peer pressure columbia 2015
TRANSCRIPT
PeerPressure
Lean Launchpad ‘15: Hana Abbas, Zainie Jamali, Andy Hadjigeorgiou, Alex Wong
Day 5
Interviews yesterday: 17
Interviews to-date: 63
A mobile marketplace that leverages social networks to instill a new level of ‘trust’ and customer experience in the used goods arena
Key PartnersWho are our key partners/ suppliers
Key ActivitiesWhich key activities does the biz model require
Value PropositionWhat value do we deliver to the customer
Customer RelationshipsWhat type of relationship does each segment require of us
Customer SegmentsFor whom are we creating value
ChannelsThrough which channel does each segment want to be reached
Revenue StreamsHow much is each segment willing to pay and how would they like to pay us this amount
Cost StructureWhat are our cost drivers
Key ResourcesWhich key resources does the biz model require
Mobile (initial to ease advertising process for sellers)
Web
Buyers: Bargain hunters who don’t want to compromise on quality or deal with fraud:• Students• Urban young
professionals
Sellers: Want to sell legitimate products at the price they deserve and want a pain-free selling experience• Students• Urban young
professionals
Advertisers
GET: Campus outreach, existing marketplace substitutes, & social media
KEEP: High quality customer experience
GROW: High quality assortment of second hand goods
• Featured listings• After critical mass, small fee per listing (e.g., <$1)?
Ad revenues
• Buy goods & services from people you can trust – better value goods and better buying experience
• Easy to use search interface
• Ability to purchase in advance
• Reach more legitimate buyers for your products/services and achieve higher sales prices
• Provide better selling experience
• Post to multiple platforms through our app/ website
Targeted ads
• Platform
• Social media connectivity (e.g., Facebook log-ins and data)
• Platform management
• Marketing and outreach
• Online payment option (later on)
• Platform costs
• Marketing/customer acquisition costs
• Sellers
• Social networking sites (to validate degrees of separation)
• Partnership with a delivery service provider (e.g., Luggor TaskRabbit)
Day 1 Canvas – here’s what we ‘guessed’ coming in
Original idea:
Improve the entire traditional secondhand goods market by:
• Integrating existing social networks with a marketplace platform to allow you to buy and sell with your extended networks
Mass market platforms
Location based apps
Social Media
Free options
Niche marketplaces
Peer
Pressure
Where we fit in…
We spoke with 60+ interviewees aged 18-34 representing 17 countries of
origin, consisting of a mix of undergraduate, graduate students and young
professionals
Key PartnersWho are our key partners/ suppliers
Key Activities Value Proposition Customer RelationshipsWhat type of relationship does each segment require of us
Customer SegmentsFor whom are we creating value
Channels
Revenue StreamsHow much is each segment willing to pay and how would they like to pay us this amount
Cost StructureWhat are our cost drivers
Key Resources
Buyers: Bargain hunters who don’t want to compromise on quality or deal with fraud:• Students• Urban young
professionals
Sellers: Want to sell legitimate products at the price they deserve and want a pain-free selling experience• Students• Urban young
professionals
Advertisers
GET: Campus outreach, existing marketplace substitutes, & social media
KEEP: High quality customer experience
GROW: YardSale –tinder-like discovery feature to showcase small items (e.g., <$20) for sale near you to engage users more often
• Featured listings• Listing fee after you hit a certain amount of active listings• Transaction fee on “commitments” or “buy-nows” on
YardSale
Ad revenues
• Easier buying experience through mobile browsing; commitment options; improved search functions (ie., location-based, networks, etc.)
