Organizer:  TOP-­‐IX  Location:  Toolbox  Date:  17-­‐11-­‐2010  

   

I-­‐REALIZE  (Lean)  START-­‐UP  HACK:  Build,  Measure  and  Learn    After:     I-­‐Realize  -­‐  The  Art  of  Disruption     I-­‐Realize  -­‐  From  Thesis  to  start-­‐up    The  third  episode  focuses  on  the  new  entrepreneurial  approach  called  Lean  Start-­‐up.    The  background   is   again   the  Global  Entrepreneurship  Week,  a   special  occasion   to  deal  with   the  entrepreneurship  theme.    Google,  which  will  be  involved  as  the  main  collaborator  in  the  event  organization,  is  probably  the  best   interpreter   of   "beta   release"   and   therefore   there   could   be   no   better   player   to   show   in  practice  the  Lean  approach  based  on  the  "build",  "measure"  and  “learn”  cycle.    Introduction:     The  classical  Venture  Capitalist  model  has  deeply  changed  in  the  last  years;  the  ecosystem  is  increasingly  fragmented  and  many  funds  have  encountered  difficulties  to  follow  the  new  course  of   investment.   Indeed   traditional   funds  are   structured   to  deal  with  big   investments   in   return  of  huge   exits,  while   start-­‐up   economical  needs,   particularly   in   the   web   area,  have   become   smaller.   In   addition  number  and  speed  of  the  investments  have   substantially   increased,  challenging  the  traditional  rules.    Organizations   like   Accelerators,  Business  Angels  and  Seed   funds  have  grown   quickly   to   fill   the   gap   that  Venture   funds   have   left   free.   These  "new"   players   are   reactive,   agile,  ready   to   be   involved   in   small  investments   and   they   have   the  primary   role   of   filtering   the   "deal  flow".    At   the   same   time,   most   of   the   people   have   understood   that   start-­‐ups   require   economical  parameters  quite  different  from  those  common  in  consolidated  business.  A  start-­‐up  is  first  of  all  

Angels & Incubators ($0-10M)

Seed Funds ($10-50M)

Small VC Funds ($50-250M)

Traditional VC Funds (>$250M)

an   experiment,   it   is   a   human   institution   designed   to   deliver   a   new   product   or   service   under  conditions   of   extreme   uncertainty   (From   Lessons   Learned   blog   By   Eric   Ries):   for   these   reasons  entrepreneurs  have  to  develop  a  new  set  of  metrics  in  order  to  evaluate  their  work.    This   is   the   contrast   between   classical   "Business   School"   and   the   so   called   "Entrepreneurship  School"   that   many   people   are   still   waiting   for,   between   business   plan   and   business   model,  between  market  reports  and  the  fieldwork  in  search  of  the  right  customer/market  for  the  product  (customer  development).    Lean  Start-­‐up       So   the   Lean   Start-­‐up   is   an   approach   that   entrepreneurs   should   test   and   adapt   to   their  needs,  combining  Agile  Software  Development  and  Customer  Development,  and  not  a  strict  list  of  practices  to  follow  in  a  passive  way.    Lean  Start-­‐up  teaches  us  to:  

• combine  customer  development  and  product  development  • run   an   iterative   process   to  

validate   the   customer   value  proposition    

• maintain   an   agile   structure   in  order   to   be   ready   to   change  deeply   the   strategy   but   stay  grounded   in  what   you   learned  (pivot).  

         Talking  about  Lean  Start-­‐up  two  names  have  to  be  fixed  in  mind:  Eric  Ries:   blogger  (Lessons  Learned)  and  "serial-­‐entrepreneur".    Steve  Blank:   "serial-­‐entrepreneur",  blogger,  academic  professor  and  author  of  Four  Steps  to  the  Epiphany,  practically  the  manual  for  the  lean  start-­‐up.    Concepts   behind   Lean   Start-­‐up   are   recent   and   their   impact   on   our   country   (ITALY)   could   be  extremely   important.   In   the   United   States   of   America   the   Venture   culture   is   spread   and   well  known,  but  this   is  not  the  same  in  Italy  where  entrepreneurs  have  started  to  deal  regularly  with  "pitches"   and   term   sheets   only   in   recent   years.   But   this   lack   could   become   an   advantage   in  learning  and  adopting  an  approach  that  is  concrete  like  no  others.                        

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Lean  Start-­up  validation  process  

 

 Who,  Where,  When,  How.    Who:  TOP-­‐IX  (TOrino  Piemonte  Internet  eXchange)  is  a  non-­‐profit  consortium  set  up  in  2002  with  the  aim  of  creating  and  managing  a  NAP  (Neutral  Access  Point)  for  the  exchange  of  Internet  traffic  in  North  West  Italy.  Starting  from  2006  TOP-­‐IX  directly  supports  start-­‐ups  with  the  Development  Program,  which  provides  infrastructural  support  (i.e.  Internet  bandwidth  and  Cloud  Computing)  to  Internet  ventures  during  the  start-­‐up  phase.    Where:   in   the  spaces  owned  by  Toolbox,  a   co-­‐working  centre  designed   for  a  new  generation  of  professional   workers  (entrepreneurs,   free-­‐lances,  designers,   creative   people).   It   is   a  place  where   individual   work,   large  company   opportunities   and  advantages   of   team   working  combine  together.      Toolbox  headquarter  is  in:    Via   Agostino   da   Montefeltro   2    10134    Torino  ITALY          When:  the  17th  of  November  during  the  Global  Entrepreneurship  Week  (15-­‐21  November  2010).    How:  a  panel  to  go  into  the  details  of  Lean  Start-­‐up  and  a  site-­‐clinic  powered  in  collaboration  with  Google,  the  right  opportunity  to  put  in  practice  the  lesson  learned.    The  panel  will  consist  of  entrepreneurs,  investors,  bloggers  and  experts  and  they  will  try  to  define  the  picture  of  Lean  Start-­‐up  and  adapt  it  to  the  Italian  case.    Site-­‐clinic  rules:  a  number  of  start-­‐ups  will  be  pre-­‐selected  and  their  web  sites  will  be  delaminated  by  Google  team  in  their  compatibility  with  search  engine  guidelines.    In   the   afternoon   entrepreneurs   could   have   one-­‐to-­‐one  meeting   with   Google   Adwords   Team   in  order  to  understand  how  to  improve  the  ROI  using  an  appropriate  Adwords  campaign.    Build,  Measure  and  Learn  will  be  the  theme  and  the  leitmotiv  of  the  day.    The   event   is   free   but   you   have   to   register   yourself:   through   the   registration   form   and   the  dedicated  website  start-­‐ups  can  apply  for  site-­‐clinic  and  Adwords  one-­‐to-­‐one  meetings.            

Schedule  of  the  event    9:00         Welcome  and  registration;  9:30     GEW  introduction  (META  Group,  Italian  coordinator  of  Global           Entrepreneurship  Week)  9:45       Panel:  what  is  the  "Lean  Start-­‐Up"  ?  11:00     Presentations:  

• How   to   make   your   web   site   Google   Friendly   and   to   use  Webmaster  Tools  (Search  Quality  Team);  

• Google  AdWords:  Immediate  ROI  (Adwords  Team);  12:00     Google  site-­‐clinic;  13:30     Wrap-­‐up,  lunch  and  networking;  -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐  In   the   afternoon   there   will   be   Adwords   one-­‐to-­‐one   meetings   with   start-­‐ups  selected  through  the  procedure  described  above.  

                 

Event  in  collaboration  with:    

 In  partnership  with: