Cai Li and Robi started Airfrov in 2014 as a social enterprise to sell crowdsourced eco-friendly t-shirts. They made mistakes by building an app before validating customers, making excuses for not having a product, and not knowing what data to collect from customers. After getting feedback from investors that they needed customers and a minimum viable product, they focused on understanding customer problems and building profiles to sketch user stories. They then prioritized features based on user value, business value, and technical complexity. Cultural values like decision making and output were also important. Now Cai Li uses code to offer $10 credits on Airfrov to thank customers.

1.
Page 1
AIRFROV STORY
FROM ZERO TO 100,000
THE MISTAKES WE MADE
AND JOBS TO BE DONE
Presented by Cai Li

2.
Page 2
WHO ARE WE?
Cai Li
Hustler
Robi
Builder
Mistakes: Too niche, inventory
cost, high cost
2009: First ‘startup’ together
A social enterprise:
Selling crowdsourced eco-
friendly t-shirts
2004: DOTA/JC teammates
2010+ Normal working life
2014 March - Deadline of Ideas Inc

3.
Page 3
THE VERY FIRST THING…
•Validated our fatal assumptions
• Requesters who love to shop online
• Frequent Travellers who love to shop while
travelling
•Found our competitors
“GET OUT OFTHE BUILDING”
-Steve Blank

4.
Page 4
WHERE’S THE PRODUCT?
EXCUSE #1: We were both working full-time.
EXCUSES #2:We need to build a mobile-app.
That’s CRITICAL for Airfrov to work.
EXCUSES #3:Oh wait but we don’t have money to market
MISTAKES:We don’t need all these to have customers

5.
Page 5
#JUSTSAYING
“You don’t lack
resources. You lack
RESOURCEFULNESS”
-Tony Robbins

6.
Page 6
HUSTLING AND BUILDING
WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS?
WHAT ARE THEIR PROBLEMS?
AND JOBS TO BE DONE?
More theory!

7.
Page 7
PROTOTYPING AND SKETCHES
•Build user profiles
• Eg. Age 25-40, Female Requesters who love to
shop online, love to shop on brand X, Y and Z.
•Sketch the ideal user stories
MISTAKES:We did not get feedback from our sketches
We don’t need all these to have customers

8.
Page 8
YES WE WON!

9.
Page 9
REALITY SETS IN
“You don’t have customers.
How big is the market?”
-Investor A
“You don’t have a product, nor
customers. Why should we invest?”
-Investor B

10.
Page 10
HOW TO GET CUSTOMERS
WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS?
WHAT ARE THEIR PROBLEMS?
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

11.
Page 11
LESSONS LEARNT
•Get paying customers first.
•Rinse and repeat. Show, feedback, improve.
•You don’t need money to get customers.

12.
Page 12
WHAT ARE JOBS TO BE DONE?
Clayton Christensen

13.
Page 13
NOW THAT WE GOT CUSTOMERS…
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
-Peter Drucker
MISTAKE:We did not know what
kind of data to get.
MISTAKE: What’s next?

14.
Page 14
TOO MANY THINGS TO BUILD
“With everyyes, we said a thousand no”
-Steve Jobs
NO #1:No seller post. There are too many selling
platforms, no differentiation.
NO #2:No investment in logistics. Partner them!
NO #3:No fake or counterfeit goods. Trust is paramount.

15. Features User value Business Value Technical
Complexity
Currency
Calculator
1 0 2
Search 2 2 2
Payment 4 4 2
Logistics
integration
3 2 3
Page 15
HOW TO PRIORITISE
Learnings:Must get all stakeholder’s buy-in
Others:Affinity Mapping, Users-Stories, Buying feature

16.
Page 16
CULTURAL VALUES
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”
-Peter Drucker
Values
Decision
making
Output

17.
Page 17
CULTURAL VALUES
Intern A

18.
Page 18
WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW
CAILIUSE code for $10 Airfrov credit

19. Page 19
THANK YOU!
“Last time I paiseh to ask my friends, now I Airfrov”
-Cai Li
Ben Horowitz ‘Hard things about hard things’
Allistair Croll ‘Lean analytics
Clayton Christensen ‘Jobs to be done theory’
Harvard Business Review ‘User’s hierarchy of values’
Product Plan ‘7 Strategies for Product Strategising’