• Buy goods & services from people you can trust – better value goods and better buying experience
• Ability to purchase in advance or ‘commit’ to products in advance to reserve them
• Reach more legitimate buyers for your products/services and achieve higher sales prices
• Provide better selling experience through quick mobile posting function
• Post to multiple platforms through our app/ website
Targeted ads
• Platform
• Social media connectivity
• Search algorithim
• PayPal account to receive and funnel money
• Platform management
• Marketing and outreach
• Escrow account ability (paypal)
• Online payment option (later on)
• Platform costs
• Marketing/customer acquisition costs
• Sellers
• Social networking sites (to validate degrees of separation)
• Apple App Store
• Partnership with a delivery service provider (e.g., Luggor TaskRabbit)
Mobile (initial to ease advertising process for sellers)
Web
Day 2 Canvas
Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Revenue StreamsCost Structure
Key Resources
Buyers: Bargain hunters who don’t want to compromise on quality or deal with fraud:
• 18-30 Years old• Moves Around a Lot• Social Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Low income (especially for
junk collectors)• Urban Some younger professionals• Open to used goods • Cares about seller reliability/ quality
Does not want to travel farJunk-collector: • Cares about ease of search/
browsing• Selection of useless goods / bargainsSpecific need buyer• Care about specific categories • Cares about ease of searchSellers: • Want to sell legitimate products at the price they
• 18-30 Years old• Mostly sells stuff when moving Social
Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Urban young professionals• want a pain-free selling experience• Wants to sell product quickly• Wants to limit spam/ negotiation• Wants to limit logistical challenges
Advertisers
GET: Campus outreach, existing marketplace substitutes, & social media
KEEP: High quality customer experience
GROW: YardSale –tinder-like discovery feature to showcase small items (e.g., <$20) for sale near you to engage users more often
• Featured listings• Listing fee after you hit a certain amount of active listings• Transaction fee on “commitments” or “buy-nows” on
YardSale
Ad revenues
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust in the seller and quality of goods
• Mobile shopping app which allows convenient, on-the-go browsing
• Easy to use search function to help you find what you are looking for without repeat or outdated listings
• Location-based to help you minimize logistical issues
• improved search functions (ie., location-based, networks, etc.)
• Buy goods & services from people you can trust – better value goods and better buying experience
• Ability to purchase in advance or ‘commit’ to products in advance to reserve them
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust and reliability in buyers (commitment, safety, less spam, etc.)
• Mobile experience is extremely intuitive and easy to use – can post a listing in 3 clicks
• Make sure your listing gets found -improved categorization and search functions
• Reach more legitimate buyers for your products/services and achieve higher sales prices
• Post to multiple platforms through our app/ website
Targeted ads
• Platform
• Social media connectivity
• Search algorithim
• PayPal account to receive and funnel money
• Platform management
• Marketing and outreach
• Paypalaccount link
• Online payment option (later on)
• Platform costs
• Marketing/customer acquisition costs
• Sellers
• Social networking sites (to validate degrees of separation)
• Apple App Store
• Facebook for Developers
• Partnership with a delivery service provider (e.g., Luggor TaskRabbit)
Mobile (initial to ease advertising process for sellers)
Day 3 Canvas
Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Revenue StreamsCost Structure
Key Resources
Buyers: • 18-30 Years old• Moves Around a Lot• Social Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Low income (especially for
junk collectors)• Some young alumni• Open to used goods • Cares about seller reliability/ quality
Does not want to travel farJunk-collector: • Cares about ease of search/
browsing• Selection of useless goods / bargainsSpecific need buyer• Care about specific categories • Cares about ease of search
Sellers: • 18-30 Years old• Mostly sells stuff when moving Social
Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Urban young professionals• want a pain-free selling experience• Wants to sell product quickly• Wants to limit spam/ negotiation• Wants to limit logistical challenges
Advertisers
GET: Post and market on existing campus FB groups and through campus organizations
KEEP: High quality customer experience
GROW: YardSale –tinder-like discovery feature to showcase small items (e.g., <$20) for sale near you to engage users more often
• Featured listings• Listing fee after you hit a certain amount of active listings• Transaction fee on “commitments” or “buy-nows” on
YardSale
Ad revenues
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust in the seller and quality of goods
• Mobile shopping app which allows convenient, on-the-go browsing
• Easy to use search function to help you find what you are looking for without repeat or outdated listings
• Location-based to help you minimize logistical issues
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust and reliability in buyers (commitment, safety, less spam, etc.)
