John Smith and I did an MVP Clinic for Social and Community Apps on Oct 23. We took notes live in a PrimaryPad (an EtherPad derivative application). What follows is a cleaned up version of notes that we took and the audience contributed to. You can see MVP Clinic for Social/Community Apps Wed Oct 23 […]
Audio and Notes from On-Line MVP Clinic Oct 23-2013 on Social Software Read More »
Q: Can you please take a look at this pitch. I have created it as a promo for investors and potential users. Selling your offering to customers and selling your business to investors requires two different presentations They have fundamentally different questions they need answered before they “buy.” Customers want to understand how your product
Don’t Give Your Investor Pitch To Customers, They Have Different Questions Read More »
A deconstruction of the “How to Change Cars Forever” commercial for redesigned Dodge Dart as a distillation of engineering vision and an analysis of results
Balancing Engineering Vision vs. Customer Expectation Read More »
If you are planning a new service offering, involving technologies and social interactions between customers, this clinic on minimum viable service can help you learn your way out of conflicting assumptions, lack of relevant data, difficulty understanding service value, and resource constraints. This is especially the case if you need to get adoption by a
MVP Clinic for Social/Community Apps Wed-Oct-23 Read More »
Interviewing experts requires you to respect their time, doing basic research in advance to prepare a clear agenda and avoid unnecessary questions.
8 Tips For Interviewing Experts Read More »
Whether you call it the status quo, the current order, the way things are, or vested interests, the present arrangement is what entrepreneurs strive to obsolete by offering something better, faster, cheaper, or just different.
Getting The Band Together To Overthrow The Current Order Read More »
Q: We have a SaaS offering that has been on the market for three years now and we have several dozen paying customers. Our offering is useful for firms with more than a hundred employees up to several thousand and is licensed at a corporate level. We have only lost two customers, one was acquired
Q: Customer Exit Interview Questions Read More »
Here are some back of the envelope models to estimate prospect counts and market sizes.
Q: How To Estimate Prospect Counts and Market Sizes Read More »
There are a number of forms packages now available for entrepreneurs that provide templates for incorporation, investment term sheets, hiring employees and contractors, etc.. And there are several business model canvas tools that are designed to facilitate useful discussions among founders and advisors (and potential investors) about a new startup. But Nathan Beckord‘s Foundersuite is
FounderSuite Worth a Look for Saving Time On Your New Startup Read More »
Preserving Trust And Demonstrating Expertise Unlocks Demanding Niche Markets Q: We are preparing to enter a B2B market where the potential buyers are high-value but relatively few in number and close-knit. I am concerned that they will have a low tolerance for a minimum viable product (MVP) approach; much less pre-MVP research that misses the
Preserving Trust And Demonstrating Expertise Unlocks Demanding Niche Markets Read More »
We use this definition in our “Engineering Your Sales” and “Validating Your MVP” workshops and our MVP clinics. Our focus is on developing and selling products to businesses so that biases the definition a little bit but it’s important to remember what’s under your control in crafting your MVP: The particular type of customer: you
MVP: What’s Really Under Your Control Read More »
Q: I am part of a hardware/embedded device startup working on our MVP. We want to develop a minimum product to cut our initial development costs and iterate scientifically through experimentation. My concern is that State governments are my primary customer type and their buying model is to do a pilot project and then write what
Q: How Do You Iterate An MVP So That It’s “Good Enough For Government Work” Read More »
Some thoughts on college vs. startups, the panels are sliced up from “Students” by Randall Monroe. This is which is a dream that I still have. I find it a marker for being under pressure.
College vs. Startup Read More »
A new startup is often driven by a desire for autonomy, self-expression, and lifelong learning. Or it’s a creative solution to a lack of alternatives. Albert Hirschman observed that “creativity always comes as a surprise to us” which led him to suggest “the only we can bring our creative resources fully into play is by misjudging
If You Knew How Hard a Startup Would Be Read More »
Stripping the least useful third of the features requested allows you to deliver a 70 percent solution much more rapidly that’s often good enough.
Even For Demanding Markets, An MVP That’s a 70% Solution is Often Good Enough Read More »
Empires build a Death Star, Rebels build X-Wing fighters If your startup’s minimum viable product is a Death Star you are doing it wrong.
MVP: Are You Building a Death Star? Read More »
Pete Tormey and I did a short podcast on a delegation checklist. We wanted to help bootstrapping entrepreneurs decide what tasks it made the most sense to delegate in an early stage startup.
Podcast with Pete Tormey: Bootstrapper’s Delegation Checklist Read More »
We get a number of questions about logos, here are three tips for designing or choosing a logo when you are bootstrapping or just getting started: Text Treatments: text logos are simple, the company name is always right there. Most high tech logos are text treatments, they are clear and simple. With text logos you
Tips for Choosing a Logo Read More »
An excerpt from an interview with Dean Kamen in “Imagine Design Create” by Tom Wujec. Kamen suggests entrepreneurs look for outmoded perspectives preventing the use of technologies that are “available, affordable, reliable, functional.”
Dean Kamen on Good Design and Where to Begin Read More »
Sean Murphy, CEO of SKMurphy Inc will be moderating two upcoming MVP Clinics. These are interactive roundtable discussions were entrepreneurs can present where they are with their MVP and hypotheses about customer, problem, solution, and value. The roundtable will explore issues that founders are having in defining and evaluating their MVP. Bootstrappers Breakfast on July
Upcoming MVP Clinics in July and August for Startup Entrepreneurs Read More »
