a story of failure - insights from a start-up & why they matter in an enterprise environment...
DESCRIPTION
Maybe you are thinking to do the start-up thing yourself – hear what didn't work and how not to do it Maybe you just like a good story – and bad news are always the juicier news than good news ;) Be there for a first (and probably one of) - haven't told it before, might not tell it again In order to become an agile company, I'm convinced we need a culture that welcomes failure (quick & cheap ones). Let's all take a first step in that direction Because the time is just about right – two years after the fact, it feels ok to share a candid look back Because a colleague pointed me to a very interesting TED talk about the power of vulnerabilityTRANSCRIPT
#failtownster.de
Tina Dingel
Failure is the state or condition of
not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as
the opposite of success.
WHY?
1) Culture of experimentation
Fail fast, fail cheaply
Failure is integral to experimentation.
Failure drives creativity and insight.
Fail for success.
2) A personal story about failures you don’t need to repeat
LET’S GO…
#fail#epicfail#epicmegafail
TAKE AWAY
• What would I not do again?
• Do differently?• Start doing?
EUR X.000.000burned
The Money:• Betafabrik, Incubator, Cologne
My Deal: • three-year contract• Expectation: behave like a founder - #fail
Me: • 34yrs old, GM experience, Product Mkt at PP• no coding experience
THE MONEY
THE ‘SPACE’
QUICK QUIZ
THE ‘SPACE’
• Location-based service• Directory of businesses• Events• Reviews by users
THE ‘SPACE’
• Location-based service• Directory of businesses• Events• Reviews by users
How to earn money?-> Make businesses pay for placements
THE APPROACH
Lean Startup Approach
Lean Startup Approach
Failure is the state or condition of
not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as
the opposite of success.
‘Fat Startup’
IDEA BUILD PRODUCT EXIT
‘Fat Startup’
IDEA BUILD PRODUCT EXIT
Idea from 2007 - it was 2009 #fail
Idea from 2007 - it was 2009 #fail
Why did I not question this? #fail
TAKE AWAY
Internet - fast developing space
- complex space
-> you cannot plan for complexity
-> you need to test and adapt in
short iterations
Way too many features
Way too many features
Way too many features
Way too many features #fail
Way too many features #fail
Did we test? Speak to consumers?#fail
TAKE AWAY
Customer Driven Innovation – speak to you customers- Test stuff- Focus, focus, focus- What’s the critical functionality?
Shave off the rest, nobody will use it anyway.
DEVELOPING THE PRODUCT
• Townster: • Initially interns, freelancers (designer, product)• Berlin, Cologne
• Web Developers• External, Cologne-based
• Faux-agile w/daily phone 'standups’
Feb 2009
Odd feeling - 'requirements doc' was mentioned again and again.#failDiscuss your odd feelings!
Occasional visits to their office Nothing to see / click #fail
Feb 2009
TAKE AWAY
The only yardstick is functioning code. Nothing else matters.
Use agile dev methodologies –and stick to them- even in the smallest teams.
• Worked on use cases, wireframes, content, branding, etc
• Got location data• Got event data• Busy, busy, bang, bang…
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
Retail therapy• Office, infrastructure, etc. fat startup, burn rate
#failStill no product… and no value-generating activity.
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE… April 2009
TAKE AWAY
Question yourself: value generating activity?
Spend time on understanding and adapting the system
• Bought a coffee machine – good!
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
TAKE AWAY
Coffee is crucial.
RECRUITING
EXIT
‘For an exit, we need a two-person management
team’
EXIT
‘For an exit, we need a two-person management
team’
Management team@townster
May 2009
Management team@townster
Turned out to be#epicmegafail
May 2009
TAKE AWAY
Invest time, time, time in selecting a co-partner.
That person is going to be your ‘work spouse’.Go date…
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
Office Warming Party – nice!
Hiring a CTO
June 2009
Hiring a CTO
Turned out to be an#epicmegafail
June 2009
TAKE AWAY
Developers are not ‘different’.
You need to work with them.
It should be fun. If not – re-think this relationship.
DEVELOPING THE PRODUCT
June 2009CODE REVIEW
Externals reviewing externals
June 2009
#epicmegafail
CODE REVIEW
No Code!
At least not usable one
June 2009
TAKE AWAY
The only yardstick is functioning code. Nothing else matters.
Face customers, deliver actual value
Start anew!
With one CTO & one junior devWeb App
June 2009
Way too many features #fail
Way too many features #fail
Let’s add another one… Actually, let’s add a whole new product!
MOBILE – iPHONE APP
Concept
TAKE AWAY
Identify mistakes / failures.
Dare to speak about them.
Don’t repeat them.
Weird coding activity seemed to be going on…
…but nothing to see.
August 2009
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…• Hired a marketing manager• Hired a product manager• Got a PR agency on retainer • Got a marketing agency to think about
marketing
#fail
TAKE AWAY
As a Start-Up do your own PR.
And do your own marketing – with a great product.
BURN, BABY, BURN
Weird coding activity seemed to be going on…
…but nothing to see.
Getting nervous…
September 2009
Weird coding activity seemed to be going on…
…but nothing to see.
Getting nervous…No transparency on progress.
October 2009
Weird coding activity seemed to be going on…
…but nothing to see.
Getting nervous…No transparency on progress.Setting deadline – to no avail.
November 2009
November 2009
Hiring external developers and consulting.
Injecting SCRUM.‘Definition of Done’
TAKE AWAY
You have doubts? Nobody takes them seriously?
Are they serious? Then start SCREAMING to be heard.
November 2009 - January 2010
Still no product liveCoding, coding, coding….
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
Fired the CTO – finally
LAUNCH 1ST FEBRUARY 2010
- YEAR AFTER START THE FIRST PRODUCT IN MARKET- ONLY THEN FIRST FEEDBACK#fail-> from here to April 2011
Very slow test & learn cycles…
…but at least we learned.
MOBILE – featured in iTunes Store!
MOBILE – featured in iTunes Store!
Downloads!Yay!
Way too many features #fail
Let’s add another one… Actually, let’s add a whole new product!
Way too many features #fail
Let’s add another one… Actually, let’s add a whole new product!
MOBILE – Android App
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Too much stuff….#fail
TAKE AWAY
Identify mistakes / failures.
Dare to speak about them. Don’t repeat them. Learn from them.
And FOCUS!
HOW TO EARN MONEY?
Really not that easy in given space
So we didn’t make any fresh money
But we were burning through it like mad
March 2010
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
2nd GM was ‘let go’
april 2010
FRESH MONEY!
EXIT ?
Summer 2010
IN PRODUCT
MEANWHILE AT THE OFFICE…
Cost cutting:• Marketing manager • Sales manager
-> ‘let go’
Summer 2010
FRESH MONEY!
EXIT ?
Investitionsbank Berlin Brandenburg loan#fail
fall 2010
TAKE AWAY
Borrowing money from a bank is a hugely time-consuming process - Is this a value-adding activity?
FRESH MONEY?
Alternative revenue streams…
‘Do some sort of agency business, hire out your developers.’
END 2010 –EARLY 2011
IS THIS REALLY ME? EARLY 2011
REVERSE
Investitionsbank Berlin Brandenburg loan- Negotiate way out
April 2011
Failure is integral to experimentation.
Failure drives creativity and insight.
Fail for success.
a LOT was learned!