• Mobile experience is extremely intuitive and easy to use – can post a listing in 3 clicks
• Post your listing to other Platforms through ours (initial)
• Make sure your listing gets found -improved categorization and search functions
Targeted ads
• Platform
• Social media connectivity
• Search algorithim
• PayPal account to receive and funnel money
• Platform management
• Marketing and outreach
• Paypalaccount link
• Online payment option (later on)
• Platform costs
• Marketing/customer acquisition costs
• Sellers
• Social networking sites (to validate degrees of separation)
• Apple App Store
• Facebook for Developers
• Partnership with a delivery service provider (e.g., Luggor TaskRabbit)
Mobile (initial to ease advertising process for sellers)
Day 4 Canvas
We learned a lot from our customers
• There are a lot of sub-segments within our initial target market
• Customers buy and sell second-hand products for different
reasons and have different needs
• Trust is a factor that a lot of customers agree will solve many of
the pain-points in the buyer and seller journey
• The usability of available platforms is a major pain-point
• Mobile is super important to both buyers and sellers
Customer
Segments
Value Prop/
Channels
Revenue
• Ad revenue is far in the future
• Some customers are willing to pay for additional features (like
moving sales, buy now options)
Customer
Relationships
• To get customers, we need to initially target the facebook group
users who are all willing to switch over TODAY
• Allowing sellers to post to multiple platforms at once will make
them use our app as a no-regret move
We will now target four distinct customer segments as part of the two-sided
marketplace
Buyer:
Specific Need
Buyer:
Junk-Collector
Seller:
$$/Space-conscious
Seller:
Moving Away
General sale
Yard Sale
Moving Sale
General sale
Yard Sale
Moving Sale
General sale
Yard Sale
Moving Sale
General sale
Yard Sale
Moving Sale
Hustler Helen is a 21
year old barista/student
living in a small NYC
apartment. She works 10
hour a day and looks to
sell any unwanted goods
to preserve space and
get cash.
She needs a platform to
post used goods quickly
and efficiently for a good
price. If possible, she
wants to sell to others
who she can trust and
live near nearby.
Busy Ben is a 25 year
old recent grad moving
from NYC to SF for a
private equity job. He has
to dispose of many
belongings and is not
price conscious.
He needs a platform to
quickly post his items for
sale on a short time
frame. He would love to
sell everything in one go
with limited negotiation.
Junkie Janice is a 25
year old living in Brooklyn
with in a marketing job.
She enjoys sipping
coffee while listening to
jazz and visits many yard
sales to look for
treasures.
She is looking for an
easy way to access all
2nd hand sales, and
cares about both
selection and ease of
browsing.
Diligent Derek is a 19
year old Columbia
student studying
engineering. He
dedicates most of his
time to studying and
research projects.
He is looking for a
convenient and
affordable way to
purchase used textbooks
and 2nd hand furniture for
his apartment.
We discovered a lot of pain-points in the seller journey and tailored our
value proposition to address them
Post adCommunicate with
interested buyers
1
Wait for buyers
Pain
points
• Easy to use point
and post mobile
app
• Huge effort to
post (often don’t
post cheaper
goods as a
result)
Value
prop
• Categorization and
search functions helps
buyers find your products
more easily
• Listing gets lost in
Craigslist
clutter/Facebook feed
and have to repost to get
to the top
• Lots of spam and
time wasted
• Too much back and
forth negotiations
• Messages cluttering
inbox
• Sketchy/fake buyers
• Social network
linkage instills level
of trust and reliability
in sellers and goods
• Messaging feature
in-app
Sell product/ make
some cash
• Scheduling issues
• Some buyers fall through
or don’t show up
• Safety concern with
inviting strangers into
your home (some
products)
• Social network linkage
instills level of trust and
reliability in sellers and
goods
42 3
Sellers: current working mobile prototype makes it easy to post items in 3
steps
Use the app to snap
photo of the item for
sale using your iPhone
Add title, description,
and asking price to your
photo; add same posting
to fb groups with 1 click
Items posted to
PeerPressure stream of
items for sale
1 2 3
We discovered a lot of pain-points in the buyer journey and tailored our
