What is a Startup and Why Should You Start One Now? QUT IDEA Network 1 Sept 2014

INTRODUCTION TO STARTUPS(AND WHY YOU SHOULD START ONE TODAY!)

IDEA NetworkQUT

1 Sept 2014

@ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Background

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WHAT IS A STARTUP?

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A company that's confused about (1) what its product is, (2) who its customers are, and (3) how to make money

Startup =

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A startup is a temporary

organisation. . . designed to search for a

repeatable and scalable

business model.

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Startup = growth

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NOT Scalable

Costs

Revenues$

time

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

NOT Scalable

Costs

Revenues

$

time

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Scalable

$

Costs

Revenues

time

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Which type of business?

Social venture

Buyable startup

Scalable startup

Small business

Lifestyle business

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WHY DO A STARTUP?

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Massive global markets

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Massive global markets

April 2012

700 million registered users

40 million concurrent users

8 million paying users

$860 million annual revenues

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Low barrier to entry

“Heavy” software

“Light” software/ apps

1980’s 1990 2000 2010

Networking infrastructure

Computer hardware

Processors

$20m <$100k$50m$50m$100mCapital required

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Years to reach $1 billion annual revenue

Reproduced with kind permission of Peter Lewis and the Newcastle Herald

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WHY DO A STARTUP NOW?

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

WHAT MAKES A GOOD STARTUP IDEA?

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1. Notice things that suck, and think of ways to make them better.

2. If something bugs you, it might also bug a lot of other people.

3. Some of those people might pay for a better solution.

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What makes a good startup idea?

• You understand the problem• You can think of a better solution• You can build the solution• Few others realise it’s worth doing

Live in the future, then build what's missing.Paul Graham, Y Combinator

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Startup idea #16:

- Crowdsource professional photography

- Unlock the billions of images sitting on pro photographers’ hard drives (ie. not searchable)

- Advertisers post briefs to photographers who can submit existing images

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Disruption

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

A viable business model

Customer Acquisition Cost(CAC)

Lifetime Value of Customer(LVC)

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD STARTUP?

Team

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>

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A real problem that needs to be solved

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A compelling solution

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Daily deals sites. . .

Helping merchants sell stuff at below cost to low-value customers they will probably never see again

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Validation

Does the problem exist?

Does your idea solve the problem?

Does anyone care?

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Ability to scale

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Enterprise is HOT

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THE LOCAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

PRACTICAL TIPS

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NDAs

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In need $250,000 from investors to hire a

developer to build a prototype. . .

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USEFUL RESOURCES

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paulgraham.com

Brisbane

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

PROBLEMList the top 1-3 problems

EXISTING ALTERNATIVESList how these problems are solved today

SOLUTIONOutline a possible solution for each problem

KEY METRICSList the key numbers that tell you how your business is doing

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITIONA single, clear, compelling statement about why customers will buy your product

HIGH-LEVEL CONCEPTOne-line description of your business (eg. YouTube = Flickr for videos)

UNFAIR ADVANTAGEWhat advantages do you have that can’t be easily bought or copied

CHANNELSList your path to customers

CUSTOMER SEGMENTSList your target customers and users

EARLY ADOPTERSList the characteristics of your ideal customers

COST STRUCTUREList your main fixed and variable costs

REVENUE STREAMSList your sources of revenue

Lean Canvas

1 23 4

5

67

8

9

www.leanstack.com

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© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

www.udacity.com/course/ep245

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jfdi

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

© 2014 Spike Innovation @ColinKinner

Thank you

Colin Kinner

email colin@spikeinnovation.com.au

www.spikeinnovation.com.au

@ColinKinner

http://au.linkedin.com/in/colinkinner