Strategic and tactical advice on hardware startups for first-time entrepreneurs. A talk by Gregg Favalora - an entrepreneur who exited a "holographic display" startup in 2009 - that will rapidly teach Career Engineers about the primary themes of startups. Topics: product definition, financing, sales. Links to an Online Guide for HW Resources in Eastern Massachusetts.
Turning Products into Companies – Case – Actuality SystemsMichael Skok
Through this case example, Actuality Systems Founder Gregg Favalora offers helpful insight into the path Actuality took from product design, to its acquisition by Optics for Hire in 2009 - and the ultimate patent sale (and exit) in 2011. Offering an insider’s view of building and commercializing 3D display products, Gregg offers his thoughts on some powerful lessons he learned as he grew his company.
Intro to Agile Innovation (Agile 2016) Rich Mironov
Innovation is a complicated topic. Product folks often focus externally: how do we build products that customers and buyers find more innovative; out-design the competition; create market advantage? Process folks often focus internally: how do we develop faster, better, with higher quality? This talk suggestions innovation categories, focuses on validating real needs, and topples a few popular innovation myths.
22 May 2018 talk on differences between consumer tech (B2C) and enterprise tech (B2B) companies for Lean Product/UX Silicon Valley meetup. Emphasis on:
- dozens of in-depth interviews vs. thousands of market funnel A/B tests
- understand both buyers and users
- predicable pressure for “specials” on major deals
- need for product to deliver against customer's quantitative metrics
Why Silicon Valley Continues to Innovate and Rock the WorldRich Mironov
This is a slightly overblown view of Silicon Valley’s network effects and tech culture for Tolpagorni's 2014 Market Insights Conference. Goal: drive discussion about what can be borrowed to other tech centers like Stockholm, and what resources/attitudes are harder to copy.
The top reasons and solutions for not getting value out of your AB tests - some practical tips for designing insightful and correctly instrumented test
Covid19's Impact On Your Product StrategyRich Mironov
Hosted by Synerzip, this webinar focused on how crises may shift short- and long-term product strategy, anchored by business realities and product/development team needs.
Turning Products into Companies – Case – Actuality SystemsMichael Skok
Through this case example, Actuality Systems Founder Gregg Favalora offers helpful insight into the path Actuality took from product design, to its acquisition by Optics for Hire in 2009 - and the ultimate patent sale (and exit) in 2011. Offering an insider’s view of building and commercializing 3D display products, Gregg offers his thoughts on some powerful lessons he learned as he grew his company.
Intro to Agile Innovation (Agile 2016) Rich Mironov
Innovation is a complicated topic. Product folks often focus externally: how do we build products that customers and buyers find more innovative; out-design the competition; create market advantage? Process folks often focus internally: how do we develop faster, better, with higher quality? This talk suggestions innovation categories, focuses on validating real needs, and topples a few popular innovation myths.
22 May 2018 talk on differences between consumer tech (B2C) and enterprise tech (B2B) companies for Lean Product/UX Silicon Valley meetup. Emphasis on:
- dozens of in-depth interviews vs. thousands of market funnel A/B tests
- understand both buyers and users
- predicable pressure for “specials” on major deals
- need for product to deliver against customer's quantitative metrics
Why Silicon Valley Continues to Innovate and Rock the WorldRich Mironov
This is a slightly overblown view of Silicon Valley’s network effects and tech culture for Tolpagorni's 2014 Market Insights Conference. Goal: drive discussion about what can be borrowed to other tech centers like Stockholm, and what resources/attitudes are harder to copy.
The top reasons and solutions for not getting value out of your AB tests - some practical tips for designing insightful and correctly instrumented test
Covid19's Impact On Your Product StrategyRich Mironov
Hosted by Synerzip, this webinar focused on how crises may shift short- and long-term product strategy, anchored by business realities and product/development team needs.
What Your Roadmap Audiences Are Really ThinkingRich Mironov
Your different audiences have different (often opposing) goals and incentives, which means they probably want different product decisions and therefore different roadmaps. You need to understand and anticipate their agendas. What is your sales team thinking while you talk about next quarter? What questions are your marketers too polite to ask? And the questions you wish your executives wouldn't ask?
12 Things to do Before Your Company Dies : Conversion Conference London - Oct...Craig Sullivan
A roundup of all the things to help you maintain a competitive edge in experience design and conversion optimisation. With examples of companies putting this stuff together, the tools they are using and their project management approaches, this presentation delves deeper into the cultural aspects of CRO.
