(in)validating for mit global founders' skills accelerator (gfsa2013)
TRANSCRIPT
(in)Valida)ng Your
Startup Idea
Presented June 2013 at MIT Founders’ Skills Accelerator
Entrepreneurs waste valuable )me
on dead ends.
Let's not do that.
The Agenda
> Bad ideas, good ideas, and bad good ideas
> Philosophy & Science
> The Methods
> Exercise
> Roundup
Some ideas are bad at the outset…
Some seem like a good idea at the time…
Or sometimes your baby is just ugly.
Even if it's the right idea, if it's the wrong time,
it's a bad idea
What have you spent 2me on that you could have avoided?
Why do we s)ck with the wrong things?
Your )me is the most important thing
Highest opportunity cost
IM POSSIBLE Prove you have the right idea?
POSSIBLE Prove you have the wrong idea?
(in)Valida)ng?
TRY TO QUIT
The Agenda
> Bad ideas, good ideas, and bad good ideas
> Philosophy & Science
> The Methods
> Exercise
> Roundup
Traps we fall into • Narra)ve fallacy • Confirma)on bias
Narrative Fallacy Humans have trouble looking sequences of facts without weaving an explana)on into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of rela)onship upon them.
Explana)ons bind facts together. They make them all the more easily remembered; they help them make more sense.
This goes wrong is when it increases our impression of understanding.
Confirmation Bias People tend to favor informa)on that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses. People display this bias when they gather or remember informa)on selec)vely, or when they interpret it in a biased way.
For example, in reading about current poli)cal issues, people usually prefer sources that affirm their exis)ng aWtudes.
They also tend to interpret ambiguous evidence as suppor)ng their exis)ng posi)on.
The Agenda
> Bad ideas, good ideas, and bad good ideas
> Philosophy & Science
> The Methods
> Exercise
> Roundup
What could possibly go wrong? • Determine failure modes
Testable Hypotheses
Testing methods
> Observa)on > Online ads: AdWords / Facebook / Twi\er > Survey > Prototype > Market research > Focus groups > Fake site / app: unbounce.com > Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, etc.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)
The Agenda
> Bad ideas, good ideas, and bad good ideas
> Philosophy & Science
> The Methods
> Exercise
> Roundup
Group Work: what's testable
The Agenda
> Bad ideas, good ideas, and bad good ideas
> Philosophy & Science
> The Methods
> Exercise
> Roundup
What did we learn? • Find out what doesn’t work
– Then, stop doing that • Start with failure modes • Be vigilant about not falling into narra)ve fallacies
• Posi)oning statement can determine what needs tes)ng
• Use conclusive tests without confirma)on bias
Reading • Black Swan
o Nassim Taleb
• Lean Startup o Eric Ries
• Running Lean o Ash Maurya
• Business Model Genera)on o Alex Osterweilder
• Four Steps to the Epiphany o Steve Blank