kick feb28 at spring accelorator

Meena Sandhu@meenasandhu

Feb 28, 2016

MVP & Customer Discovery

Sunday, February 28, 16

Minimum Viable Product

A minimum viable product is “that product which has just those features and no more that allows you

to ship a product that early adopters see and, at least some of whom resonate with, pay you money

for, and start to give you feedback on”.

Identifying the problem


http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product

http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product

Five Whys

1. Why did the machine stop? (There was an overload and the fuse blew.)

2. Why was there an overload? (The bearing was not sufficiently lubricated.)

3. Why was it not lubricated sufficiently? (The lubrication pump was not pumping sufficiently.)

4. Why was it not pumping sufficiently? (The shaft of the pump was worn and rattling.)

5. Why was the shaft worn out? (There was no strainer attached and metal scrap got in.)

The next step is this: you have to commit to make a proportional investment in corrective action at every level of the analysis.


MVP Explainer


MVP Landing Page


MVP Wizard of Oz

Zappos shoes is the biggest online shoe retailer.

The founder didn’t start by stocking up big amounts of shoes and investing in an e-commerce backend. Instead, he went to local shoe shops. He would asked the owner’s permission to take photos of shoes and put them online. Once the orders started flown in, he went to the shop, bought the pair that was ordered, shipped it, handled payments, returns… all of it himself, and by hand.

This was not a scalable business.

But it was an experiment designed focused on answering one question: is there already sufficient demand for a superior online shopping experience for shoes? And it allowed the founder to validate most of his assumptions with a very little investment.


MVP Concierge

Food on the table provides easy weekly recipe and grocery lists based on sales at your store. They need lots of stuff to make this work. A list of stores and groceries, weekly updates on sales, recipes, algorithms to match your

preference to recipes to promotions…

But the founders did not start by building all these assets. Before building anything, the two founders went to their local shop in Austin. They

interviewed shoppers until they found one that was interested in their service.

She got a concierge treatment.

The CEO visited her every week. He came with a shopping list and selected recipes, carefully chosen based on (a) her preferences and (b) promotions in

the local store. The list was updated on the spot based on her desires and feedback. Most importantly, the CEO would pick a check of $9.95 for this

service.


MVP Piecemeal

A Single Featured MVP


Value Proposition

•In a nutshell, value proposition is a clear statement that

•explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation (relevancy)

•delivers specific benefits (quantified value)

•tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation)


Sample Plan


Minimum Viable Product


Features

•Self-setting clock•50-number speed dial•One-click financial reports•Custom programs•Open 24 hours•Batteries included

Factual statements


Benefits

•The benefit of a self-setting clock is convenience.•The benefit of 50-number speed dial is fewer keystrokes.•The benefits of one-click financial reports are immediate information and prepared statements for your accountant.•The benefit of custom programs is that they're designed just for you.•The benefit of a store open 24 hours is you can buy when you want.•The benefit of batteries included is the product is ready to use out of the box.

What’s in it for me?


Benefits

•Self-setting clock: I won't feel dumb!

•50-number speed dial: I can keep in touch with my best customers without effort, and I won't get frustrated misdialing.

•One-click financial reports: I can see exactly where my business is financially at any time. I can spend more time with my family instead of trying to figure out whether I'm making enough money or not. I can see business what-ifs instantly.

•Custom programs: It will accomplish exactly what I need, and I won't have to worry paying for services I don't want.

•Open 24 hours: When my pregnant wife craves pickles and ice cream at 4 a.m., I won't have to disappoint her.

•Batteries included: I'll never have to see the crushed look on my child's face when his toy won't work because I forgot to buy batteries.


Competitive Positioning


Customer Discovery


Customer Discovery

Usability HypothesisWhat user story did we design & execute this against?What value proposition was that story delivering against? Why do we believe the user wants to do this?What problem are we solving for the user with this value proposition?Who is this user? Do we understand what makes them tick? What shoes they might wear?


Customer Discovery


Customer Journey


kick feb28 at spring accelorator

Marketing