How to startup, finding product market fit, why things go wrong and the lessons learned over the process of founding 5 companies

1. UNLEASH YOUR INNER
ENTREPRENEUR
VICKY BROCK @BROCKVICKY

2. ENTREPRENUER, FOUNDER, CEO
Mentor & board director to startups
MIT Entrepreneurship alumni
Top Tech Startup in Europe 2014
Technology Innovator of the Year 2014
Scotland’s Most Inspiring Business Person 2017
Open Knowledge International board director
Women’s Enterprise Scotland Ambassador
Scottish Enterprise High Growth Startup Advisor @brockvicky

3. @brockvicky

4. @brockvicky

5. 4 more companies over last 15 years

6. WHERE & HOW TO START?
1) Find a problem worth solving
2) Understand the customer & the market intimately
3) Ensure there is a customer with enough pain & cash to pay
4) Research if there are enough customers to make a market
5) Can you deliver your solution at a profit?
6) Who else do you need around you to succeed?
7) Prove a customer will pay and pay again
8) Validate your solution really deliver 10x the value of alternatives
@brockvicky

7. EXPECT TO ITERATE – A LOT……
@brockvicky

8. @brockvicky

9. @brockvicky

10. 1) You probably don’t have product market fit
2) You may not have solution market fit
3) You may not be in the best market segment
4) The customer just isn’t that into you yet
5) Feedback is coming from the wrong sources
6) You are fishing in the wrong pool
7) You ARE in a terrible market
8) The 10x value for the customer is not really there
9) Wrong people, wrong time, wrong MONEY
WHEN IT JUST ISN’T GROWING AS PLANNED
@brockvicky

11. THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1. Go fast, but not TOO fast
2. Do less, think more, listen most
3. Do not get distracted from your path by raising money
4. You are not the customer (nor are your board, investors, developers, pals)
5. Listen to & trust your customers above everyone else
6. It is relatively easy to create a product… But it is very hard to create
something people actually want keep to buying
7. Accept that sometimes you don’t win – move on, learn, bounce back
@brockvicky

12. VICKYBROCK.COM/BLOG
HELLO@VICKYBROCK.COM @BROCKVICKY