value proposition to address themSearch for a used good or
serviceBuy product or
service
1 2 3
Reach out & communicate
with sellers
Pain
points
• Easy to use search interface
with categorization
• Social network linkage instills
level of trust and reliability in
sellers and goods
• Mobile experience is more
convenient
• Hard to find what you are
looking for (repeat ads, limited
search capabilities on FB
groups)
• Questionable quality (lack of
pics, untrustworthy sellers)
• Have to use PC, no great
mobile apps
Value
prop
• Social network linkage instills
level of trust and reliability in
sellers and goods
• Feature which encourages
timely deletion of listings
• Unresponsive sellers
• Wasting time on already-sold,
outdated listings
• Sketchy sellers, worried about
safety
• Product sucks when you see it/
doesn’t match listing
• Delivery and logistical issues
• Social network linkage instills
level of trust and reliability in
sellers and goods
• Location-based filtering helps
you manage logistical issues
Buyers: current working mobile prototype makes it easy to find what you’re
looking for
Search for a specific
item and see results
from your network,
close to your location
Choose a category to
browse, and set
other filters that
matter like price and
location
Use the YardSale
feature to casually
swipe through cheap
items near you
1 2 43
View product details,
including mutual
friends, and
purchase through a
buy now option if you
are satisfied
We identified 3 key revenue streams to monetize
our idea
Advertising‘Buy Now’
functionality
Moving Sale
aggregator
▪ We can offer a local and
distinct audience to local
advertisers (local
students)
▪ We can offer a distinct
and sought-after
audience (students) to
large advertisers
▪ ~$1000 for 2Mn
views/month
▪ A small percentage fee
can be taken from in-app
purchases
▪ 5% fee (PayPal takes
2.9%, we take remainder)
▪ Users who are moving
out pay nominal fee ($3 -
$10) to advertise and
‘push’ moving sale
notifications to users
interested nearby
▪ Users interested in
moving sales can
subscribe ($5/month) to
receive updates
• Target moving websites and “admitted
students” groups to spread awareness
• Solicit active campus sellers / buyers on
Facebook, Craigslist to adopt PeerPressure
We figured out how to get our initial buyers and
sellers
Market
Adoption
Word of Mouth
• Actively promote on existing
marketplaces (Facebook,
Craigslist) to offer an alternative
solution with greater usability and
trust
• Ideally, app can also be able to
post on Craigslist / FB at same
time
• Columbia FB group has 10+
postings a day
Existing Marketplaces
• Collaborate with university facilities
departments and sell app as a “green”
solution
• Include as part of orientation
program
• Feature in campus recycling
pamphlets and newsletters
University Administration
Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Revenue StreamsCost Structure
Key Resources
Buyers: • 18-30 Years old• Moves Around a Lot• Social Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Low income (especially for
junk collectors)• Some young alumni• Open to used goods • Cares about seller reliability/ quality
Does not want to travel farJunk-collector: • Cares about ease of search/
browsing• Selection of useless goods / bargainsSpecific need buyer• Care about specific categories • Cares about ease of search
Sellers: • 18-30 Years old• Mostly sells stuff when moving Social
Media Savvy• Smartphone User• Students/ Urban young professionals• want a pain-free selling experience• Wants to sell product quickly• Wants to limit spam/ negotiation• Wants to limit logistical challenges
Advertisers
GET: Post and market on existing campus FB groups and through campus organizations
KEEP: High quality customer experience
GROW: YardSale –tinder-like discovery feature to showcase small items (e.g., <$20) for sale near you to engage users more often
• Featured listings• Listing fee after you hit a certain amount of active listings• Transaction fee on “commitments” or “buy-nows” on
YardSale
Ad revenues
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust in the seller and quality of goods
• Mobile shopping app which allows convenient, on-the-go browsing
• Easy to use search function to help you find what you are looking for without repeat or outdated listings
• Location-based to help you minimize logistical issues
• Marketplace platform which links to your social network to instill a level of trust and reliability in buyers (commitment, safety, less spam, etc.)
