Tools For Lean Startup Wizards

Based on Presentation to Cambridge Startup Masterclass December 2011 Tools for Startup Wizards Paul Walsh CogniDox

What I intend to cover:• Introduction to The Lean Startup• Lists of Tools – why lists don’t really work• The Six Abilities Framework• Stay Lean using Tools & the Framework

A Quick OverviewTHE LEAN STARTUP

The Lean Startup• Your time / life is precious, dont waste it on stuff nobody wants• Test and correct assumptions as early as possible• MVP - Minimum Viable Product• Continuous deployment is good• Always Be Measuring• The Lean Startup is a company built to learn• Customer development rather than product development

Not Lean as in “Frugal”• Lean Startup ideas go back a long way (Lean Manufacturing, Kanban, etc.) and are not a response to “lean times” of current economy• Where Philosophy of Science meets Business School thinking: – Scientific method: experimentation, empirical data, hypothesis-testing, falsification

Not just for Startups• Lean applies to any Product Management enterprise• Key requirement - “designed experiment” must be a viable concept for your market• Hypothesis testing is about customer, user, buyer, pricing model, channels… and product

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)• Eric Ries: “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”• Neither Minimal nor Viable but Minimum Viable

MVP revisions & limitations• Awkward if your MVP needs a network effect or community to be useful – http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/11/when-minimal-viable- product-doesnt-work.html (Seth Godin)• Should it be Minimum Marketable Product? – http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/agile-product-innovation/the- minimal-marketable-product/ (Roman Pichler)• Should it be Maximally Buyable Product? – http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/12999/From-Minimally-Viable-To- Maximally-Buyable-Product.aspx (Dharmesh Shah)• Do align your MVP cycles with risk of losing key customers, especially in B2B markets• How well does MVP fit non Web / Mobile App markets such as Medical Devices, FMCG, etc?

Tools and the Lean Startup• Tools help testing rapid iterative cycles of high-fidelity customer experiences• Good tools: – accelerate Customer Development – help you gather actionable data – don’t need to cost big $$$• Tools are not a substitute for thinking; nor are they a substitute for expertise• Sometimes a pencil is the best tool

Why they don’t fully workLISTS OF TOOLS

History • 2 years ago one of the Songkick founders started a Wiki • Tools validated by other startups • We contributed our opinions on tools we used & found useful • List has grown longer since and spawned other lists

Tool Lists• Startup Tools – http://startuptools.pbworks.com/w/page/17974963/FrontPage – No framework + some very specialised tools = can make it hard to search/find• Seedcamp list for business tools – http://biztools.pbworks.com/w/page/11120547/FrontPage – Is a little heavy on business philosophy and tips, light on recurring business tasks• Lean Startup Wiki – http://leanstartup.pbworks.com/w/page/15765221/FrontPage – Good place to discuss Lean Startup concepts, but only tools are Business Model Canvas (explained later)

Lots of advice out there!

It needs a Framework• No single template, but a good-enough step- by-step plan is better than no plan• Setting up a team is harder than handing out the job titles• It’s not good enough to say that everybody in a Startup needs to do everything

Roles not Job Titles"I’m creating a Startup and I need to know how tosplit up the various roles and responsibilities ofthe founders. There are three of us plus a smalldevelopment team."• So they call themselves CEO, CTO, CFO, COO…• Job is NOT done, no real progress made• Focus should be on Roles as things that need to be done, not job titles

Role confusion…“In a Startup, everybody does everything”• … if they can – Not everyone has the same skills – Important to take roles suited to individual – Important not to leave roles un-filled – Important not to have the wrong roles filled – Do things in the right temporal order“This needs a Framework”

What do Startups need?THE SIX ABILITIES FRAMEWORK

The #1 Startup Question: “What should I be doing now?”

