This document discusses various methods for developing minimum viable products (MVPs) and measuring startup metrics. It provides examples of different MVP techniques like interviews, landing pages, mockups, and prototypes. It also discusses metrics that startups should focus on like lifetime value, growth rate, funnels, cohort metrics, and viral coefficients. The document cautions against vanity metrics and provides tips for determining which metrics are most important for different types of startups and business models.

1. Paul Orlando
@porlando
paul@StartupsUnplugged.com
The Minimum Viable Product
(And Social Impact)
At The Hub LA

2. Startup AcceleratorLean Startup Advisory
StartupsUnplugged.com/advisory AcceleratorHK.com
Other MVPs I tried in the last year:
“Startup Sacrilege” (book)
WeAreHKtech list
MVP Cards
Startup Hug
Persuade parents to let their kids join startups
These started as MVPs...

3. Startup AcceleratorLean Startup Advisory
StartupsUnplugged.com/advisory AcceleratorHK.com
Other MVPs I tried in the last year (and their status):
“Startup Sacrilege” (book)
WeAreHKtech list
MVP Cards
Startup Hug
Persuade parents to let their kids join startups
These started as MVPs...
early success
success
so-so
fail

4. Not MVPs...

5. Fun / Cool
/ What If?
Fun / Cool
/ What If?
Market
Opportunities
Market
Opportunities

6. Social GoodSocial Good
Market
Opportunities
Market
Opportunities

7. What causes the most difficulty for
early-stage companies?
…How can we solve this?

9. Ideal Customers
1. They have a problem
2. Are aware of having a problem
3. Have been actively searching for a solution
4. Have hacked together a solution
5. Have or can acquire a budget

10. Solve
Problems
Satisfy
Needs
Fuel
Addictions

11. A way forward.
The MVP. Business Model Canvas. Case Studies.
A way backward.
Reading too much news.
Loving your ideas.
Being a know-it-all.

12. The MVP
“The minimum viable product is that
version of a new product which allows a
team to collect the maximum amount of
validated learning about customers with
the least effort.” -- Eric Ries
What They Say…

13. The MVP
“Our MVP is the crappy version of what
we’re going to build later.”
-- most startups talking about MVPs
What We Hear…

14. The MVP
“blah blah blah get validated learning
blah blah blah use least effort blah blah
and have testable hypotheses.” -- me
New Translation…

15. MVP technique What it is
In-person
Interviews
Talk to people to learn about them
and their problems
Landing Page /
Adwords
Use a description to test actions from
lots of people
Mockup /
Wireframe
Paper or digital non-functioning
iterations to test reactions
“Parasite” Ride on top of an existing network to
speed up data collection
Concierge People do work of not yet built
system
Video Show what it’s like to use it
Prototype Actually build a basic version

16. MVP technique What it is
In-person
Interviews
Talk to people to learn about them and
their problems
Landing Page /
Adwords
Use a product description to test actions
from lots of people
Mockup /
Wireframe
Paper or digital non-functioning
iterations to test reactions
“Parasite” Ride on top of an existing network to
speed up data collection
Concierge People do work of a not yet built system
Video Show what it’s like to use it
Prototype Actually build a basic version

17. MVP technique What can go wrong
In-person
Interviews
Delays, Bad interviewers, Wrong
interviewees, Can’t find interviewees
Landing Page /
Adwords
Don’t know what to measure,
distribution
Mockup /
Wireframe
Disbelief, No data collection, Becomes
design and feature focused
“Parasite” Disbelief
Concierge Can’t actually build it
Video Cost distribution
Prototype Time, cost, can’t build it
All Can’t get enough people (or the right
people) involved

18. The Siren Song of the Startup Survey
Would you like to take a survey so I
can feel like I’m learning something?

19. Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong
We built a website and mobile app to let
you find free fruits and vegetables near you
as well as share yours with others. Would
you use it?

