Case study of one Australian's startup's pivots in the volatile market of eCommerce and fraud protection. Highlight things tips/traps for startups in competitive landscape, blindspots of technical founders and some unique challenges/opportunities for Australian startups.

3. For Startups: Product Strategy should “Pivot” not “Jump” (Eric Ries) Strategy doesn’t change based on last customer call Pivoting is like Twister Remain “grounded” in your current strategy and pivot based on feedback and skillset

4. A History of “Pivots” Iteration/Evolution Hind-sight Axiom SpamMATTERS forensic tools for enforcement “ early adopters have same affliction as entrepreneurs” Don’t validate with your Mum Botnet tracking/IP Reputation for security OEM Model not a scalable revenue model in security Know your investor IP Reputation for fraud prevention IP addresses not enough granularity Validate with target market early and often “ Markets Shift” Device Intelligence for eCommerce Competitive solutions degrade the addressable market Physical Goods are so ’90s Competition drives scale SaaS drives scale Commerce PowerLaw Real-time fraud prevention and enabling ECommerce Virtual Goods Virtual Currencies Social/FB Gaming Massive transaction scale Machine Learning Be aware of “tectonic” shifts (US Gov stops gambling) (New Commerce models) (Privacy Laws)

6. But…signals are weak amid incumbent’s noise

7. But… startups exist because incumbents don’t innovate Incumbent rejection/deferral is actually a strong positive signal

8. Axiom 1: Don’t validate with your Mum Entrepreneurs and Early Adopters skew early validation. Are you solving a scalable problem? Entrepreneurs will “re-interpret” results to support initial hypothesis/belief. Hopelessly optimistic. The “Pragmatists” may not be ready to “buy”. (and support your business model)

9. Axiom 2: Know your investors (or corp drivers) Product must match the strategic Imperatives of the business. Who are the stakeholders? Do their agendas disrupt the roadmap?

10. Axiom 3: “Markets Shi f t” What was OK last year is not cool now. (underfunded OZ startups often look dated due to lack of resources and access to revenues)

14. “Cautionary Tale” or “Story of Agility” ? Would a more intelligent life-form figure it out sooner?

15. Now I’ll puck off... http://www.google.com/profiles/david.jones @djinoz Slides at http://slideshare.net/djinoz