solving the sourcing puzzle: from dead stop to launch in 90 days
DESCRIPTION
Originally presented at RISE Austin 2013 Got a great idea for a killer product? Great news- it's never been easier to get a physical product made. From Chinese manufacturing to kickstarter to facebook and twitter, costs and barriers to entry are falling right and left. BUT- 80% of new products fail! This session will give an overview of niche selection, product ideation, funding, factory identification (surprise: China may NOT be the right choice!), all the way through shipment and product launch. Bootstrap, Lean, and 4HWW techniques to mitigate risk and raise your hit rate will be discussed, with an emphasis on actual experiences succeeding (and failing) at the product game. The host, Peter Keller, has been designing, sourcing and launching new products since 2005. In 2010, he founded FringeSport, where he launches an average of 2 new products a month.TRANSCRIPT
Solving the sourcing puzzle
Dead stop to launch in 90 days
I promise:Interesting actionable
discussion
I love questions,And the door is open-
please leave if you want to (really!)
Goal: Successful product launch in a
entrepreneurial or SMB context
80% of product launches fail
CHEAT the statistics
How?
Front-endNiche selection
Product validationDe-downside the launch
Back-endEngineering/devFactory selectionQuality assurance
Understand risk
Hedge the downside; preserve the upside
Front end
Niche selection
There’s a hole in the market, but is there a market in the hole?
Niche bottom-up, not top-down
Rip, Pivot and JamFour Hour Work Week
RedditeBay
AmazonSearch trafficCanton Fair
Product validation
The purpose of validation is to add predictability
and decrease downside… not to make money
LeanMVP
Squeeze pagesSample orders
Fake it ‘till you make it
De-downside the launch
What is the worst case?
Can you live with it?
Back end
Engineering / Dev
Piggyback- find a factory making a similar product
AlibabaCompetitive intelligence
GoogleTrade intelligence
New design- yours
YourselfFriends
ID companiesOdesk / Elance
New design- work with factory
Find a factory that creates similar products
It’s a shortcut
BUT
It comes at cost
IPCommunication
Long term relationship
Factory selection
AlibabaGoogle
Trade intelligenceCompetitive intelligence
Canton fairCommodity -> region
Quality assurance
Do it Do it Do it Do it Do it
China- $300/day
US- pictures, samplesPayment termsLegal options
How you treat QA problems molds the
future behavior of the factory
Don’t be so anxious for your product that you cut
corners on QA
Timeframes
Simple engineering takes weeks
Complex engineering takes years
Shipments from CN take 30 days on the water +
30 days lead time
Don’t miss your window
You can do this. Test and de-downside.
Find help
Onlinereddit
Sourcing and industrial design companies
Silkroadintl.netmakeshiftatx.com
brightpd.com
Defined tasksElanceOdesk
Thanks and good luck!