This MVP clinic explores some of the challenges Semifore must navigate selling a solution to a team of diverse experts.
Recap Semifore MVP Clinic: Selling To A Team of Diverse Experts Read More »
Justin Kan (@JustinKan) wrote “Startups Don’t Die, They Commit Suicide” in 2011″ (mirrored on his blog here) reflecting on what he had observed and learned as a serial entrepreneur. It was reposted on the Philly Startup Leaders list earlier this week which led me to write the following comments mixed with excerpts from Kan’s post.
The Likely Consequences of Entrepreneurship Require Perseverance Read More »
Semifore execs, Rob Callaghan and Herb Winsted, Share Bootstrapping Lessons and 2014 Scaling Up Plans at an Jan-17-2014 MVP Clinic.
Q: I am considering product market fit metrics for an add-on new product launching in a well established company that makes equipment to test electrical cables (for the last 29 years). We are introducing a new product that is an add-on to existing products (it is only useful if used with the existing product). This is
Product Market Fit Metrics Read More »
I re-read Tom DeMarco‘s “Slack” over the Thanksgiving break and came away with a couple of good ideas worth sharing. Slack: Speed Difference Between Prudent and Breakneck Tom DeMarco offers the following definition of slack in the second to last chapter “Working at Breakneck Speed” Back in the time of sailing ships, going anywhere by ship
Tom DeMarco on Leadership, Trust, and Training Read More »
This MVP clinic helps a researcher looking for action research topics in the KM4Dev community and an entrepreneur making athletic contests more engaging.
Recap From Nov-20-2103 MVP Clinic Read More »
The illusion of omnicompetence is the failure to recognize limits. Smart and competent are not a generic quality: they’re incredibly domain-specific.
The Illusion of Omnicompetence: Smart and Competent Are Domain Specific Adjectives Read More »
John Smith and I explore what’s involved i an MVP for Social Software in this MVP Clinic for Social and Community Apps on Oct-23-2013. 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
Audio and Notes from On-Line MVP Clinic Oct 23-2013 on Social Software Read More »
It’s a mistake to give your investor pitch to customers: they have different questions from investors, and that requires a separate deck.
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: Customer Exit Interview Questions 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
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 »
If you are contemplating a fund raising effort, Foundersuite gives you access to useful forms, checklists, tools, and a community of peers.
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 »
What is Under Your Control in an MVP? Your target customer, the problem you solve for them, and what capabilities you offer to help them.
What is Under Your Control in an MVP Read More »
Iterating An MVP Until It’s Good Enough For Government Work 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
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 »
