Download - Tools For Lean Startup Wizards
Tools for Startup Wizards
Paul WalshCogniDox
Based on Presentation to Cambridge Startup Masterclass December 2011
What I intend to cover:
• Introduction to The Lean Startup
• Lists of Tools – why lists don’t really work
• The Six Abilities Framework
• Stay Lean using Tools & the Framework
THE LEAN STARTUPA Quick Overview
The Lean Startup
• Your time / life is precious, don't waste it on stuff nobody wants
• Test and correct assumptions as early as possible
• MVP - Minimum Viable Product• Continuous deployment is good• Always Be Measuring• The Lean Startup is a company
built to learn• Customer development rather than
product development
Not Lean as in “Frugal”
• Lean Startup ideas go back a long way (Lean Manufacturing, Kanban, etc.) and are not a response to “lean times” of current economy
• Where Philosophy of Science meets Business School thinking:– Scientific method: experimentation, empirical
data, hypothesis-testing, falsification
Not just for Startups
• Lean applies to any Product Management enterprise
• Key requirement - “designed experiment” must be a viable concept for your market
• Hypothesis testing is about customer, user, buyer, pricing model, channels… and product
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
• Eric Ries: “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
• Neither Minimal nor Viable but Minimum Viable
MVP revisions & limitations
• Awkward if your MVP needs a network effect or community to be useful – http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/11/when-minimal-viable-product-d
oesnt-work.html (Seth Godin)
• Should it be Minimum Marketable Product? – http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/agile-product-innovation/the-minimal-marketab
le-product/ (Roman Pichler)
• Should it be Maximally Buyable Product? – http://
onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/12999/From-Minimally-Viable-To-Maximally-Buyable-Product.aspx (Dharmesh Shah)
• Do align your MVP cycles with risk of losing key customers, especially in B2B markets
• How well does MVP fit non Web / Mobile App markets such as Medical Devices, FMCG, etc?
Tools and the Lean Startup
• Tools help testing rapid iterative cycles of high-fidelity customer experiences
• Good tools:– accelerate Customer Development – help you gather actionable data – don’t need to cost big $$$
• Tools are not a substitute for thinking; nor are they a substitute for expertise
• Sometimes a pencil is the best tool
LISTS OF TOOLSWhy they don’t fully work
History
• 2 years ago one of the Songkick founders started a Wiki
• Tools validated by other startups
• We contributed our opinions on tools we used & found useful
• List has grown longer since and spawned other lists
Tool Lists
• Startup Tools– http://startuptools.pbworks.com/w/page/17974963/FrontPage
– No framework + some very specialised tools = can make it hard to search/find
• Seedcamp list for business tools– http://biztools.pbworks.com/w/page/11120547/FrontPage
– Is a little heavy on business philosophy and tips, light on recurring business tasks
• Lean Startup Wiki– http://leanstartup.pbworks.com/w/page/15765221/FrontPage
– Good place to discuss Lean Startup concepts, but only tools are Business Model Canvas (explained later)
Lots of advice out there!
It needs a Framework
• No single template, but a good-enough step-by-step plan is better than no plan
• Setting up a team is harder than handing out the job titles
• It’s not good enough to say that everybody in a Startup needs to do everything
Roles not Job Titles
"I’m creating a Startup and I need to know how to split up the various roles and responsibilities of the founders. There are three of us plus a small development team."
• So they call themselves CEO, CTO, CFO, COO…
• Job is NOT done, no real progress made
• Focus should be on Roles as things that need to be done, not job titles
Role confusion…
“In a Startup, everybody does everything”
• … if they can– Not everyone has the same skills– Important to take roles suited to individual– Important not to leave roles un-filled– Important not to have the wrong roles filled– Do things in the right temporal order
“This needs a Framework”
THE SIX ABILITIES FRAMEWORKWhat do Startups need?
The #1 Startup Question:
“What should I be doing now?”
Choose an apt metaphor
• There are lots of metaphors for Startups• Rock stars – too “bratty” for me• Gurus – how impractical is that?• Wizards – works for me– Specialised– Skilled– Practical– Team Players– Magical
WoW as metaphor for Startup
• Embark on Epic Quests• Recruit a Guild• Form Powerful Alliances• Engage an ever-changing
World• Explore Environments• Different Classes / Abilities• Customise your talents to
create a unique Hero
…sounds like a Startup to me(c) Blizzard Entertainment
Inspired by De Bono’s Hats
“Think of it like this”
“What can we gain?”“What can go wrong?”
