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?”

Look at the things Startups do

http://www.wordle.net/

Built with:

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

salesinfo@cognidox.com www.cognidox.com