How To Manage Misaligned Stakeholders (Who Are Usually Misaligned)Rich Mironov
Prioritization is hard, and we HOPE that a clear corporate strategy plus well-considered OKRs will get our internal stakeholders to agree on what’s most important: unambiguous #1 and #2 and #3 priorities. That our spreadsheets and analysis will sell everyone on our plan.
But that rarely happens: Sales wants us to put 100% of our development effort against shiny new features (except when every big deal includes a commitment for some tiny off-off item); Support/Customer Success want 100% against bug fixes and workflow improvements and productivity tools; Engineering lobbies for better architecture and scalability and more refactoring...
How do we understand this behavior, appreciate their effort (rather than just being frustrated), and find strategic tools that let us build out a single plan for our products and teams?
#Measurecamp : 18 Simple Ways to F*** up Your AB TestingCraig Sullivan
An expanded deck of the top 18 blockers to getting successful AB or Multivariate test results. In this deck, you get a complete checklist of the stuff you need to prepare, watch, launch and monitor your testing, so it gets you the *right* conclusions.
Three Product Challenges for EntrepreneursRich Mironov
Three perennial challenges for entrepreneurs and start-up founds are (1) seriously listening to their markets, (2) building customer-side savings/ROI logic, and (3) whole-product thinking. Tiny companies lack formal product managers, but need to apply some product management thinking to these fundamental product/market needs.
This talk was for Stanford Continuing Studies' Entrepreneurship course, “Getting from an Early Idea to a Real Business.”
Established businesses often have trouble running fast on new innovation initiatives. How can they overcome the innovator's dilemma? This talk looks at how intrapreneurs working on cutting edge programs might anticipate and overcome challenges to bring their idea, with all its risks and unknowns, to fruition in an organization that is optimized for operational excellence on existing programs.
Tech Due Diligence in a Startup - WorkshopChris Philipps
One of the most crucial processes in a startup is the Due Diligence. Leaving a good impression is key to investors’ money. Tech people, especially young CTOs, are often dramatically unprepared when it comes to a tech due diligence. On the other hand, with a bit of preparation a Due Diligence (DD) shouldn't be a reason for sleepless nights.
I have been on both sides of the game, as CTO as well as reviewer. In this workshop I want to share my experience of dozens of DD's:
- What is important in a Tech and Product DD ?
- What will investors expect from you?
- Dos and don’ts
- What does it need to be well-prepared?
- How to discuss (and sell) your skeletons in the closet?
The workshop consists of two main parts:
In the first part, I will talk about my personal experience on both sides of the table
The second part will be a Q&A session
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTE:
You'd love to see me talk about this at your conference or company? Feel free to send me an email.
There were handouts coming with the talk: list of DD docs, my DD approach, red flags, useful links. If you want to have these handouts, send me an email.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Condensed testing syrup - @OptimiseorDie @sydney sep 2011 - 4 years of testin...Craig Sullivan
A summary of my 4 years of A/B and Split testing, with case studies of work, photography guidelines, and key advice on which elements of the page to test for quick wins.
I enjoyed giving this talk at the Online Retailer Conference in Sydney, which is a fine place to visit.
The presentation c.overs a really good 'pizza' analogy for explaining testing to senior management and budget holders. Then covering how you go about discovering good places to test on your site, and what tools will help you get that data.
Lastly, I explore what worked for me in testing, show some examples of how similar our winners are across the globe and then cover some cross channel testing. The last one here is a big growth area and involves optimising contact centres and channels, using the web as a tool. Some interesting work going on here and I show some of ours, as well as new things in the pipeline.
There are some great resources attached, including a list of remote user testing services and the best 'guides' I could find on 'Conversion Rate Optimisation'. Hope you enjoyed the talk and thank you Sydney.
Organizational Challenge of Enterprise RoadmappingRich Mironov
At INDUSTRY EUROPE conference (Dublin, April 2019): Especially at enterprise software companies, there are some inherent mis-alignments among internal stakeholders that can complicate our product planning. This talk was an occasionally humorous look at the systemic conflicts between single-account-focused sales teams, market-focused product managers, and executives. How do we respect and understand each other when we may have very different objectives?
Surviving the AB Testing Hype Cycle - Reaktor Breakpoint 2015Craig Sullivan
My Slides from Reaktor Breakpoint 2015 - This is by far the best deck (and hopefully talk) I've done this year. Masses of info, reading, articles, useful reports and more.
