might be a viable business.
This is the BIGGEST problem I see in startups is that they fail to do Step #1 which is <READ>And what this typically manifests itself as is something like this…
So let’s start with a really basic example
So let’s start with a really basic example
So let’s start with a really basic example
So let’s start with a really basic example
Oops – this feature isn’t available yetIf we had some analytics that could show us the count of 0 people that clicked through, that would have been just as effective.We would have learned just as much without having to actually build the product.And so a totally viable lean startup tactic is to build a landing page.
A great example of this is Buffer. They do social media sharing.This is how they look today. But this is not how they started…
1st, they created what’s called a landing page to just see if anyone was interested.In other words, 1st off, could even get people to come to the page?And 2nd, will any of those actually click through to Plans & PricingIf they clicked plans & pricing…
Ooops, you caught us before we’re ready.But if you’d like to be notified when we’re ready, give us your email address.They tweeted it out, a few people gave their email addresses. That was good enough – we don’t need a billion people, because we don’t want to wait months for this – we just need some initial validation.So now, let’s move to the next MVPWhat do you guys think their next MVP – their next smallest step to validating if they have a business – might be?
So the next MVP added a page to check for just that.When people clicked Plans & Pricing they got 3 plans, 1 free, 2 pay.If anyone clicked any of the plans, they just got brought back to the Oops/give us your email address pagePeople continued to click the Plans & Pricing button, and now they clicked through on one of the plans, a small # even clicked a paid plan.Buffer’s initial minimum feature set was so small, it was something they could put out there in - they thought it would take them a day (it’s just queuing up tweets), it actually took them a week – whatever, they’re not expending HUGE amounts of resources.And so this validation they just got from their landing page & seeing that some people were even willing to pay money for it – was enough for them to go ahead and start building the 1st version of their product.
This is the BIGGEST problem I see in startups is that they fail to do Step #1 which is <READ>And what this typically manifests itself as is something like this…
When dropbox came out, there were a TON of “solutions” for this same problem space.But Drew spoke to people, he put demos in their hands, he got real feedbackAnd as a result, they hit 1MILLION users only 7 months after launchAnd 4 MILLION a little over a year after that
The reason dropbox won wasHe took the time to really understand his customer, andHe took the time to come up with a solution that really resonated with them
An example – let’s take the recipe app1st thing you want to do is think about WHO your customers are going to be & what problem you’re solving for them…I like to actually back up a little and start by JUST thinking about – what customer segment am I going after & what problem do I think they have that I want to solve for them?So, let’s take a recipe app as an example. And we can brainstorm some problems for different types of customersAnybody who cooks, can’t find new recipesBORING – people want to reach everyone so they have a big audience but the problem is it tends to lead to mediocrity that nobody is that interested inAnd anyway – there’s probably a REASON you’ve got this vision of what you want to do.It’s hopefully something you’re passionate about. And I just don’t believe you’re passionate about something as broad as “anyone who cooks”Maybe… you’re really passionate about people who LOVE cooking, it’s not their day job (“amateur”) but they get a lot of satisfaction from making fabulous food for their friends and family- but, it’s just a hobby so they’d like to know how to do it better<ASK for ideas>
I like to actually back up a little and start by JUST thinking about – what customer segment am I going after & what problem do I think they have that I want to solve for them?So, let’s take a recipe app as an example. And we can brainstorm some problems for different types of customersAnybody who cooks, can’t find new recipesBORING – people want to reach everyone so they have a big audience but the problem is it tends to lead to mediocrity that nobody is that interested inAnd anyway – there’s probably a REASON you’ve got this vision of what you want to do.It’s hopefully something you’re passionate about. And I just don’t believe you’re passionate about something as broad as “anyone who cooks”Maybe… you’re really passionate about people who LOVE cooking, it’s not their day job (“amateur”) but they get a lot of satisfaction from making fabulous food for their friends and family- but, it’s just a hobby so they’d like to know how to do it better
I like to actually back up a little and start by JUST thinking about – what customer segment am I going after & what problem do I think they have that I want to solve for them?So, let’s take a recipe app as an example. And we can brainstorm some problems for different types of customersAnybody who cooks, can’t find new recipesBORING – people want to reach everyone so they have a big audience but the problem is it tends to lead to mediocrity that nobody is that interested inAnd anyway – there’s probably a REASON you’ve got this vision of what you want to do.It’s hopefully something you’re passionate about. And I just don’t believe you’re passionate about something as broad as “anyone who cooks”Maybe… you’re really passionate about people who LOVE cooking, it’s not their day job (“amateur”) but they get a lot of satisfaction from making fabulous food for their friends and family- but, it’s just a hobby so they’d like to know how to do it better