20. How much would you be willing to pay for a
consumer product that creates a stable
“sand free” zone at the beach?
Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong

21. Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong

22. How to Interview - test
“Does this sound like a
good idea to you?”

23. How to Interview - test
“Does this sound like a
good idea to you?”
X

24. “Would you buy this?”
How to Interview - test

25. “Would you buy this?”
How to Interview - test
X

26. How to Interview – Sample questions
Please show me how you...
Please tell me what you did when...
Please help me understand...

27. How to Interview – Sample questions
Why do you do that?
Please tell me more about that.
When does that happen?
When else does this comes up?

28. How to Interview – Sample questions
Who else is affected by this?
How do you decide what to do?
Tell me about the last time you dealt
with this.

29. How to Interview – Sample questions
If you had a magic wand, what would
you do or change?

30. How to Interview – Sample questions
What else should I have asked?
Other people have to told me that...
I actually have a [thing] available now.
You can [download / buy] it here.

31. How to Interview
Know what you want to learn.
No hypothetical questions.
Testing action can be better than
asking a question.
Takes notes.

32. Then what?
The forgotten hypotheses...

33. MVP technique What it is
In-person
Interviews
Talk to people to learn about them
and their problems
Landing Page /
Adwords
Use a description to test actions from
lots of people
Mockup /
Wireframe
Paper or digital non-functioning
iterations to test reactions
“Parasite” Ride on top of an existing network to
speed up data collection
Concierge People do work of not yet built
system
Video Show what it’s like to use it
Prototype Actually build a basic version

34. MVP: Landing Page

36. Wasn’t really an MVP

37. MVP: Landing Page

38. MVP: Concierge
MVP not available

39. MVP: Prototype

40. Test: Make an MVP for this Fake Company
“Flight Freebies”
your fun discount travel service

41. Metrics

42. O M T M
One Metric That Matters
Actionable. Auditable. Accessible.

43. What is a Vanity Metric?
(And how do I increase mine?)

45. Total
Signups
Vanity...

46. Daily
Users
Event
Vanity...

47. Metrics: Actionable, Auditable, Accessible
Life Time Value / Impact
Growth Rate
…(is there anything else?)
Determine your metrics
Use few tools
Try to improve the results

48. A/B Tests or Split Tests
Funnels
Cohort Metrics
Viral Coefficients
Social Impact?

49. There are 41 Shades of Blue?

50. All Google Sites Advertising Revenue (2008): US$14.4B
An increase of 0.1% = US$14M in extra revenue

51. Conversion Funnel – where do you focus?
AcquisitionAcquisition
ActivationActivation
RetentionRetention
RevenueRevenue
ReferralReferral

52. M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8
Jan 100% 20% 12% 8% 6% 5% 3% 2%
Feb 100% 31% 16% 13% 10% 7% 5%
Mar 100% 35% 22% 19% 14% 11%
Apr 100% 43% 24% 20% 18%
May 100% 52% 29% 24%
Jun 100% 55% 33%
Jul 100% 57%
Cohort Metrics

53. Viral Coefficient
But don’t forget cycle time.
Invitation Rate x Conversion Rate
(invites sent per user) (% invited users who take action)

54. What about Impact Metrics?

55. Metric technique What can go wrong
Split Testing
A / B Testing
Incremental improvements. You
often can’t split test your way to
insight
Funnel Not knowing which parts drive your
business
Cohort Metrics Not tracking events
Viral Coefficient When does it matter? Cycle speed
In general Forgetting different metrics matter at
different development stages
In general Thinking that metrics matter more
than they do

56. What metrics matter
For a Community Site…?
For a Ecommerce Site…?
For a Subscription Service…?
For a Social Impact organization...?
If you want to sell advertising…?
If you have a Freemium model…?
If you want to monetize customer data…?

57. A way forward.
Remember The New MVP Definition.
Learn from others (case studies).
Figure out which metrics matter for you.
Use few tools.
Remember metrics can mislead.
Remember revenue/impact & growth drive
most things.
Stop reading (tech) news.
Be willing to kill your ideas.
You know nothing. 

58. Paul Orlando
@porlando
paul@StartupsUnplugged.com