Building an MVP

LMUFebruary 2013

Tony Karrer, Ph.D.CEO, TechEmpower, Inc.akarrer@techempower.comhttp://socalcto.com

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Background• Ph.D. Computer Science, LMU Professor CS 10

Years

• Founder– Sprinkler Systems Installation (age 15)– Knowledge Stream ($59M exit)– TechEmpower (1997 - present)– Aggregage (2010 – present)

• Part-Time CTO / Technical Advisor– Talk with 100+ startups each year

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What is an MVP?

• Minimum Viable Product“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.”

• Really Not about Showing to Investors, Getting Feedback from Customers

• Test / