The document provides guidance on developing a successful product, beginning with identifying target customers and their problems, creating prototypes and mockups, gathering feedback, developing and testing the product, and planning for scalability. Key steps include clearly defining customer benefits, estimating revenue sources, conducting market research and benchmarking competitors, focusing alpha and beta testing on usability, and gathering early feedback to refine the main problem and user experience.

1. So you wanna
build a product?
Hanoi, 23/12/2011
By Phung Tien Cong
phungtiencong@gmail.com

2. Great!
Let’s build a
Produck
And try not to end up with a Prosuck :D

3. Who will use it?
Make clear who are your target customers.
Don’t say “every one who is single”
Should say:
2,5M singles, living in big cities,
having internet access,
age 22-27, young officers & “rich” students

4. What can it do (for me?)
Make clear the benefit it brings to the user
My product, [name], can help you to [benefit]
With [unique approach]
Eg:
My product, Noi.vn, can help you
to meet with potential dates
By offering 5,000 offline events/year

5. How does it make $$$?
Make clear the numbers.
Eg: the basic service is free, but if you want to use premium features, it cost $1/month
 Show to investor: 10% paid of 500,000 members = 50K x $1 =$50K/month
If it’s free, please estimate ARPU via AD sales
Eg: we’ll make 500M/month via ADs with 500,000 members. ARPU = 1,000VND

6. DEVELOPMENT
LIFECYCLE

7. The process
Prototype
Market
research
Development
Ideas
Testing/
Feedback
Feedback/
Modification
Pilot-beta Takecare!
Launch

8. I have an idea
To solve what ONE problem?
Just 1 specific problem.
Should come from REAL world. Look around you.
Don’t think product
Think human needs

9. Mocking it up
Draw on paper
Mock it up on
PowerPoint

10. Sample Storyboard

11. Ask
Bring that mockup with you everywhere.
Ask. Ask. Ask:
Ask what?
Do you need it? Why not?
Do you like it? Like what most?
Will you pay for it? How much can you afford?

12. Benchmarking
Study similar models in other country & in Vietnam.
New-to-the-world
New-to-the-country
New-to-the-target segment
Learn how it grows, how it dies,
how it make $$$

13. Develop it
Okay. Great. Let’s do it
Make a draft plan (ask the developers) for product development
Stand by side, make sure they don’t get
any shits more than your storyboard
Take care of the UI, UX

14. Test it
Make sure it runs.
It it’s still buggy, don’t show demo to the investors.
Alpha version = cannot run
Beta version = still cannot run
Use focus group to test.
Watch their behavior & gather feedbacks

15. Feedback
Ask your mum.
Don’t ask your teacher or the coders.
Gather feedback based on the MAIN PROBLEM, the UX, UI.
Don’t listen to experienced users demanding new features.
You’ll kill them all later

16. Scalability
It runs well with 10 people.
What about 10,000? 1,000,000?
This is the critical part to make the business BIG
MySpace died when it grows too fast.
This is also to ensure the investors that
you can multiply it, brings to other markets …