Mobile presentation - Sydney Online Retailer - 26 Sep 2011Craig Sullivan
In this presentation, I use analytics data from our global mobile reach, to illustrate the trends that are driving growth, how to take opportunity from them and what to do with your own site. I present a case for device and user knowledge, to allow you to optimise conversion rates, revenue and delight for visitors.
Cross Device Optimisation - Google Analytics ShortcutsCraig Sullivan
In this session, we explain how to mine GA for broken device experiences, flows, funnel blocks and more... Using a new grid tool we've developed, you can pull multi-dimensional segmented funnel and metric data from Google Analytics - we explain how it works, why you need it and what problems it solves. Find where your site is leaking money through data
Slides to go with a talk on rapid, lightweight research you can do before tackling a landing page, funnel step or lead-gen form. Comes complete with all the Google Analytics reports you'll need to mine useful data to share! Less bullshit, more truth in meetings!
What Your Roadmap Audiences Are Really ThinkingRich Mironov
Your different audiences have different (often opposing) goals and incentives, which means they probably want different product decisions and therefore different roadmaps. You need to understand and anticipate their agendas. What is your sales team thinking while you talk about next quarter? What questions are your marketers too polite to ask? And the questions you wish your executives wouldn't ask?
12 Things to do Before Your Company Dies : Conversion Conference London - Oct...Craig Sullivan
A roundup of all the things to help you maintain a competitive edge in experience design and conversion optimisation. With examples of companies putting this stuff together, the tools they are using and their project management approaches, this presentation delves deeper into the cultural aspects of CRO.
How To Manage Misaligned Stakeholders (Who Are Usually Misaligned)Rich Mironov
Prioritization is hard, and we HOPE that a clear corporate strategy plus well-considered OKRs will get our internal stakeholders to agree on what’s most important: unambiguous #1 and #2 and #3 priorities. That our spreadsheets and analysis will sell everyone on our plan.
But that rarely happens: Sales wants us to put 100% of our development effort against shiny new features (except when every big deal includes a commitment for some tiny off-off item); Support/Customer Success want 100% against bug fixes and workflow improvements and productivity tools; Engineering lobbies for better architecture and scalability and more refactoring...
How do we understand this behavior, appreciate their effort (rather than just being frustrated), and find strategic tools that let us build out a single plan for our products and teams?
#Measurecamp : 18 Simple Ways to F*** up Your AB TestingCraig Sullivan
An expanded deck of the top 18 blockers to getting successful AB or Multivariate test results. In this deck, you get a complete checklist of the stuff you need to prepare, watch, launch and monitor your testing, so it gets you the *right* conclusions.
Three Product Challenges for EntrepreneursRich Mironov
Three perennial challenges for entrepreneurs and start-up founds are (1) seriously listening to their markets, (2) building customer-side savings/ROI logic, and (3) whole-product thinking. Tiny companies lack formal product managers, but need to apply some product management thinking to these fundamental product/market needs.
This talk was for Stanford Continuing Studies' Entrepreneurship course, “Getting from an Early Idea to a Real Business.”
Established businesses often have trouble running fast on new innovation initiatives. How can they overcome the innovator's dilemma? This talk looks at how intrapreneurs working on cutting edge programs might anticipate and overcome challenges to bring their idea, with all its risks and unknowns, to fruition in an organization that is optimized for operational excellence on existing programs.
Tech Due Diligence in a Startup - WorkshopChris Philipps
One of the most crucial processes in a startup is the Due Diligence. Leaving a good impression is key to investors’ money. Tech people, especially young CTOs, are often dramatically unprepared when it comes to a tech due diligence. On the other hand, with a bit of preparation a Due Diligence (DD) shouldn't be a reason for sleepless nights.
I have been on both sides of the game, as CTO as well as reviewer. In this workshop I want to share my experience of dozens of DD's:
- What is important in a Tech and Product DD ?
- What will investors expect from you?
- Dos and don’ts
- What does it need to be well-prepared?
- How to discuss (and sell) your skeletons in the closet?
The workshop consists of two main parts:
In the first part, I will talk about my personal experience on both sides of the table
The second part will be a Q&A session
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTE:
You'd love to see me talk about this at your conference or company? Feel free to send me an email.
There were handouts coming with the talk: list of DD docs, my DD approach, red flags, useful links. If you want to have these handouts, send me an email.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Condensed testing syrup - @OptimiseorDie @sydney sep 2011 - 4 years of testin...Craig Sullivan
A summary of my 4 years of A/B and Split testing, with case studies of work, photography guidelines, and key advice on which elements of the page to test for quick wins.
