utest dogpatch labs

Taking Your Startup to the Next LevelOne CEO’s Story – April 1st, 2011Doron Reuveni | CEO & Co-Founder | doronr@utest.com

uTest | on-demand testing

Who We Are

Raised $20.5MM from top VCs

37,000+ professional testers from 174 countries

Enterprises, startups, universities & NPOs

Hundreds of elite recurring customers

Public-facing web, desktop & mobile apps

Thousands oftest cycles

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Sample Customers

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What We Do

Fn

Ld

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Ux Focus groups selected based on demographic, socioeconomic, technical and

geographic criteria On-demand usability experts to develop and manage usability testing

Provide live load, synthetic load and a combination of the two, utilizing uTest’s community of testers and performance engineers

Partner with leading synthetic load tools companies (notably SOASTA)

Utilizing white hat security experts from the uTest community to provide automated and manual dynamic penetration testing

Probing for most common security & privacy vulnerabilities

A suite of in-the-wild testing services for startups and big brands Real-world testing of browser, device, OS and security tool compatibility Scalable, on-demand access to professional testers with the geographies and

real-world infrastructure used by your consumers

Lc Real-world localization validation using native speakers for languages such as Spanish,

Italian, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin Enables flexible and scalable addition of localization support on demand

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uTest | on-demand testing

<< BUT LET’S REWIND

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How Did We Get Here?

• Knew testing space well• Understood the pain

Had experienced the pain, cost and frustration of testing software via traditional means

• I was doing everything right In-house testing Outsourced partners Test automation Documentation

• Yet, unexpected defects still emerged when we launched our apps and put them in users’ hands

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The “Aha” Moment

• Premise: What if we moved testing into the wild so it would be closer to the end users of an app?

• Conclusion: Best way to achieve was via crowdsourcing• This would (theoretically) enable firms to launch apps:

Tested “in-the-wild” Vetted by real users Ready for primetime

uTest | on-demand testing

EARLY DECISIONS ARE KEY

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Market To Go After First

• 1st Key Decision: Functional or Usability Testing? Trying to do both at once was too big

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• 2nd Key Decision: Whether to bet on something as unproven as crowdsourcing

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• 3rd Key Decision: How to turn a crowd…

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Into a predictable, orderly community?

uTest | on-demand testing

KEY STARTUP LESSONS

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1. Focus Is Critical

• When things are going well, opportunities abound

• Stay on the critical path We say ‘no’ more than we say ‘yes’

• We started with functional test and focused on our community We knew functional better More pain-driven than usability Larger market opportunity Promise-keeping (community) is vital

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2. Just Do It

• While you’re off refining your business plan, someone else may be launching your idea

• Finalize your business plan in parallel to: Actual prototyping Engaging with prospects Interviewing stakeholders Getting market feedback

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3. Stay Lean

• Initially, we even outsourced software development to maximize speed & minimize cost

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4. Expect The Unexpected

• Business model may will evolve• Be ready to iterate on all fronts• uTest created a new category, so

we had no one to follow – high risk & high reward

• Listen to your customers Get feedback from the market They will tell you:

– How they want to interact– What features they want– What’s “good enough”

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5. Make Some Noise

AwardsMedia Coverage

uTest | on-demand testing

FUND-RAISING: LESSONS LEARNED

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Start Small

• Consider angels – raise the money absolutely needed to safely get you to your next phase

• Take a bigger round (if necessary) when you’re getting market traction

• Get revenue in the door ASAP

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Raising VC Funds

• My Lesson: I went to VCs too soon• VCs Can Help With:

Refine your idea, business model, go-to market strategy Give you perspective (they see lots of business plans) Honestly set expectations (theirs and yours)

• VC Do Not Help With: Jump into completely new business models with no proof

points or tail lights to follow Making the ultimate decisions – it’s your baby

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When Choosing VCs

• After making good progress with your seed money, good VCs complement angels will help you Make connections with prospects Grow management team Build the brand

• Do your research• Go with your gut

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Negotiating With VCs

• Create competition – to get the best terms, never rely or focus on only one VC

• Terms matter – its not just about the money but the terms that come with the deal

• Every round is an opportunity to improve terms• You’re dealing with people at the end of the day:

You need to feel comfortable with terms and the people They need to believe in your core idea They need to believe in you

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ABCs of Funding Rounds (for uTest)

• Seed & A round Prove the concept (technology, basic model) Find & serve customers Identify competencies which will differentiate you

• B round Bring core competencies in house: dev, sales, marketing Understand key metrics (LTV, CAC, ROI) Build out management team

• C round Scale operations Increase spend Drive customers & revenue

uTest | on-demand testing

ARE YOU READY TO SCALE?

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Predictability & Visibility

• From single solution to a suite of testing services• Model has become highly predictable

Crack the code on marketing, sales, retention, etc– Understand the KPI of your business– Can you put $100 in and take $200 out?

Customer retention continues to rise Customer LTV continues to rise

• Greater predictability greater willingness to invest• Since C round, investing aggressively in growing

mindshare and marketshare

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And Now Crowdsourcing Is Accepted

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Summary

• Entrepreneurship is a journey Every biz has peaks and valleys Don’t get hung up on mistakes or failures – learn from them

• Tap your network Find CEOs and advisors who’ve been there No one knows everything – but you can find people to help

• Know thyself Play in spaces you know Understand your individual strengths & weaknesses Surround yourself with smart, passionate people

• Have some fun It’s an adventure… If you can’t enjoy that, it might not be for you Seek out kindred spirits as your co-founders and early hires

uTest | on-demand testing

QUESTIONS?

Doron Reuveni | CEO & Co-Founder | uTest, Inc

w: www.utest.com e: doronr@utest.com

p: 1.800.445.3914