“Just give me the facts” “Got a feeling about this”
“Look at it another way”
• No thinking style is best; a time when each works
Six Abilities Framework
Six Startup Abilities
Startup Wizards
Forming Abilities
• Making New Things– Ideas for improvement or cost reduction– Teams– Networks of investors, contacts, advisors– Business models– Concepts– Culture
• Research
Forming & the Lean Startup
• Invent a succession of short customer pitches. For each pitch, do a Business Model Canvas
• Build your MVP plan – treat it like a Product Backlog, look at Agile PM tools to assist
• How do you research your competition? – Research is the precursor to Experiment – look at
company and market data using tools
Example Forming Tools
Startup Canvas Level Business
Startup Wizards
Transforming Abilities
• Alchemy side of a Startup – turning the ideas into something tangible
• “Software is the nearest thing to magic that we've yet invented” (John Naughton, 2011)
Transforming & the Lean Startup
• Build User and Buyer Persona(s) and devise a strategy for UX testing
• Development teams: choose tools to support Agile, Scrum or Kanban process
• Create a development process around Continuous Integration (CI) and Automated Testing tools
• What does Continuous Deployment mean for your product / market? Implement the answer
Example Transforming Tools
Jenkins
Agile Zen
Selenium
Startup Wizards
Projecting Abilities
• Promotion? All about Broadcast now• Thought leadership, content is king, etc• Gimmicks, stunts, and other diversions• Blogs & NoFollow links• Killer Website• Campfire Stories• Tight Verticals / Niche• Lateral Thoughts– Stack Overflow
Projecting & the Lean Startup
• Build your Lean Marketing Plan – it should contain a market launch plan
• Are you SEO-ready to collect and analyse metrics?
• Plan ahead by preparing some marketing content
• Streamline the content publishing process without losing QA
• Be media-savvy to the extent necessary – you are not a mega-Corporation needing spin
Example Projecting Tools
Screenr
Hubspot Website Grader
Open Site Explorer
Startup Wizards
Persuading Abilities
• Projection gathers the audience, now you must persuade them
• Keeping track is harder than it sounds• Building a sales pipeline model• Suspects or Prospects?• Answering questions• Opportunities• Conversations
Persuading & the Lean Startup
• Keep track of everything customer-related• Refine Buyer Persona(s) when necessary• Plan a Conversion Rate Optimization process
and test it• Decide your Technical Support methodology• How much of a Knowledge Base can you build
as early as possible?• Integrate user voice tools into your testing
Example Persuading Tools
SugarCRM
Startup Wizards
Collecting Abilities
• Cash flow management and Lean Burn• Nothing can help you get paid on time • Reduce friction points in the sales cycle• Sure Revenue and a sensitivity analysis • Avoiding late payment penalties
Collecting & the Lean Startup
• Business Model must co-exist with Business Plan
• MVP your Revenue profit engine
• Maybe two chasms to cross: Getting Users Vs Getting Customers
• Free/Premium pricing seems to cause more fallout than any other topic
Example Collecting Tools
KashFlow
Xero
HMRC Basic PAYE
Startup Wizards
Protecting Abilities
• “Be your own Lawyer” – Discuss • Software Patents (are Evil)• How will your IPR defend your revenue growth?• Grab that domain name, protect that Trademark• Avoid Dark Patterns• Security nightmares• E-commerce• Data protection
Protecting & the Lean Startup
• Lean is all about adding customer value but you must operate within a protected and legal framework:
• Domain, Trademark, Copyright, EULA, ToS
• If you want to start a fight with your user base, study and use Dark Patterns
• http://wiki.darkpatterns.org/Home
Example Protecting Tools
WordPress Boliven
TOOLS & THE FRAMEWORKA resource for Lean Startups
A Startup Toolkit Resource
http://www.cognidox.com/toolkit
CLICK HERE
The Startup Tools Mind Map
Links to over 230 Tools
How to use the Mind Map
Click on a title to expand / contract
Click on a link to open tool website
Hold down mouse to drag image
Built with:
Contacts
Cognidox LimitedSt. John's Innovation CentreCowley RoadCambridge CB4 0WSUnited Kingdom
[email protected] www.cognidox.com