I enjoyed giving this talk at the Online Retailer Conference in Sydney, which is a fine place to visit.
The presentation c.overs a really good 'pizza' analogy for explaining testing to senior management and budget holders. Then covering how you go about discovering good places to test on your site, and what tools will help you get that data.
Lastly, I explore what worked for me in testing, show some examples of how similar our winners are across the globe and then cover some cross channel testing. The last one here is a big growth area and involves optimising contact centres and channels, using the web as a tool. Some interesting work going on here and I show some of ours, as well as new things in the pipeline.
There are some great resources attached, including a list of remote user testing services and the best 'guides' I could find on 'Conversion Rate Optimisation'. Hope you enjoyed the talk and thank you Sydney.
Organizational Challenge of Enterprise RoadmappingRich Mironov
At INDUSTRY EUROPE conference (Dublin, April 2019): Especially at enterprise software companies, there are some inherent mis-alignments among internal stakeholders that can complicate our product planning. This talk was an occasionally humorous look at the systemic conflicts between single-account-focused sales teams, market-focused product managers, and executives. How do we respect and understand each other when we may have very different objectives?
Surviving the AB Testing Hype Cycle - Reaktor Breakpoint 2015Craig Sullivan
My Slides from Reaktor Breakpoint 2015 - This is by far the best deck (and hopefully talk) I've done this year. Masses of info, reading, articles, useful reports and more.
Mobile presentation - Sydney Online Retailer - 26 Sep 2011Craig Sullivan
In this presentation, I use analytics data from our global mobile reach, to illustrate the trends that are driving growth, how to take opportunity from them and what to do with your own site. I present a case for device and user knowledge, to allow you to optimise conversion rates, revenue and delight for visitors.
Cross Device Optimisation - Google Analytics ShortcutsCraig Sullivan
In this session, we explain how to mine GA for broken device experiences, flows, funnel blocks and more... Using a new grid tool we've developed, you can pull multi-dimensional segmented funnel and metric data from Google Analytics - we explain how it works, why you need it and what problems it solves. Find where your site is leaking money through data
Slides to go with a talk on rapid, lightweight research you can do before tackling a landing page, funnel step or lead-gen form. Comes complete with all the Google Analytics reports you'll need to mine useful data to share! Less bullshit, more truth in meetings!
Optimize Your Funnel By Getting Inside Your Buyer's HeadDavid Skok
Part of finding product/market fit is turning early wins into repeatable, scalable, and profitable sales. In this talk given as part of the Heavybit speaker series, I discuss how to shorten the time to customer conversion from trials, freemium and open source products.
Slides to the growth hacking workshop I recently gave for AAU students in Prague. We covered the Lean Canvas, getting to product-market fit, Wow! moment, growth marketing, and the analytics you should be focused on.
Product Management - Successful products, Strategy, Finding a job, B2B vs B2C...Rahul Deshpande
Product Management Training for University of California (UC), Irvine students from Rahul Deshpande of www.productmanagementclub.com. We train people to become a product manager. We train people for interview and also do placements for product manager jobs. We also train companies who want to introduce Product Management to their non-technical employees (ex. HR). Please visit www.productmanagementclub.com to schedule free sessions with any Product Management related questions.
Dropbox: Building Business Through Lean Startup PrinciplesVishal Kumar
A Deck by Drew Houston from Dropbox explaining how Dropbox incorporated Lean Startup Principles in building their company. A great primer on how dropbox executed their startup.
No startup business experiences the same journey to success, but there are general stages that most companies move through as they grow:
1) Validation
2) Product Development
3) Commercialization
4) Scale/Growth
The Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI) helps its clients through these stages of business development and offers best practices for each stage. Represented by an amazing lineup of speakers, including Hart Shafer (Innovation Coach / Founder, Theraspecs), Eric Miller (Principal, PADT Inc.), Nate Curran (Entrepreneur-in-Residence, CEI) and Russ Yelton (CEO, Pinnacle Transplant Technologies, "The Startup Lifecycle" presentation offers unique insights and best practices for entrepreneurs growing their business.
As business owners and execs, as product managers and sales people, we are surrounded by big data. Yet, we have big questions about our customers that we still don't have the answers to. We know a lot about what people are doing but not really the underlying reasons why. To get at that why you need to leverage the power of SMALL data.