I like to actually back up a little and start by JUST thinking about – what customer segment am I going after & what problem do I think they have that I want to solve for them?So, let’s take a recipe app as an example. And we can brainstorm some problems for different types of customersAnybody who cooks, can’t find new recipesBORING – people want to reach everyone so they have a big audience but the problem is it tends to lead to mediocrity that nobody is that interested inAnd anyway – there’s probably a REASON you’ve got this vision of what you want to do.It’s hopefully something you’re passionate about. And I just don’t believe you’re passionate about something as broad as “anyone who cooks”Maybe… you’re really passionate about people who LOVE cooking, it’s not their day job (“amateur”) but they get a lot of satisfaction from making fabulous food for their friends and family- but, it’s just a hobby so they’d like to know how to do it better
I like to actually back up a little and start by JUST thinking about – what customer segment am I going after & what problem do I think they have that I want to solve for them?So, let’s take a recipe app as an example. And we can brainstorm some problems for different types of customersAnybody who cooks, can’t find new recipesBORING – people want to reach everyone so they have a big audience but the problem is it tends to lead to mediocrity that nobody is that interested inAnd anyway – there’s probably a REASON you’ve got this vision of what you want to do.It’s hopefully something you’re passionate about. And I just don’t believe you’re passionate about something as broad as “anyone who cooks”Maybe… you’re really passionate about people who LOVE cooking, it’s not their day job (“amateur”) but they get a lot of satisfaction from making fabulous food for their friends and family- but, it’s just a hobby so they’d like to know how to do it better
When you’re going through these ideas – the KEY thing that you want to remember is that you’re trying to be a PAINKILLER, not a VITAMIN.So you’re looking for a really big pain point.
When you’re going through these ideas – the KEY thing that you want to remember is that you’re trying to be a PAINKILLER, not a VITAMIN.So you’re looking for a really big pain point.
And then…. You want to GET OUTSIDE THE BUILDING and TALK to peopleValidate your ideas.You can do a little of this with landing pages. But it’s kind of binary – the idea is either resonating or it’s not.And even if it is resonating, you might not know why.Nothing substitutes for actually talking to people face to face
So let’s say our BIG VISION is that we want to make flying cars.So when we’re doing customer discovery, we get out of the building, we talk to customers & we try to learn…
So let’s say our BIG VISION is that we want to make flying cars.So when we’re doing customer discovery, we get out of the building, we talk to customers & we try to learn…
So then once you get a really good understanding of what the PROBLEM isNow you need to find a solution that resonates
Another example is something called Concierge ServiceOccasionally called Wizard of Oz approach for the man behind the curtainBecause instead of BUILDING something you say, hmm, what could we accomplish MANUALLY for our users?And this is really weird if you’re a tech startup where you feel like your whole reason for being is using technology to solve problems.
There’s some clever things people have done with concierge serviceSo, like Aardvark, you can go to their website & submit a request that supposedly the software is going for you automatically.But really behind the scenes it emails a person to go handle it for you – in this case find an answer to your question – and then that person just emails the answer back to the user.
GetAround– they let you rent your car from other people.They weren’t sure if people were even going to be WILLING to give their keys to strangersSo their 1st MVP was to go to a small university that had about 100 people – students/faculty/staffAnd see if even in this small community people were willing to hand their car keys over to strangers
The key is just keep iterating.Don’t feel like you have to get it right on your 1st time or your 5th timeYou’re doing something brand new that NOBODY has ever done before – it’s gonna take some time.
How do they validate it?They give it to a customer and see if they’re willing to pay.Because UNTIL you have customers that are actually willing to give you money, you don’t have a viable business.You just have guesses.
THEN you’re ready to build & launch your 1st version of the productYou still want to keep it minimal. This should be like your “Ultimate MVP”Usually we advise startups to launch when they've built something with a quantum of utility—when they've built something sufficiently better than existing options that at least some users would say "I'm glad this appeared, because now I can finally do x."
So now that you guys know all about startups, let’s dive into some concrete examples of what startups are doing& then I’m going to turn it back to you guys to give it a try with some of the big ideas that you have been coming up with
What do you think startups should do differently then big companies?<split into groups of 3-5 people, take 5 minutes to think about how you’d run a startup differently><Have volunteers share their best idea>
What do you think startups should do differently then big companies?<split into groups of 3-5 people, take 5 minutes to think about how you’d run a startup differently><Have volunteers share their best idea>
So I want you to give it a try.Stay in your teams of 4. And just have 1 person from each team volunteer to use their idea and canvas.