Embracing Startup Life and learning to think The Startup Way
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Embracing “Startup Life” and learning to think “The Startup Way” @Ben_Hall [email protected] Blog.BenHall.me.uk Ocelot Uproar
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Delivered on 21st May 2014 at DevSum14 (http://www.devsum.se), Stockholm Sweden.
Transcript of Embracing Startup Life and learning to think The Startup Way
Build It!
Think It!
Ship It!
Sell It!
Love Startups
2 Wins. 2 Loses. 1 Draw.Ocelot Uproar - TBD
LANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA... He remembers me!!!!!
A startup is a company that is confused about 1) What it’s product is 2) Who it’s customers are 3) How it makes money
Startup life?
Different to the Enterprise?
Value Creation at 80 / 20
Rollercoaster
Developers are in the best position to do this as we think about problems differently
Or at least the good ones do
Think it!
Solve a real pain
Solve Your Own Problem
Vision
Disney – To make people happy
Ikea – To create a better every day life for the many
people
Wal-Mart – Become a $125 billion company by the
year 2000
Honda – in 1970: We will destroy Yamaha.
Nike – in 1960s: Crush Adidas.
Stanford University – To become the Harvard of the
West
Telsa - To accelerate the advent of
sustainable transport by bringing
compelling mass market electric cars to
market as soon as possible
SpaceX - To accelerate development of
rocket technology, all for the goal of
establishing a self-sustaining, permanent
base on Mars
People don't buy what you
do; they buy why you do it.
Ideas to avoid / be aware of?
• Market places / two sided markets
– They do lead to digital transaction businesses ==
most likely to hit $1b
– Winning once is hard. Here you need to win
twice.
• Viral
– Generally all about luck
• Photo Sharing etc
– Yawn!!! Be original.
Just start
Easier to go from shit to greatthan from nothing
Talk to everyone! Listen to a few
Ask yourself tough questions
DON’T SAY YOU’RE DISRUPTION OR INNOVATING
LAME!!! Only others can say that
http://insideintercom.io/what-everyone-needs-to-know-about-disruption/
Product Market Fit
Got an idea?
Get someone to pay for it
Build it!
“An MVP is an experiment that tests
a critical, falsifiable hypothesis of
your business”
“MVPs are just a tool to conduct fast,
measurable customer learnings”
Devin Hunt - http://dex.io/hailpixel/mvps-in-practice/
Landing Page / Pitch Test
Fake it until you make it
Product Hunt
Naughty… smart… but naughty
Product Solution Fit
Anything can be an MVPEven if it only lasts 33 seconds
User journey is the most important
aspect to figure out
New found love for Prototyping
30 Day Launch
Medium – 31 DaysGoogle Wave – 300 Days
Design is key
http://firstround.com/article/Simple-Design-is-What-You-Need-Not-What-You-Want-1
Typography
Colour Theory
Be Careful Of Stock Photography
Don’t turn into a developer/designer!
Screw Perfection!
• Done is better than prefect
WHO CARES ABOUT CLEAN CODE IF THERE ARE NO SALES!
Build on the shoulders of giants
This Guy!
Ship it!
If you release something and no-one is
around to use it, did the release happen?
Find the people who believe in what
you believe
Content Marketing
Paypal => eBay
AirBnB => Craigslist
Twitter Mentions / Search / Auto Follow
Empty Community Problem - Daatch
Solve the empty community problem
Habit Forming Product
Keep them coming back
Friend of Friend
Get them to bring more people
TeamsDon’t let them leave
Dropbox Wins t’Internet
Sell it!
If it offers value, people will pay
Charge from day zero
Price for the customer you want
$9$99
$999
Stay away from Free Trails
http://derickbailey.com/2014/05/14/saas-builders-beware-the-free-trial/
Stay away from Unlimited
Price based on value. It’s a balance, you’ll find it
https://baremetrics.io/blog/never-offer-unlimited
Love the enterprise
https://baremetrics.io/blog/idea-to-5000-in-5-months
Zombies are more likely
Lifestyle is fine!
Elon Musk - 2008
SpaceX Falcon 1 launches was 0 for 3.
Telsa was hemorrhaging money
Getting divorced
“man, I never thought I was someone who
could ever be capable of a nervous
breakdown” ~Iron Man Elon Musk
http://spacenews.com/article/civil-space/40066why-elon-musk-says-2008-was-his-worst-year-ever
Elon Musk - 2008
Sept. 28, 2008 - Falcon 1 –
Successful launch on fourth attempt
Dec. 23, 2008 - SpaceX awarded
$1.6billion NASA contract
Dec. 25, 2008 – Telsa investors pour
more money in
Summary
