Slides from our recent workshop at Hub Kings Cross, London where we helped 20 budding entrepreneurs learn how to develop their startup idea through engaging customers in the design process, with the aim of building their tribe and creating a happy startup.

1. THE HAPPY STARTUP SCHOOL
Stop dreaming, start doing

2. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
• the importance of a clear vision & purpose
• create & iterate your business model
• how to define your early adopters
• why you need to ‘get out of the building’!
• ways to test out your ideas quickly
• what an mvp is and how to define it

3. 9/10 STARTUPS
FAIL!

4. THE OLD TOOLS
AREN’T FIT FOR
THE JOB
BIG BANG
RELEASE =
HIGH RISK
STARTUPS ARE
NOT BIG
BUSINESSES
FOUNDERS
THINK THEY
KNOW IT ALL
A FEAR OF
FAILURE STOPS
PROGRESS

5. MASTER NEW
TECHNIQUES
& TOOLS
LEARN HOW TO
TEST IDEAS
QUICKLY
EMBRACE
UNCERTAINTY
& SPOT OPPS
ENGAGE
CUSTOMERS
THROUGHOUT
DEVELOP A
FAIL & LEARN
MINDSET

6. “every big problem is a
big opportunity”

10. “HAPPINESS IS
A BUSINESS
MODEL”

12. “ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS NEITHER A
SCIENCE NOR ART. IT IS A PRACTICE.”
peter drucker

14. "The difference between someone loving and
hating rollercoasters is their relationship with
the experience."

17. vision & purpose

18. “your passion is ignited by your purpose,
& your vision enables you to apply that
spark to change the world.”

19. “to organize the world‘s
information and make it
universally accessible and useful.”

20. “to be the pulse of the planet”

21. “to be the earth’s most
customer- centric company”

23. our company purpose:
“optimising for happiness”

24. your purpose:
why you’re doing what you’re doing
(beyond profits)

25. 10 MINS
WHAT’S YOUR HIGHER PURPOSE?

26. 3 STAGES OF A STARTUP

27. 1
Problem/
solution fit

28. 1
Problem/
solution fit
2
Product/
market fit

29. 1
Problem/
solution fit
2
3
Product/
market fit
Scale

30. 1
Problem/
solution fit
Focus: Validated learning
Experiments: Pivots
2
3
Product/
market fit
Scale

31. 1
Problem/
solution fit
Focus: Validated learning
Experiments: Pivots
2
3
Product/
market fit
Scale
Focus: Growth
Experiments:
Optimisations

32. 5 MINS
“LIFE’S TOO SHORT TO BUILD SOMETHING NOBODY WANTS”

33. Traditional product development

34. Lean/agile development

35. Lean startup loop

36. PAINKILLER
VITAMIN

37. visualise your business model

38. “YOUR PRODUCT IS NOT THE PRODUCT”

39. “COMPANIES EXECUTE BUSINESS PLANS.
STARTUPS SEEK A BUSINESS MODEL.”
STEVE BLANK

45. 15 MINS
COMPLETE THE ‘MEAN’ CANVAS

46. 10 MINS
WHAT’S YOUR RISKIEST ASSUMPTION

48. “CUSTOMERS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR
SOLUTION. THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR
PROBLEMS.”
DAVE McCLURE, 500 STARTUPS

49. VISUALISING YOUR AUDIENCE

50. user personas
archetypes of real people

51. WHO WILL BE YOUR RAVING FANS?

52. DESIGN FOR EMOTION

53. WHO’S GONNA LOVE YA?

54. I AM NOT A ROBOT

55. (n) ROBOT
A PERSON WHO WORKS MECHANICALLY
WITHOUT ORIGINAL THOUGHT, ESPECIALLY
ONE WHO RESPONSES AUTOMATICALLY TO THE
COMMANDS OF OTHERS

57. 10 MINS
create a persona

58. user stories
what can customer x do
with your product?

60. 10 MINS
CREATE 6 USER STORIES

61. CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT

63. time to get out of the
building!

64. “bad news gets worse the longer you leave it”
Rob Fitzpatrick, Dex.io

65. LISTEN, DON’T TALK.
PROBLEMS, NOT
SOLUTIONS.

69. GET OUT OF
THE BUILDING!

70. TIME TO START EXPERIMENTING

71. FAKE IT BEFORE YOUMAKE IT

72. 1.CREATE A LANDING PAGE

73. 2.KEYNOTOPIA PROTOTYPE

74. 3.ASK A SIMPLE QUESTION

75. 4.CREATE A FAKE T-SHIRT

76. 5.MOBILE PROTOTYPE

77. 6.OBSERVE PEOPLE

78. 7.CREATE A FAKE BUTTON

79. 8.MINIMUM VIABLE RESTAURANT

80. 9.THE PAPER MVP

81. 10.DO IT YOURSELF

82. 11.WRITE A CLASSIFIED AD

83. 12.THE EMAIL CONCIERGE

84. 13. DIRECT MARKETING

85. 14.COFFEE SHOP TEST

86. 15. HACKING w/CUSTOMERS

87. 16.GET BACK TO BASICS

88. 17.GOOGLE DOCS MVP

89. 18.START BLOGGING

90. 19.TEST EXISTING PRODUCTS

91. 20.HAVE A GREAT STORY

92. 21.CREATE A SLIDESHARE

93. EXECISE: THINK OF 5 EXPERIMENTS TO TEST YOUR IDEA

94. THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

95. VALUE > PAIN

97. wrapping up

98. • define your vision & purpose
• define what success feels like
• create your happy startup canvas
• fake it, before you make it
• start with the core features (mlp)
• have fun, and finally…

99. ..make something people
love & spend less than
you make

100. we challenge you
to make a pledge

103. thanks!
@happystartups
www.thehappystartupschool.com