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


WHAT IS A STARTUP?


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

Startup =


A startup is a temporary

organisation. . . designed to search for a

repeatable and scalable

business model.


Startup = growth


NOT Scalable

Costs

Revenues$

time


NOT Scalable

Costs

Revenues

$

time


Scalable

$

Costs

Revenues

time



Which type of business?

Social venture

Buyable startup

Scalable startup

Small business

Lifestyle business


WHY DO A STARTUP?


Massive global markets


Massive global markets

April 2012

700 million registered users

40 million concurrent users

8 million paying users

$860 million annual revenues



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




Years to reach $1 billion annual revenue

Reproduced with kind permission of Peter Lewis and the Newcastle Herald


WHY DO A STARTUP NOW?




WHAT MAKES A GOOD STARTUP IDEA?


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.


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


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


Disruption




A viable business model

Customer Acquisition Cost(CAC)

Lifetime Value of Customer(LVC)


WHAT MAKES A GOOD STARTUP?

Team


>


A real problem that needs to be solved


A compelling solution



Daily deals sites. . .

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


Validation

Does the problem exist?

Does your idea solve the problem?

Does anyone care?


Ability to scale


Enterprise is HOT


THE LOCAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM





PRACTICAL TIPS


NDAs


In need $250,000 from investors to hire a

developer to build a prototype. . .


USEFUL RESOURCES


paulgraham.com

Brisbane



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

http://leanstack.com/




www.udacity.com/course/ep245

http://www.udacity.com/course/ep245


jfdi



Thank you

Colin Kinner

email [email protected]

www.spikeinnovation.com.au

@ColinKinner

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

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

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