Look at the things Startups do Built with: http://www.wordle.net/

Choose an apt metaphor• There are lots of metaphors for Startups• Rock stars – too “bratty” for me• Gurus – how impractical is that?• Wizards – works for me – Specialised – Skilled – Practical – Team Players – Magical

WoW as metaphor for Startup • Embark on Epic Quests • Recruit a Guild • Form Powerful Alliances • Engage an ever-changing World • Explore Environments • Different Classes / Abilities • Customise your talents to create a unique Hero (c) Blizzard Entertainment …sounds like a Startup to me

Inspired by De Bono’s Hats “Just give me the facts” “Got a feeling about this” “What can go wrong?” “What can we gain?” “Look at it another way” “Think of it like this”• No thinking style is best; a time when each works

Six Startup Abilities Six Abilities Framework

Startup Wizards

Forming Abilities• Making New Things – Ideas for improvement or cost reduction – Teams – Networks of investors, contacts, advisors – Business models – Concepts – Culture• Research

Forming & the Lean Startup• Invent a succession of short customer pitches. For each pitch, do a Business Model Canvas• Build your MVP plan – treat it like a Product Backlog, look at Agile PM tools to assist• How do you research your competition? – Research is the precursor to Experiment – look at company and market data using tools

Example Forming Tools Startup Canvas Level Business

Startup Wizards

Transforming Abilities• Alchemy side of a Startup – turning the ideas into something tangible• “Software is the nearest thing to magic that weve yet invented” (John Naughton, 2011)

Transforming & the Lean Startup• Build User and Buyer Persona(s) and devise a strategy for UX testing• Development teams: choose tools to support Agile, Scrum or Kanban process• Create a development process around Continuous Integration (CI) and Automated Testing tools• What does Continuous Deployment mean for your product / market? Implement the answer

Example Transforming Tools Agile Zen Selenium Jenkins

Startup Wizards

Projecting Abilities• Promotion? All about Broadcast now• Thought leadership, content is king, etc• Gimmicks, stunts, and other diversions• Blogs & NoFollow links• Killer Website• Campfire Stories• Tight Verticals / Niche• Lateral Thoughts – Stack Overflow

Projecting & the Lean Startup• Build your Lean Marketing Plan – it should contain a market launch plan• Are you SEO-ready to collect and analyse metrics?• Plan ahead by preparing some marketing content• Streamline the content publishing process without losing QA• Be media-savvy to the extent necessary – you are not a mega-Corporation needing spin

Example Projecting Tools Open Site Explorer Hubspot Website Grader Screenr

Startup Wizards

Persuading Abilities• Projection gathers the audience, now you must persuade them• Keeping track is harder than it sounds• Building a sales pipeline model• Suspects or Prospects?• Answering questions• Opportunities• Conversations

Persuading & the Lean Startup• Keep track of everything customer-related• Refine Buyer Persona(s) when necessary• Plan a Conversion Rate Optimization process and test it• Decide your Technical Support methodology• How much of a Knowledge Base can you build as early as possible?• Integrate user voice tools into your testing

Example Persuading Tools SugarCRM

Startup Wizards

Collecting Abilities• Cash flow management and Lean Burn• Nothing can help you get paid on time • Reduce friction points in the sales cycle• Sure Revenue and a sensitivity analysis• Avoiding late payment penalties

Collecting & the Lean Startup• Business Model must co- exist with Business Plan• MVP your Revenue profit engine• Maybe two chasms to cross: Getting Users Vs Getting Customers• Free/Premium pricing seems to cause more fallout than any other topic

Example Collecting Tools KashFlow Xero HMRC Basic PAYE

Startup Wizards

Protecting Abilities• “Be your own Lawyer” – Discuss• Software Patents (are Evil)• How will your IPR defend your revenue growth?• Grab that domain name, protect that Trademark• Avoid Dark Patterns• Security nightmares• E-commerce• Data protection

Protecting & the Lean Startup• Lean is all about adding customer value but you must operate within a protected and legal framework: • Domain, Trademark, Copyright, EULA, ToS• If you want to start a fight with your user base, study and use Dark Patterns  • http://wiki.darkpatterns.org/Home

Example Protecting Tools WordPress Boliven

A resource for Lean StartupsTOOLS & THE FRAMEWORK

A Startup Toolkit Resourcehttp://www.cognidox.com/toolkit CLICK HERE

The Startup Tools Mind Map

Links to over 230 Tools

How to use the Mind Map Hold down mouse to drag imageClick on a title to expand / contract Built with: Click on a link to open tool website

Contacts Cognidox Limited salesinfo@cognidox.com St. Johns Innovation Centre www.cognidox.com Cowley Road Cambridge CB4 0WS United Kingdom

Tools For Lean Startup Wizards

by Paul Walsh

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