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How to launch your web business idea without programming. The talk focuses on doing customer development in order to find that first paying customer. More details can be found in the LaunchBit Startup Guide at http://guide.launchbit.com
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Get Going!
Build & test your idea without programming Elizabeth Yin
Jennifer Chin co-founders of LaunchBit
We want to thank our event
sponsor – MIT E-Center
In high school, we decided to
become internet entrepreneurs
Shiny Orb is a social shopping site
for wedding apparel
DressMob is a social shopping
site for all dresses
Building a website has become
very accessible
1990s 2010
Difficulty HARD Easier
Speed Months/Years Days/Weeks/Months
Options Hire, Try to learn Hire, Try to learn, outsource,
3rd party tools
Resources Books, friends Books, friends, online,
forums, Craigslist
Sites are being built more quickly and easily
The biggest obstacle for you is no
longer technical
Do you have a product that
people want??
We believe in the “Lean Startup”
philosophy and execution
Eric Reis (nytimes) Steve Blank (nytimes)
The Lean Startup Model is just
like playing poker
Go all in without
seeing your cards?
Fold if things are
not looking good?
Image Credit: lasvegasvegas.com
The first step is to achieve
product/market fit
Maximize Profit
Product/Market Fit Scale Up
You can build and test your web
idea without programming
Research
Building
Marketing
Measuring
Q & A
Doing the
Research
Find potential customers outside
your own social circle
Filter prospects with a simple survey.
Offer $25 for a 30 minute phone
conversation if selected
Join mailing lists and forums
Email people. Oftentimes, the right
people will help for free
Craigslist can be a great place to
get feedback Cindy Alvarez
Use the "gigs" section
Providing your first name and a voicemail number will grant you legitimacy
Clearly state the compensation amount upon meeting qualifications and completion of the call
Expect a 10-15% flake rate
Ask about behavior and bring a
simple set of “paper” prototypes
Do people “get” your idea?
Image credit: Simon Collison (flickr)
Image Credit: Mathieu Brault
Hanging around coffee shops
helps Pulse refine their new ideas
Building
a Landing
Page and
MVP
There are plenty of free (or almost
free) WYSIWYG platforms
Make sure your landing page
messaging is clear
Dropbox got 200,000 signups
with just a video
Your Minimum Viable Product
should have just 1 or 2 functions
Can you explain your product in 1 sentence?
Image Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer
We challenge you to think
creatively when building your MVP
Easy MVPs Hard MVPs
Aardvark went to see the
wonderful Wizard of Oz
Food on the Table started with
real, live “concierge” service
The Wed Connect is our own
experience at quick idea testing
Online tools made it possible to
work behind the curtain
Image Credit: Wizard of Oz
Early Stage
Marketing
Early stage marketing is a
complement to Measurement
My Website
Ads are a perfect way to get
traffic immediately
Q&A forums and other industry
specific sites are like “annuities”
Community marketing channels
can offer quality verbal feedback
Measuring
Results
Find out what your users are doing
on your website
There are many affordable tools for
quantitative & qualitative analysis
At least 40% of your users should
be very disappointed if you’re gone
Sean Elllis (startup-marketing.com)
Not disappointed or
Somewhat disappointed
Very disappointed
Successful Product / Market Fit
In 5 days, we had numbers to
evaluate The Wed Connect
Quick math: Charge wedding vendors $2 / lead * 21 leads = $42
Costs: $0.44 * 68 people = $29.92
Potential profit: $0.58 / person
Bounce Rates
87% of 68 people
56% of 16 people
21 Signups
Qualitative feedback taught us
about the customer
We determined the viability of The
Wed Connect in just 1 week
Great initial numbers but a frustrating business
0 1 2 7 8
1 day Customer Research
1 day Build MVP
5 days Testing and Marketing
1 day Analysis
Ante up, make your bets, then
decide -- will you go all in?
Image Credit: Logan Ingalls
Bet MVP
Early Marketing
Blinds Research
Landing Page
All In Hire People
Seek PR
LaunchBit helps new, aspiring
entrepreneurs launch their ideas
Build and test your idea without
programming – Get going!
More questions? [email protected]
Feedback index cards
LaunchBit mailing list signup sheet
Blog: blog.launchbit.com
@launchbit
www.launchbit.com
