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How to make a startup become a scale up

About today…• My background• Latest startup tech trends• The Nine Steps for Startup Success

1. Expectations2. The Idea3. Cash is King4. Technology 5. Team6. UAT 7. Branding8. Promotion9. The Ongoing

A bit about me…

Reload…

New ventures

Latest technology startup trends

Expectations – what everyone sees

Expectations – what it can be like

Expectations – first up, the tough

Timeframes vs reality - how long does it take to build a startup?

• 90% of start ups fail in the first 5 years. • It’s really hard.• Takes longer than you think. Sometimes 6+ months for the first sale.• Plan for more time and money than you planned (add 1/3 contingency).• Technology builds take longer than service builds.

Expectations – startups are awesomeStart up businesses are amazing• Greater autonomy – be your own boss.• Lead the strategy and growth of world

changing solutions.• Build dynamic modern teams with your own

culture. • There’s plenty of wins along the way – great

start ups celebrate them.

Relationships• Great long term networks.• You’ll learn and educate yourself.

Expectations – startup communityThe Brisbane start up community has great incubators.

The problemWhat’s the problem you’re solving?• Must be a world beating, globally scalable problem.• Think global from day one, test MVP in Australia but look

global.• Has your problem already been solved in a different way?

What will you achieve by doing your start up?• What is the solution to your problem?• Who will you impact? • What industries are you disrupting? • Who’s lives are you changing?• What makes your start up unique?

Research

Research, research and then more research• Don’t just Google it. • Check on possible competitors.• Look at surveys - Typeform, Google Surveys/Forms • Talk to different people, go to industry meet

ups/events, travel and listen. • Don’t stop researching as you’re building your start

up or during the growth.• Many people change and “pivot” during the start up –

so new research might be needed.

Research - customers

Know your customers• Who are they?• How many are out there?• What is their customer journey? • What typical personas are represented by them.• Where and how will you find them? • What are their emotional triggers to purchase?• What communication and engagement do they like?

Cash is king

Monetisation• How will your startup make money?• How much will people pay for it?• Watch out for 30% app store fees…

What’s bootstrapping?• Beg & borrow – self funded from any money you have• Often means you go very lean in development and salaries• Will help speed things up as you don’t have long to prove it

Funding lingo

Types of funding • Bootstrapping• High net worth individuals• Private equity (PE)• Venture capital (VC)• Angel investors (angels)• Bank/debtor funding – normally requires real estate equity • Cash funded - reinvestment

Technology

“The Stack”• Microsoft vs Linux (open source)

• Database - SQL vs mySQL• Server - Apache vs IIS• Code - PHP vs .NET• Apps - Objective C – iOS • AI - (C#, Python)• Hosting – AWS, Azure, VentraIP

Team’s build startups

• Family & friends…you’ll need to work at it. • Go for a written shareholder agreement.• Set your purpose and values early.

Technology team• Onshore vs offshore?• Equity vs salary vs options? Sales team• Start selling from day one.• Monitoring BDMs - measure KPIs/KRAs

Investors & suppliers are part of your team too.

Team – culture from day one

UAT – user acceptance testing

Don’t wait for the perfect product/service.

Why is UAT important?• Bugs can mean reputation problems.• Users need to be involved and engaged – they test your MVP.

Apps vs Websites• Build a responsive website first.• Prove app on iOS or Google Play.• Apps can cost lots of money.

Branding

Start branding from day one…• Founder is the best brand leader.• Network, present & talk to many people.

Try branding yourself first• Logo – Freelancer & Upwork• T-shirt – wear it with pride ($15)• Website - responsive before apps • Founder social media presences – FB, Twitter, Instagram

activity

PromotionBuild a multi channel plan• Digital / traditional / platforms / budget /

timeframe• Match it to your customer personas and

journeys

Low hanging fruit – social & digital• Facebook still the “mother ship”• Build chat bots through FB Messenger• MailChimp for electronic marketing• Buffer for social management & shares

Promotion, cont.

PR – it’s really important• PRWire, SourceBottle, • When you have some more money, hire a trusted & transparent PR

agent. • They’ll need the right contacts in your target industries.• They need to guarantee branding and engagement numbers. • They must show clear reports.

Ongoing

Test & learn, fix mistakes. Most importantly learn from them.

• Revenue is everything. Watch cash bleeds too.• Customers - type, behaviours & triggers.• Technology – always enhance the platform. Is the hosting coping? • Marketing – A/B split tests, dial up the channels that are performing the best.• Team – people & hiring tweaks.• Make it all about data – Analytics, dashboards & people pulse data.

A final tip…

Thanks!