Shervin Talieh and Melinda Kim from OC tech startups and Charlie Baecker from UCI presented a 4-part workshop series on innovation. The workshop focused on how startups can test assumptions and ideas quickly through "hacks" or small experiments rather than lengthy product development. Examples of hacks included online surveys and minimum viable products. The workshop emphasized validating hypotheses with data and failing fast through short, inexpensive tests to determine if an idea is viable before significant resources are spent.

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2. Team
Shervin Talieh - Drumbi,Version Zero Labs, OC Tech Startup
Format
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Melinda Kim - Aspirely, OC Tech Startup
Charlie Baecker - UCI,The Don Beall Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
4-part series, hands-on, no
bullshit, discussion based
Connecting
#innovateuci
@calitalieh @melindapkim

3. Forward
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“As disruption occurs, it commoditizes a
layer in the stack, so what used to be a high value-
added activity that was very profitable and others
couldn’t replicate, now becomes cheap and easy
and anyone can do it. It used to be that news and
information was one of those layers in the stack — no
one could play that game like the NewYork Times… but
now everyone has access to more information than they
could possibly use.”
- Clay Christensen
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4. Workshop Thesis
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We are entering an economic cycle of growth
and expansion.The ability to innovate is
what will separate the winners from
the losers, the “good idea” from the killer
product.
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5. Which One AreYou?
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Startups are not smaller versions of big companies.
They innovate, or die.
Startups Enterprise

6. Two Categories - Which One AreYou Focused On?
• Product
• New Offering
• Partnership
• Rebranding
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• Process
• Business Model
• Incentives
• Training
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Two
“Faces” ExternalInternal
“how” “what”

7. 7
Success is the
silent killer of
innovation.
Automation,“group
think”, conventions
and conformity are
the instruments of
death. High revenues
and margins kills
hunger, and attracts
the hungry.
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0
25
50
75
100
Idea Launch Success Scale
Revenue Velocity
What Kills Innovation?
Achilles
Zone

8. 8
The most
successful
companies keep
the pace of
innovation
constant, while
commodotizing
their own cash-
cows. This results in
a shorter, smaller
window for external
forces to impact the
business.
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0
25
50
75
100
Idea Launch Success Scale Reinvent Relaunch
Revenue Velocity
Controlling the Disruption
Controlled
Disruption

9. • My idea is priceless
• I don’t know where to begin
• I can’t show it anyone...it’s not ready
• I just need $$$$
• I just need a meeting with Sequoia
• I need a technical cofounder/developer/designer/business
person
Startup Founder’s Perspective
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10. Enterprise CXO’s Perspective
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• This would never work at our company
• You don’t understand our industry/customers/people
• We can’t stop our business to make these changes...it’s not
a good time
• That’s now how we do it here

11. This Stuff Doesn’t Matter (much)...in the Short-Term
✓ BUSINESS PLAN & DETAILS ✓ COMPETITION
✓ PRODUCT OR COMPANY NAME
✓ URL
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✓ COMPANY STRUCTURE
✓ $$$$$$
✓ PATENTS/IP
✓ TEAM & RESOURCES
✓ ADVANCED/PERFECT PLANNING

12. Validating a key assumption
which could otherwise prove
fatal, by pulling “risk forward”
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So...What Does Matter?

13. The Old Way - Waterfall,“Idea’s Are King”
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!
I"have"an"idea…" I"have"a"
sustainable"
solu1on"
RESEARCH
MARKETING
SALES
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$

14. The New Way - Kill Fast,“Velocity is King”
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the$goal$is$to$get$to$this$point$as$
quickly$and$efficiently$as$possible$
!
I"have"an"idea…" I"have"a"
sustainable"
solu1on"

15. 15
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5"1"
Start"
(“I"have"an"idea!”)
2" 3" 4"
What"type"of"idea"is"it?"
■ brand"spanking"new!"
■ a"beBer"mousetrap"
■ new"product/service"
■ internal"innovaHon"
What"are"the"risks?"
! building"it"(technology,"complexity)"
! selling"it"(business"model,"distribuHon)"
! geKng"people"to"use"it"(users,"customers)"
Create"a"test/hack!"
! focus"on"high"impact"risks"first/only"
! create"1"or"more"tests"
! run"the"test"
! collect"data"
! go"back"to"step"3"
Finish"
I"have"a"sustainable…"
! business,"or"
! new"product/service,"or"
! process"improvement"
The Process

16. Examples of Key Assumptions
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Startups Enterprise
‣ People will want it
‣ We can build it
‣ It’s sustainable
‣ Our customers will buy it
‣ It wont kill our brand
‣ We can adapt

17. 17
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Idea Key Assumption/Risk
JetBlue Employee Retention
Program
employee adoption
AirBnB trust
Uber ???
Netflix Streaming Service ???

18. Tests & Hacks
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➡ Restauranteurs will use food-trucks to test concepts
➡ Google conducts over 1,000 live tests on Google.com
➡ Off-brand testing is common in most industries
➡ 404 error pages are not always as a result of an error
➡ Most websites and apps are doing A/B testing, live
➡ Kickstarter is primarily used to validate demand (and
not simply for funding)
Fast, cheap, creative methods for testing a hypothesis

19. Intuition & Data
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Intuition: Good Intuition: Bad
Data: Good 1. Confirmed intuition 2. Intuition false negative
Data: Bad 3. Intuition false positive 4. Confirmed intuition
From Quora, Joel Lewenstein

20. Drumbi New Product Hack
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Key Assumption/Risk Test
Companies Want Drumbi for
Support Calls
Google Form, with 3 questions, sent to a
few friends, posted to Hacker News,
Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter
We Knew Exactly What To
Build
Google Form, with 3 questions, sent to a
few friends, posted to Hacker News,
Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter
We Could Sell It
Google Form, with 3 questions, sent to a
few friends, posted to Hacker News,
Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter

21. 21
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This took 3 minutes to
build, and 3 clicks to
share with my friends.

22. 22
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56 Responses
23 Leads
Clear Product Direction
First Integration Partner
Cost $0

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More data, using
Google Surveys, to
help sell our
product.

24. 24
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Idea
Key Assumption/
Risk
Test
JetBlue Employee
Retention Program
employee adoption sign-up email, landing page
AirBnB trust
Craigslist email hack, paid
traffic to sign-up page
Uber ??? ####
Netflix Streaming
Service
??? ####

25. 25
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Idea
Assumptions/
Risks
Key
Assumption/
Risk
Test
“glassware for men”
“new angel on home
rental industry”
changing platform +
improving SEO = more
online $$$
“white label photo-
sharing for
professionals”

26. 26
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Tool Usage
Google Forms survey design and data collection
Google Survey, Survey Monkey create, distribute surveys to targets
Unbounce, Mixpanel, Qualaroo A/B testing, funnel, conversion
Wordpress rapid website building
Craigslist/eBay price, demand testing
Kickstarter demand and early adopter targeting
LinkedIn/Groups/InMail demand testing
Hootsuite, Buffer, Bitly demand testing, referral traffic testing
3D Printing prototyping
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter Virality, content testing
UsabilityHub product usage and experience testing

27. Step 1: identify the risk/assumption
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Step 2: create a hack/test
Step 3: collect data

28. ➡ Get out of the building.
➡ Wrap data around your intuition.
➡ Fail fast. Fail cheap.
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Pro-Tips

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THANKYOU!