MVP Types, Tools and Social Impact

Paul Orlando @porlando [email protected]

The Minimum Viable Product(And Social Impact)

Startup AcceleratorLean Startup AdvisoryStartupsUnplugged.com/advisory AcceleratorHK.com

Other MVPs I tried in the last year: “Startup Sacrilege” (book) WeAreHKtech list MVP Cards Startup Hug Persuade parents to let their kids join startups

These started as MVPs...

Startup AcceleratorLean Startup AdvisoryStartupsUnplugged.com/advisory AcceleratorHK.com

Other MVPs I tried in the last year (and their status): “Startup Sacrilege” (book) WeAreHKtech list MVP Cards Startup Hug Persuade parents to let their kids join startups

These started as MVPs...

early success

success

so-so

fail

Not MVPs...

Fun / Cool / What If?

Market Opportunities

Social Good Market Opportunities

What causes the most difficulty for early-stage companies?

…How can we solve this?

Ideal Customers

1. They have a problem2. Are aware of having a problem3. Have been actively searching for a solution4. Have hacked together a solution5. Have or can acquire a budget

Solve Problems

Satisfy Needs

Fuel Addictions

A way forward.The MVP. Business Model Canvas. Case Studies.

A way backward.Reading too much news.

Loving your ideas. Being a know-it-all.

The MVP

“The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” -- Eric Ries

What They Say…

The MVP

“Our MVP is the crappy version of what we’re going to build later.”

-- most startups talking about MVPs

What We Hear…

The MVP

“blah blah blah get validated learning blah blah blah use least effort blah blah and have testable hypotheses.” -- me

New Translation…

MVP technique What it is

In-person Interviews

Talk to people to learn about them and their problems

Landing Page / Adwords

Use a description to test actions from lots of people

Mockup / Wireframe

Paper or digital non-functioning iterations to test reactions

“Parasite” Ride on top of an existing network to speed up data collection

Concierge People do work of not yet built system

Video Show what it’s like to use itPrototype Actually build a basic version





Use a product description to test actions from lots of people

Mockup / Wireframe



Concierge People do work of a not yet built system


MVP technique What can go wrongIn-person Interviews

Delays, Bad interviewers, Wrong interviewees, Can’t find interviewees


Don’t know what to measure, distribution

Mockup / Wireframe

Disbelief, No data collection, Becomes design and feature focused

“Parasite” DisbeliefConcierge Can’t actually build itVideo Cost distributionPrototype Time, cost, can’t build itAll Can’t get enough people (or the right

people) involved

The Siren Song of the Startup Survey

Would you like to take a survey so I can feel like I’m learning something?

Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong

We built a website and mobile app to let you find free fruits and vegetables near you as well as share yours with others. Would you use it?

How much would you be willing to pay for a consumer product that creates a stable “sand free” zone at the beach?



How to Interview - test

“Does this sound like a good idea to you?”


“Does this sound like a good idea to you?”

X

“Would you buy this?”


“Would you buy this?”


X

How to Interview – Sample questions

Please show me how you... Please tell me what you did when... Please help me understand...


Why do you do that? Please tell me more about that.When does that happen? When else does this comes up?


Who else is affected by this? How do you decide what to do? Tell me about the last time you dealt with this.


If you had a magic wand, what would you do or change?


What else should I have asked? Other people have to told me that...

I actually have a [thing] available now. You can [download / buy] it here.

How to Interview

Know what you want to learn.

No hypothetical questions.

Testing action can be better than asking a question.

Takes notes.

Then what?

The forgotten hypotheses...





Use a description to test actions from lots of people

Mockup / Wireframe



Concierge People do work of not yet built system


MVP: Landing Page

Wasn’t really an MVP

MVP: Landing Page

MVP: Concierge

MVP not available

MVP: Prototype

Test: Make an MVP for this Fake Company

“Flight Freebies”your fun discount travel service

Metrics

O M T MOne Metric That Matters

Actionable. Auditable. Accessible.

What is a Vanity Metric?(And how do I increase mine?)

Total Signups

Vanity...

Daily Users

Event

Vanity...

Metrics: Actionable, Auditable, Accessible

Life Time Value / ImpactGrowth Rate…(is there anything else?)

Determine your metricsUse few toolsTry to improve the results

A/B Tests or Split Tests

Funnels

Cohort Metrics

Viral Coefficients

Social Impact?

There are 41 Shades of Blue?

All Google Sites Advertising Revenue (2008): US$14.4B

An increase of 0.1% = US$14M in extra revenue

Conversion Funnel – where do you focus?

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Revenue

Referral

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8Jan 100% 20% 12% 8% 6% 5% 3% 2%Feb 100% 31% 16% 13% 10% 7% 5%Mar 100% 35% 22% 19% 14% 11%Apr 100% 43% 24% 20% 18%May 100% 52% 29% 24%

Jun 100% 55% 33%Jul 100% 57%

Cohort Metrics

Viral Coefficient

But don’t forget cycle time.

Invitation Rate x Conversion Rate(invites sent per user) (% invited users who take action)

What about Impact Metrics?

Metric technique What can go wrongSplit TestingA / B Testing

Incremental improvements. You often can’t split test your way to insight

Funnel Not knowing which parts drive your business

Cohort Metrics Not tracking eventsViral Coefficient When does it matter? Cycle speedIn general Forgetting different metrics matter at

different development stagesIn general Thinking that metrics matter more

than they do

What metrics matter

For a Community Site…?For a Ecommerce Site…?For a Subscription Service…?For a Social Impact organization...?

If you want to sell advertising…?If you have a Freemium model…?If you want to monetize customer data…?

A way forward.

Remember The New MVP Definition. Learn from others (case studies).Figure out which metrics matter for you. Use few tools. Remember metrics can mislead.Remember revenue/impact & growth drive most things.Stop reading (tech) news. Be willing to kill your ideas. You know nothing.

Paul Orlando @porlando [email protected]