Presenter: Kaitlyn Witman, Rainfactory, Cofounder & Director of Product Marketing
Crowdfunding has exploded in the past few years as a way to quickly rally a community around a product. It's created a unique opportunity to pitch your story to millions of early adopters. Now, marketers at all levels are adapting this formula to launch all types of products large and small. The best campaigns come from a proven method, and all follow this unspoken format of storytelling. Dive in & dissect what makes each pitch successful. Crowdsource ideas and build a community. In this session, learn the art of crafting the perfect product pitch from a seasoned veteran of nearly 40 crowdfunding campaigns, 14 of which have raised over $1 million.
Similar to Hardware Startups 101: Tips for "career engineers" (NESOSA 2015; Favalora) (20)
RMD24 | Debunking the non-endemic revenue myth Marvin Vacquier Droop | First ...BBPMedia1
Marvin neemt je in deze presentatie mee in de voordelen van non-endemic advertising op retail media netwerken. Hij brengt ook de uitdagingen in beeld die de markt op dit moment heeft op het gebied van retail media voor niet-leveranciers.
Retail media wordt gezien als het nieuwe advertising-medium en ook mediabureaus richten massaal retail media-afdelingen op. Merken die niet in de betreffende winkel liggen staan ook nog niet in de rij om op de retail media netwerken te adverteren. Marvin belicht de uitdagingen die er zijn om echt aansluiting te vinden op die markt van non-endemic advertising.
Memorandum Of Association Constitution of Company.pptseri bangash
www.seribangash.com
A Memorandum of Association (MOA) is a legal document that outlines the fundamental principles and objectives upon which a company operates. It serves as the company's charter or constitution and defines the scope of its activities. Here's a detailed note on the MOA:
Contents of Memorandum of Association:
Name Clause: This clause states the name of the company, which should end with words like "Limited" or "Ltd." for a public limited company and "Private Limited" or "Pvt. Ltd." for a private limited company.
https://seribangash.com/article-of-association-is-legal-doc-of-company/
Registered Office Clause: It specifies the location where the company's registered office is situated. This office is where all official communications and notices are sent.
Objective Clause: This clause delineates the main objectives for which the company is formed. It's important to define these objectives clearly, as the company cannot undertake activities beyond those mentioned in this clause.
www.seribangash.com
Liability Clause: It outlines the extent of liability of the company's members. In the case of companies limited by shares, the liability of members is limited to the amount unpaid on their shares. For companies limited by guarantee, members' liability is limited to the amount they undertake to contribute if the company is wound up.
https://seribangash.com/promotors-is-person-conceived-formation-company/
Capital Clause: This clause specifies the authorized capital of the company, i.e., the maximum amount of share capital the company is authorized to issue. It also mentions the division of this capital into shares and their respective nominal value.
Association Clause: It simply states that the subscribers wish to form a company and agree to become members of it, in accordance with the terms of the MOA.
Importance of Memorandum of Association:
Legal Requirement: The MOA is a legal requirement for the formation of a company. It must be filed with the Registrar of Companies during the incorporation process.
Constitutional Document: It serves as the company's constitutional document, defining its scope, powers, and limitations.
Protection of Members: It protects the interests of the company's members by clearly defining the objectives and limiting their liability.
External Communication: It provides clarity to external parties, such as investors, creditors, and regulatory authorities, regarding the company's objectives and powers.
https://seribangash.com/difference-public-and-private-company-law/
Binding Authority: The company and its members are bound by the provisions of the MOA. Any action taken beyond its scope may be considered ultra vires (beyond the powers) of the company and therefore void.
Amendment of MOA:
While the MOA lays down the company's fundamental principles, it is not entirely immutable. It can be amended, but only under specific circumstances and in compliance with legal procedures. Amendments typically require shareholder
Putting the SPARK into Virtual Training.pptxCynthia Clay
This 60-minute webinar, sponsored by Adobe, was delivered for the Training Mag Network. It explored the five elements of SPARK: Storytelling, Purpose, Action, Relationships, and Kudos. Knowing how to tell a well-structured story is key to building long-term memory. Stating a clear purpose that doesn't take away from the discovery learning process is critical. Ensuring that people move from theory to practical application is imperative. Creating strong social learning is the key to commitment and engagement. Validating and affirming participants' comments is the way to create a positive learning environment.
Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit and TemplatesAurelien Domont, MBA
This Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants, after more than 5,000 hours of work. It is considered the world's best & most comprehensive Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully undertake the Digital Transformation of your organization and define a robust IT Strategy.