• Mobile experience is extremely intuitive and easy to use – can post a listing in 3 clicks
• Post your listing to other Platforms through ours (initial)
• Make sure your listing gets found -improved categorization and search functions
Targeted ads
• Platform
• Social media connectivity
• Search algorithim
• PayPal account to receive and funnel money
• Platform management
• Marketing and outreach
• Paypalaccount link
• Online payment option (later on)
• Platform costs
• Marketing/customer acquisition costs
• Sellers
• Social networking sites (to validate degrees of separation)
• Apple App Store
• Facebook for Developers
• Partnership with a delivery service provider (e.g., Luggor TaskRabbit)
Mobile (initial to ease advertising process for sellers)
Day 5 Canvas
Today’s concept:Improve the traditional secondhand goods market for college students and young alumni by:
• Integrating existing social networks with a marketplace platform to allow you to buy and sell with your extended networks
• Using a mobile platform to ease the process for sellers
• Giving buyers an easy way to search and find what they are looking for (simple swiping, ‘buy now’ and ‘reserve’ options)
• Providing a platform for disseminating moving sale information
Going forward we will…
• Continue to test hypotheses that require further
validation: emphasis on revenue stream
hypotheses and how our product features align
with this
• Further develop validated features in prototype
and continue to test MVP with users
BACKUP/ OLD SLIDES
Hypothesis Results & Next StepsTest/ Pass-fail criteria
Value prop
& features
▪ Undecided; test further▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if there are some “strong-yes”
users for the product feature
• People would use (and pay for) the
commitment function to reserve
products
▪ Strong pass - for niche customer
segment (younger, lower income,
browsers)
▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if there are some “strong-yes”
users for the product feature
• People would use and like a “buy now
option” for the YardSale products (or
all products)
Channel &
user
design▪ Initial pass; Test further through
prototype
▪ Show prototype(s) and mockups to
test and gauge response
▪ Majority of votes (>70%)
• People prefer swiping when shopping
on mobile to clicking
• Sellers value being able to upload
posting to multiple platforms at once
• Buyers would like a discovery
‘YardSale’ feature
▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if there are majority “strong-yes”
users for the product feature
▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if there are some “strong-yes”
users for the product feature
▪ Passed
▪ Pass; need to consider payment/
technical implications and test
further
We have tested some key hypotheses that have either passed/ failed or
need to be tested further….
▪ Fail except in upscale
neighborhoods; suggests that
network more important
User
behavior
• People trust those who live near them
more
• People trust those who share a
network with them more than
strangers
▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if some ‘yeses’
▪ Interviews on whether would users
would no longer find a need to ‘bring a
buddy’ when visitng a seller in their
network unlike on Craigslist (pro
▪ Pass if majority of votes (>70%)
▪ Pass
▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if majority of votes
• People would like an in-app
messaging process to reduce clutter▪ Strong pass
• Sellers would be easier to attract
because of usability of mobile app
(would help crack the chicken & egg
problem)
▪ Strong pass▪ Interviews
▪ Pass if there are majority “strong-yes”
users for the product feature
Further updates to prototype based on validated features
Additional search filters
including distance and price
allow targeted searching
Buyers can now see mutual
friends they have with the
seller
What our customers think about our competition…
• 18-30 Years old
• Mostly sells stuff
when moving around
• Social Media Savvy
• Smartphone User
• Student/ Young
professional
Buyer: Specific NeedBuyer: Junk-CollectorSeller
• 18-30 Years old
• Moves Around a Lot
• Social Media Savvy
• Smartphone User
• Student/ Low Income
• 18-30 Years old
• Moves Around a Lot
• Social Media Savvy
• Smartphone User
• Student / Young
Professional/ higher
income than JC
• Needs to post quickly
and efficiently (often
doesn’t sell cheap
products for this
reason)
• Wants to sell product
quickly
• Wants to limit spam
and negotiation
• Wants to limit
logistical challenges
• Open to used goods
(lower value items)
• Cares about seller
reliability and product
quality
• Does not want to travel
far
• Cares about both
specific categories and
wide selection of
goods
• Cares about ease of
search/ browsing
• Selection of useless
goods / bargains
• Open to used goods
(higher value items)
• Cares about seller
reliability and product
quality
• Does not want to travel
far
• Care about specific
categories of goods
• Cares about using
time efficiently/ ease of
search
Demographics
Needs
We will target three distinct customer segments as part of the two-sided
marketplace
Type of business
Niche
re-segmentation
Double-
sided
marketplace
Platform that creates
value by facilitating
interactions between
two different groups of
customers; only of
value if both groups
are present
Advertising
platform-
model
A New product to
address specific
needs in an existing
market
Platform is free to
use on one side
and generates
revenues by
selling space to
advertisers on the
other
The initial target market is expected to be ~$560 Mln
Total Available Market
Online Classifieds market in the
USA
= ~$20 B
Served Available Market
Urban online classifieds market1
= ~$16 B
Initial Target Market
University Campuses, Smartphone
accessible2
= ~$560M
Source: Telegraph Research, US Census Bureau, Nielsen, US Department of Education
1 80% urban population 2 13M Full-Time Students / 316M US Population, 85% smartphone penetration in 18-34 age range
A working mobile prototype has been put together to help with customer
discovery
Use the app to snap
photo of the item for
sale using your iPhone
Add title, description,
and asking price to your
photo
Items posted to
PeerPressure stream of
items for sale