1. Visit
evisors.com
to browse all mentors who
can help you with:
• Informational Interviews
• Resumes & Cover Letters
• Mock Interviews
…and more!
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3. Agenda
1. About James
2. Tactics vs. Strategy and the money myth
3. Product – market fit, pain, and virality
4. A few resources to help
5. Q&A
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4. About James
“Entrepreneur and Reformed Consultant”
• Have built three businesses, currently building 2 more
• In 2010 started JBW Advisory, helping early-stage
companies in media and consumer products / retail
• >6 years post MBA at Bain NYC, Singapore, HK
• Princeton AB, Wharton MBA
• Started career at DreamWorks in LA as a driver to
composer Hans Zimmer
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5. Why are you here?
• You’ve launched an entrepreneurial
venture and you’re looking for customers
• You’re preparing to launch and you’re
thinking about your marketing strategy
• You’re currently a marketer and are
interested in how things are different on
the other side
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6. Tactics vs. Strategy
Strategy = what’s the plan to build this
business
Tactics = how many twitter posts do we
need today
Tactics flow from strategy
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8. Money doesn’t solve the problem
$41MM
$340MM
$45MM $135MM
Source: http://techli.com/2012/04/10-greatest-startup-failures/
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9. The real challenges
Product
Market Fit
Does my product solve a
problem?
Story
How do I get people to
want to buy my product?
Virality
How do I get people to tell
their friends about my
product?
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10. Product Market Fit – it’s easy!
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11. Perhaps not so easy
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12. “A lot of times, people don't know
what they want until you show
show it to them.”
--Steve Jobs
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14. How important is this?
“Do whatever is required to get to product/market fit.
Including changing out people, rewriting your
product, moving into a different market, telling customers no
when you don’t want to, telling customers yes when you
don’t want to.” – Marc Andreesen
You can’t market something that people don’t
want so much that they’re willing to break current
habits to switch to yours.
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15. You need to listen carefully
Lots of ways to talk to customers
• Surveys
• Google analytics
• Focus groups
• Interviews
• Usability testing
• Yahoo! Answers
• Facebook
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16. Product-Market fit
Lots of ways to talk to customers
• Surveys
• Google analytics
• Focus groups
• Interviews
• Usability testing
• Yahoo! Answers
• Facebook
1. Who are the true
customers
2. What is their true
need
3. How will you meet
that need
4. How much pain is
required to switch
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24. Before you start thinking tactics…
What’s your story?
• Why are you in business?
• What do you believe?
• What is your value proposition?
• Why is this meaningful to you?
If you can’t tell this story, how will other
people tell it for you?
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25. Virality: The marketing holy grail
Source: http://blog.amplifinity.com
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26. What’s “virality” all about?
Virality is:
1. Creating customer experiences delightful
enough that people want to tell their friends
2. Making it easy for customers to do so
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27. Virality isn’t new!
Customer references
Word of mouth
Reviews
Sharing
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28. Sharing existed long before Facebook
Source: http://dailymail.co.uk
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29. Sharing existed long before Facebook
Source: http://cocainehelp.promisblogs.com
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30. virality in 3 easy steps®
1. Get your brand into people’s
hands
2. Make sure they love it
3. Give them super-easy ways to
share (bribes don’t hurt either)
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32. To sample or not to sample?
a) cost of a sample vs. customer
lifetime value
b) how much pain and risk are
required to try and share
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33. Product love: NPS
Source: http://propertycasualty360.com; Bain & Company
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34. Sharing in the internet age
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35. Sharing in the internet age
• Built the platform for
$300,000
• Spent nothing on
advertising
• Within 18 months had
~20% of internet users
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36. Sharing in the internet age
Get your free, private e-
mail @
http://www.hotmail.com
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37. PS… the story hasn’t changed
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40. Closing thoughts
Good strategy trumps money and tactics any day of the week.
• Build a product that people really need and want (so you’ll
have “pull”), and figure out who those people are
• Tell the story as simply as possible (so you can
advertise, publicize, etc. effectively)
• Figure out the obstacles to trial and build around them -
remember you’re trying to make a market that didn’t exist,
so you must eliminate friction)
• Delight customers, encourage sharing, but remember pain!
• Buy MackWeldon! Contact me for an F&F code
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41. A few resources
• http://blog.kissmetrics.com/ultimate-guide-startup-
marketing/
• http://marketingbeforefunding.com
• http://onforb.es/14PMZui
• http://www.slideshare.net/seanomalley/startup-marketing-
presentation
• http://www.unbound.com
• http://www.startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/
• http://www.growhack.com
• http://wp.me/p1FaB8-1JXd
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43. Questions & Answers
Question 1:
How do you effectively market with a small
budget and limited resources?
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44. Questions & Answers
Question 2:
When is it time to invest in a dedicated
marketing resource?
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45. Questions & Answers
Question 3:
How do you market effectively to women
with broad similarities?
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46. Questions & Answers
Question 4:
How do you market a product/service that is
unrecognized by customers?
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47. Questions & Answers
Question 5:
How should different marketing activities be
prioritized?
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48. Questions & Answers
Question 6:
How do you identify core messages that
reflect your brand and resonate with your
customers?
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49. Questions & Answers
Question 7:
What are some of the important aspects in
B2B marketing?
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50. Connect
Book your one-on-one session with James at
www.evisors.com/expert/689
James Weiss
Founder, JBW Advisory
He can help you with:
• Career Assessment
• Consulting Interview Practice
• Resume Development
…and more!
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