The document discusses key insights and best practices for building successful startups, emphasizing the importance of problem-solving over mere idea generation. It outlines concepts like 'minimum viable product' and the necessity of customer validation while highlighting that many startups fail due to premature scaling. Ultimately, effective execution and the ability to pivot are critical for success in the startup landscape.

1. Learning from
startup best
practices
Topi Järvinen
Nestholma Venture Accelerator

2. How do you build
great products in
startups?

3. Screw it,
just do it
- Richard Branson

4. Half of what separates the
successful entrepreneurs
from the non-successful
ones is pure
perseverance.
Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple

5. That’s all
you need.
Right?Well…

6. Fact is that
most startups fail.
WHY?

7. Based on data analyzed on 3.200 companies by StartupCompass
reason for
startup failure is
premature
scaling
Startups do too much
before they know
what they should do

8. 11
When
1) you love it,
2) others love it, and
3) you’re great at it
Make it
your startup
You love it
You’re
good at it
Customers
love it
You’re a
customer
It’s your
hobby
9-to-5
job
Your
startup

9. What are some of the best
practices for startups?

10. Trust your
instincts or
ask advice from
experts
But remember
predicting is
hard…

11. People are not likely to
predict correctly
extreme future events
very often
- Christina Fang from
NYU Stern Business School

12. You need a
great idea,
but…

13. Most people think it’s
all about the idea.
It’s not. EVERYONE has
ideas.
The hard part is to
execute on the idea.
- Mark Cuban,
serial entrepreneur

14. An idea
can be done in
million+ ways
There were tens of social media
network services before Facebook

15. What about
asking customers?
Some claim that
you learn nothing

16. If I had asked people
what they wanted,
they would have
said faster horses.
-”Henry Ford”

17. You can't just ask customers
what they want and then try
to give that to them.
By the time you get it built,
they'll want something
new.
Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple

18. ‘Build it and they
will come’,
is not a strategy;
it’s a prayer.
- Steve Blank

19. What is his problem

20. Customers can’t tell you
what is the product,
but they can tell you
what is the problem

21. What is the problem
worth solving?
Figure this out
with the customers

22. Great products in
three easy steps

23. your understanding of
the problem
1
your solution to
the problem
2
the value and
scalability of your
solution
3
Validate

24. And this is how
you do it
from Lean Startup (E. Ries)
Build-Measure-Learn -loop
Repeat as
many times as
needed

25. There’s no need to be
feature complete

26. If you are not
embarrassed by the
first version of your
product, you’ve
launched too late.
- Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn founder

27. What is your
Minimum
Viable Product?
It means
•validated learning about customers
•maximum learning with the least effort

28. MVP’s come big and small

29. The Pivot
Sometimes
it’s good to
change direction

30. The pivot.
It used to be called
‘the fuck-up.’
- Marc Andreessen,
Netscape Founder, VC

31. Some of the
greatest companies
came out of pivots

32. Are you making
a difference?

33. “How disappointed would you be if you
could no longer use our product?“
%
“Very Disappointed”
needs to be more
than
Source: Brent Ellis, startup-marketing.com

34. “How likely are you to
recommend us to your friends?"
+50
Net
Promoter
Score
(-100 to +100)
Source: Satmetrix 2013
+70 Top companies
Amazon, Apple etc.
Successful
companies

35. Are you?

36. Design for
Growth

37. Startup is a company
designed to grow fast.
Everything else follows
from growth.
- Paul Graham,
Y Combinator co-founder

38. Scalable startup test:
Bumps or
Engines?

39. Think big,
but start small

40. Find a niche and
dominate a small
market
- Peter Thiel

41. Iteration without
a bold plan will
not take you
from zero to one
- Peter Thiel

42. Can you
do it alone?

43. Eat like a bird,
poop like an
elephant
- Guy Kawasaki
Tech evangelist, VC

44. Here’s what
your notes
should say

45. Everybody has a
plan until they
get punched in
the face
- Mike Tyson

46. twitter.com/nestholma
nestholma.com
Topi Järvinen
+358 40 754 3131
topi@nestholma.com