embracing startup life and learning to think the startup way

Embracing “Startup Life” and learning to think “The Startup Way”

@Ben_HallBen@BenHall.me.ukBlog.BenHall.me.uk

Ocelot Uproar

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

Thank you

@Ben_HallBen@BenHall.me.ukBlog.BenHall.me.uk

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