Minimum Sellable Product #ALLEYMSPNYFT Lab2 June 2014

Ellie Cachette, VP Product Marketing

Minimum Sellable Product

“The absolute minimum product functionality needed to charge or make

money.”

Hint: it probably doesn’t exist yet

How Do You Sell Something That Doesn’t Exist?

1.Understand a current and urgent need2.Provide immediate value3.Strong marketing position

“Fake it til you Make it”

1. Understand a Current and Urgent Need:

•Do you understand the space and market? (What direction its headed)•Do you have one potential client already?•Can you easily integrate with existing systems? (software or otherwise)

2. Provide Immediate Value:

•Do you ADD value? (revenues or profits)•Can you bring something hard to get? (traffic, sales leads, inventory)

3. Strong Marketing Proposition:

•Can you explain what you want to do?•Can you adapt your pitch easily?•Do you have “the basics”? One pagers, page link, email templates, a website…

But How Do I Built it?

Did the check clear?

No, but really………..

Did the check clear?

Do not built it yet: •If you cannot replicate the messaging for 10 other clients•If you don’t know the “core features”•If you don’t know how much you can charge in the alpha or beta (otherwise you cannot calculate a ROI)

Start building ASAP: •If you have a list of core or minimum features•You need an estimate or quote for technology costs •You can leverage existing technologies: Mailchimp, Twilio, Sketch etc

…but… but… •Beware of enterprise sales cycles•If your app or solution “saves money” you are not urgently needed•Time is the enemy of all deals•A signed contract is not the same as getting paid

A Pitch Gone Wrong“But Ellie… I’m on a rocketship”

Kent Anderson, Macys

Most startups don’t know how to make money•Can you accept multiple types of payments? (credit card, paypal, wire etc)•Do you have an invoicing or billing system? (Recurly, Stripe, Freshbooks…) •Have you thought about pricing or terms of a pilot program?

Exercise: Make an InvoiceAs surprising as this may sound, figure out how you would describe what you are doing and how it would look with charges.

Have you found the gaps?•Competitor products?•Existing Systems (Enterprise)•What are your main hurdles?

What Kind of Company Are You?•Service: Uber, deliveries, logistics•Product: Clothing, lotion, tangible goods•Saas: web app, mobile app, something that can be downloaded•Backend: hardcore tech. Another story.

Newsflash: in an Agile world of MVP and MSP we all start as a service.

The Question is:How smart is your customer?

Questions.

Customers.

Smart Customers = Smart Success

If you don’t respect your customer or understand their niche and important value, then your customer isn’t “dumb” your market isn’t big enough

“But I want to disrupt”

Don’t slip. Remember Rule #1

Rule #1:

Make Money

There is truth in revenue.

If You Cannot Make Money• You are not solving a problem• You have not convinced someone of your

ability to execute• You cannot “disrupt” if you cannot pay your

bills

Are You Your Own Customer?

How many of “you” are out there? 10 or 10,000 or 10,000,000?

Short Checklist

• Do you already have a customer?• Do you know what you do?• Is this in your are of expertise?• Can you poach expertise?• How fast can you build?• Do you have time or money?

How Do You Accept Feedback?

Have you setup a system yet to track feedback and organize notes from your users and customers?

Smart Feedback = nothing without implementation

How Fast is the “Turn Around”?

Orange Flags

•Feedback takes more than three (3) business days•The customer has never done this before or worked with a small company•More than one signoff is needed for changes•You tell the customer what they want

Red Flags

•The customer doesn’t like to use email•The company doesn’t or hasn’t worked with startups before•There are expensive old systems to overhaul•You need a lot of “inventory” first

Fake Red Flags

•The company or enterprise wants you to meet or work with their accelerator or lab•Diligence around company valuation and IP•Customer list is requested

Disclaimer to Founders:

•If its easier to copy your idea than work with you, then your idea isn’t good enough.

Why You? Why Now?

Building.

How To Build a MVP

What is your “Landing”?

• Use weebly, squarespace, or wordpress

Minimal viable product.

It’s lean & agile.

You get more versions faster &

often to create the best, ultimate

app.

Why a MVP?

Quick Checklist

Choosing an idea

Evaluating a niche

Ideas to stay away from

Getting started

Building/finding a development

partner

v1. Choose an idea

What is your expertise?

Scratching “the itch”

Be careful of scratching

the itch.

2. Evaluating a niche

Landing pages

Pre-orders

Customer interviews

Acquistion channels

Customer Validation Resources

“How to talk to customers & your business is a good idea when

everyone is lying to you”

http://momtestbook.com/ http://www.stevenblank.com/books.html

The Lean Startup approach to new ventures.

3. Ideas to stay away from

Marketplaces“Social network for

x”Feature driven

softwares

vv

More than 1000 companies funded for the Instagram

vertical…

Only one got acquired.

So, how do you get started?

• Concierge MVP.

• Start small & solve

one problem.

• Reduce risks.

4. Getting started

Getting started Resources

Paul Graham talks about not letting your ego get in the way and to do things that don’t scale.

“Doing things that don’t scale.”

http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

5. Start building

1. Gather notes & basic

sketches (wireframes).

2. Prototype.

3. Set launch objectives.

5. Building/Finding

1. Start Requirements

Document

2. Start Getting Proposals

3. Free Code? (Github,

APIs)

Things to Do

Building Resources?

http://balsamiq.com

Leave room for iterations & discovery.

3 Costly Mistakes1. Worrying about problems you don’t have.2. Spending too much time on your first release.3. Not validating the problem enough and showing the value you provide.

Find a dev partner. Or Tech.

It’s important to find a partner or agency that will drive you to achieve in your objectives.

Or you can learn to code

http://teamtreehouse.com/ https://www.codeschool.com/

Stop waiting and start doing.

You don’t need to be

technical to start it.

The first 2 steps.. You NEED to do

1. Pick a person/niche2. Do a Sales Safari/consumer behavior

research

*Make a list of potential websites, channels, places &

sources.Coffee shops, parksTrain stations, bus stopsMom blogsFacebook groups Websites

Make a list of keywords, problems, & phrases

• What are your keywords?• Is your branding aligned with your

customers? (ie. Blues or reds or language)

• SEO: start thinking now

Focus on the people you’d like to help

3. Their current solutions

2. Their goals & problems

1. Type of customer

Remember all those times you groaned a robot could do your

job?

Going from “Service” to “Automation”

2. Tasks & Processes in those jobs

1. Jobs they hire you for

Example? Dashable, checkins

Bridge the real-world w/ the digital world

2. Inefficient processes and pointless problems

1. old industries

Be careful with your Costs for Acquisition.. It’s usually much more than you think.

Example:

• HR software costs a lot• You think you could make it for a lot

cheaper than that. • So what happens?

Make something w/ less steps

Human Desire Steps in current process

Example? Blogging, which is web publishing with fewer steps

Communication, self-expression, travel, shelter, education, dating,entertainment, showing off, gaining wealth, creativity,

What will be huge?

Growing niches

Example? Digital media

Rising cultural trends

Rising tech trends

Strongly held beliefs about the future

Next steps:

SELLING and GTM

Selling Checklist:

1.Can you quickly train a sales rep?2.Is there a central place for product information?3.Could your grandma sell it? (Family is the 1st referral source. Friends second)

What Next?

1.Sell it2.Build it3.Sell More

Tips for Selling:•Don’t be afraid to cold call•If you don’t want to tell strangers what you are doing, its not a big enough idea•Make it EASY for the customer to pay and move on