Editable Toolkit to help you reuse our content: 700 Powerpoint slides | 35 Excel sheets | 84 minutes of Video training
This PowerPoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkits. For more details, visit www.domontconsulting.com
What is the TDS Return Filing Due Date for FY 2024-25.pdfseoforlegalpillers
It is crucial for the taxpayers to understand about the TDS Return Filing Due Date, so that they can fulfill your TDS obligations efficiently. Taxpayers can avoid penalties by sticking to the deadlines and by accurate filing of TDS. Timely filing of TDS will make sure about the availability of tax credits. You can also seek the professional guidance of experts like Legal Pillers for timely filing of the TDS Return.
Improving profitability for small businessBen Wann
In this comprehensive presentation, we will explore strategies and practical tips for enhancing profitability in small businesses. Tailored to meet the unique challenges faced by small enterprises, this session covers various aspects that directly impact the bottom line. Attendees will learn how to optimize operational efficiency, manage expenses, and increase revenue through innovative marketing and customer engagement techniques.
Premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions for Modern BusinessesSynapseIndia
Stay ahead of the curve with our premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions. Our expert developers utilize MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js to create modern and responsive web applications. Trust us for cutting-edge solutions that drive your business growth and success.
Know more: https://www.synapseindia.com/technology/mean-stack-development-company.html
Attending a job Interview for B1 and B2 Englsih learnersErika906060
It is a sample of an interview for a business english class for pre-intermediate and intermediate english students with emphasis on the speking ability.
Affordable Stationery Printing Services in Jaipur | Navpack n PrintNavpack & Print
Looking for professional printing services in Jaipur? Navpack n Print offers high-quality and affordable stationery printing for all your business needs. Stand out with custom stationery designs and fast turnaround times. Contact us today for a quote!
Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
RMD24 | Retail media: hoe zet je dit in als je geen AH of Unilever bent? Heid...BBPMedia1
Grote partijen zijn al een tijdje onderweg met retail media. Ondertussen worden in dit domein ook de kansen zichtbaar voor andere spelers in de markt. Maar met die kansen ontstaan ook vragen: Zelf retail media worden of erop adverteren? In welke fase van de funnel past het en hoe integreer je het in een mediaplan? Wat is nu precies het verschil met marketplaces en Programmatic ads? In dit half uur beslechten we de dilemma's en krijg je antwoorden op wanneer het voor jou tijd is om de volgende stap te zetten.
RMD24 | Retail media: hoe zet je dit in als je geen AH of Unilever bent? Heid...
Hardware Startups 101: Tips for "career engineers" (NESOSA 2015; Favalora)
1. Client Confidential
Hardware Startups 101
for “Career Engineers”
March 2014 to NES-OSA
Gregg Favalora
CTO – VisionScope Technologies, LLC
Favalora@gmail.com
Visit http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
for links to the cited meeting calendars,
pitch deck fundamentals, books, etc.
2.
3.
4. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Lightning-fast HW Startup Survey Course
• What will you learn tonight?
• Case Study: Actuality Systems searching for a market
• Nine critical factors: “Traversing Gregg’s Tripod of
Tripods”
• The 10-step path for aspiring entrepreneurs
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
8. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Lightning-fast HW Startup Survey Course
• What will you learn tonight?
• Case Study: Actuality Systems searching for a market
• Nine critical factors: “Traversing Gregg’s Tripod of
Tripods”
• The 10-step path for aspiring entrepreneurs
10. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
You Can’t Predict the Ride’s Result or Duration
10
Actuality
Systems
Actuality
Medical
Series A
$1.5M
Note
$0.8M
Series B
$3M
Series C
$6.5M
Notes
$2.5M
1997 2004 2009
PerspectaRad
Acquisition
By OFH
Sold
Patents
2011
Vision
Scope
12. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
2000 – 2004 – Actually, a ton of fun
• 6 full-time employees
• Tiny office in Reading (128)
• Engineering
• Ship betas & product
• Rounds of funding
• Winning awards, getting grants
& customers
• Bringing in seasoned exec team
• ...a whole new set of challenges
& excitement
Build it, baby!
13. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Phase 1: $1.5M, Proof-of-concept
1997-2001
• 100 million pixel display
• grad-school dropout
• ** three years ** to $
• undocumented sole-
sourced stuff (DLP)
• only 6 people
Gregg Favalora, re: Actuality Systems
14. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Phase 1: $1.5M, Proof-of-concept
1997-2001
• 100 million pixel display
• grad-school dropout
• ** three years ** to $
• undocumented sole-
sourced stuff (DLP)
• only 6 people
Phase 2: $8M, Look for Market
2002 – 2006
• Started selling prototypes
• For “whole product” added an API for
standard 3D graphics (OpenGL)
• Selling products vs. components
• Failed to identify segment with
sufficient ROI for a $100k product
Gregg Favalora, re: Actuality Systems
15. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Phase 1: $1.5M, Proof-of-concept
1997-2001
• 100 million pixel display
• grad-school dropout
• ** three years ** to $
• undocumented sole-
sourced stuff (DLP)
• only 6 people
Phase 2: $8M, Look for Market
2002 – 2006
• Started selling prototypes
• For “whole product” added an API for
standard 3D graphics (OpenGL)
• Selling products vs. components
• Failed to identify segment with
sufficient ROI for a $100k product
Phase 3: $2M, Pivot out of HW
2007 – 2009
• Good clinical studies, but no VC
interest. PIVOT: became a medical
software company for prostate cancer
• Attend procedures in OR, understand
reimbursement, hire VP Clinical, study
successful competitors... * recession *
Gregg Favalora, re: Actuality Systems
16. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Phase 1: $1.5M, Proof-of-concept
1997-2001
• 100 million pixel display
• grad-school dropout
• ** three years ** to $
• undocumented sole-
sourced stuff (DLP)
• only 6 people
Phase 2: $8M, Look for Market
2002 – 2006
• Started selling prototypes
• For “whole product” added an API for
standard 3D graphics (OpenGL)
• Selling products vs. components
• Failed to identify segment with
sufficient ROI for a $100k product
Phase 3: $2M, Pivot out of HW
2007 – 2009
Good clinical studies, but no VC
interest. PIVOT: became a medical
software company for prostate cancer
• Attend procedures in OR, understand
reimbursement, hire VP Clinical, study
successful competitors... * recession *
Phase 4: Wind down, asset “sale”
2009
• ~70 shareholders (!) approve sale to
my new employer, OFH
• Became wind-down CEO 2009
• Patent broker, 150 prospects
• Almost-sale in 2010; depressing!
• Actual sale in 2011, gave some $
back to investors
Gregg Favalora, re: Actuality Systems
17. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Key Lesson
• Step outside your “engineer hubris” and give deadly-
serious thought and sales experimentation towards
answering this question as soon as minimally viable:
HOW MANY OF THESE CAN WE SELL
AND AT WHAT PRICE
• Disregard “build it and they will come.” Only trust $$$.
18. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Lightning-fast HW Startup Survey Course
• What will you learn tonight?
• Case Study: Actuality Systems searching for a market
• Nine critical factors: “Traversing Gregg’s Tripod of
Tripods”
• The 10-step path for aspiring entrepreneurs
19. Product Customer Development (Prod. Def’n.)
Affordable Manufacturability
Patents
Admin /
Legal
Financing / Legal / Accounting / Taxes
Board of Directors: Bosses, Allies
Quality Systems, Design Ctrl. (med dev)
Psychology Outbound Marketing, Sales
Attracting and Retaining Talent
Seeing & dealing w/ stress, bozos
What Will Be On My Mind as a Startup CEO?
23. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Customer Development
• Key lesson – buy these books
– The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for
Products that Win (Steven Blank)
– Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products
to Mainstream Customers (Geoffrey Moore)
– (Free e-book) Bringing a Hardware Product to Market (Elaine
Chen)
• These are listed in the Online Handout
24. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Cheap Prototypes & Affordable Production Runs
• In this audience, you’re the experts.
• Avail yourselves of Maker Spaces, pay univ. shops, …
• Read Ben Einstein’s “Hardware by the Numbers” (online)
– Typical costs for contract manufacturing runs
– Seek affordable packaging
– You’ll learn the basics of financing, too
• New England-based contract manufacturers, box builds
– E.g. Cirtronics is fast, careful, quality, friendly
Remember there’s an Online Handout with references:
28. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Money, Money, and Legalities
• Legal
– Network into an affordable, startup-smart attorney
– Get a good NDA early, as to help to not-trash some patent rights
• Taxes
• Accounting
• Financing your Startup
– (A) Write your BUSINESS PLAN & make a PITCH DECK
– (B) Raise the money
– (C) Execute towards the goals in (A)
– (D) Repeat to A; if you’ve missed the goals, your own stake will
take a big hit.
29. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Fundamental Constants of Financing
• Unless you’re a recent Stanford dropout with a software
startup concept in Palo Alto, the Constants are:
• Financing-to-financing period (T):
18 months
• First call-to-closed round (t[financing]):
9-12 months
• % of founder time chasing $:
75% (in my opinion)
30. Client Confidential
The Pitch Deck: see the online handout
• Customer Problem
• Product Overview
• Key Players (team)
• Market Opportunity
• Competitive
Landscape
• Go-to-market
Strategy
• Stage of
Development
• Critical Risks
• Financial Projections
• Exit Options
• Funding
Requirements
Source: Christopher Mirabile’s Inc. piece
33. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Actuality’s financing rounds (1999-2008)
Series A ($1/share) (2000) $ 1,500,000
“2001 Note” 807,500
Series B ($0.2826/share) 3,499,996
Series C ($0.35/share) 6,499,998
Note 1 (Mar 2006) 1,445,134
Note 2 611,206
Note 3 (2008) 536,356
$14,900,189
70%
Gregg’s Equity
at Start-up
0.7%
Gregg’s Equity
at Last Round
34. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Board of Directors
Great core
technology! Have
you considered this
other market?
Happy to help you
raise money for
your next round.
I bet the founders don’t
suspect the evil lurking
within this particular
Board Member…
MUAHAHAHA
35. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Characters to be Wary Of
• GOOD consultants are great;
– Get references, and then work with them on well-defined tasks
– [Lens design example]
• TRICKY consultants are hard to spot. Watch out for:
– Racking up a lot of deferred fees with little to show for it
– [Business development example]
– [“Not actually nice mentor” example]
36. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Regulated market? Think carefully…
Some topics required for compliance with 21 CFR 820 (cGMP), for example:
general provisions
quality system requirements
design controls
document controls
purchasing controls
identification and
traceability
production and process
controls
inspection, measuring, and
test equipment
acceptance activities
nonconforming product
CAPAs
labeling and package
control
handling, storage,
distribution, and
installation
records
servicing
statistical techniques
It demands organization-wide mind for Quality, plus the costs for certifications, etc.
38. Client Confidential
Sales for Engineers
• One-paragraph, iPhone-
friendly email intro. Take as
much time on the subject line
as on the very brief contents.
• Explicitly respect people’s time
• In demos, “you” not “I”:
– NO: “With our feature-rich
software, I can click here…”
– YES: “You can learn about your
customers with ClientSort 2.0…”
• Use less techno-jargon.
• The two best words are “for
example.”
• Smile, use first names, talk
about happy things
• Email their PR people
• Email one of their VCs
• Try to Shopify it – sell
prototypes (FCC / UL though)
• Don’t use gimmicks, e.g. don’t
use Re: unless it really is
• READ SOME ACTUAL
BOOKS ON SELLING
39. 0 0
00
0 0
stretch break
you’re doing great, almost done
The Bourne Identity
40. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Lightning-fast HW Startup Survey Course
• What will you learn tonight?
• Case Study: Actuality Systems searching for a market
• Nine critical factors: “Traversing Gregg’s Tripod of
Tripods”
• The 10-step path for aspiring entrepreneurs
41.
42. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Launchpad: Steps 1-5
1. Enter the waters, pick cofounders. [ cite: Greenhorn ]
2. Quickly find MVP, try for POs. [ cite: Blank, Chen ]
3. Get a good NDA, find startup-friendly att’y
4. Prototype [ cite: HW by the Numbers; HW-friendly
makerspaces ]
5. Enter competitions & startup accelerators [ cite ]
43. Client Confidential
ASIDE: Bplan Competitions, Accelerators
• MassChallenge
• MIT $100k
• MITX Awards
• Babson
• Dartmouth (Tuck)
• HBS Alumni
• Hellenic Business
Network
• WPI Venture Forum
• Yale Entrepreneurial
Society
• MassChallenge
• TechStars
• Bolt
• Blade
• LearnLaunch x
• Greentown Labs
• Rock Health
• Healthbox
• […]
Business Plan competitions Accelerators, Funds
44. Client Confidential
http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Two big well-regarded competitions
• MassChallenge
• Global (really!)
• APPLY BY APR 1 (2015)
• 4 months
• Office space
• Mentorship
• Network
• $2 million cash awards
• $10 million in-kind
• “…128 winners…”
• No equity taken
• Three contests / rounds:
• Pitch
• Accelerate
• Launch (Mar 13 2015)
• $350k cash + prizes
• In-kind prizes
45. http://bit.ly/hwstartupsbos
Launchpad: Steps 6-10
6. Try like heck to sell it & market it.
7. Get a mentor; get your ducks in a row about financing.
8. Open a 100-row investor-tracking sheet, try to get 18
months of money for your 12-month milestone
9. Accept or select Board Members with great care
10.Launch, publicize, & ramp!