crystal ball for your internet startup
DESCRIPTION
This presentation outlines a method of modeling a Freemium internet startup to predict it's ultimate business value.TRANSCRIPT
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A Crystal Ball for your Internet Startup
August 30, 2009
Mike Koss – StartPad.orgStartupWeekend – BizSpark/Redmond
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Your Site = Social Experiment
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Predictions
• How many unique visitors will you eventually have?
• What will be your maximum revenue?
• What is the life-time value of a new customer?
• How much is your business worth?
• How can you improve the above?
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A Simple Model
ActiveUser Base
New Users Leave
Stay
%(Attrition)
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A Simple Example
ActiveUser Base
New Users Leave
Stay
%(Attrition)
ActiveUser Base
New Users Leave
Stay
%(Attrition)
User Growth
-
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
Months
Users
10% - > 10,000
30% - > 3,333
50% - > 2,000
80% - > 1,250
Max User Base = New Users/Attrition_rate (1,000)
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What Can Change?
• # of New Users:– Search Engine Optimization (SEO)– Paid Ads– PR or “Events”
• The user type:– May have different expectations or be more or
less inclined to join
• Attrition rate (through site improvements or active engagement, e.g. email)
ActiveUser Base
New Users Leave
Stay
%(Attrition)
ActiveUser Base
New Users Leave
Stay
%(Attrition)
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StartPad.org
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Example (cont)
958 Unique(Last Month)
836 New Leave
89 Returns
91%(Attrition)
Prediction:User Base Peak =
836/91% = 919
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A “Freemium” Model
Organic
New Users
Paid
Viral
Free TrialUsers
%
ConversionRates
%
%
Leave
%
$$$Subscription
Users
Leave
%
Referrals
%
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Data Collection
• Customization of Google Analytics Needed
• User Defined variable can be used to tag each user as “Paid”, “Referral”, “Trial”, or “Subscriber”
• “Cohort Analysis”– Track individual users by month they first
visited your site (or signed up for an account)– Track each cohort monthly to see % returning
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Summary
• Understanding your web site dynamics you can predict:– Peak User Base (Trials and Subscribers)– Expected Lifetime of each user class– Lifetime value of each new user– Peak Revenue– Current Enterprise Value
Download Spreadsheet fromhttp://startpad.org/crystal-ball
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Photo Credits
1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticbystander/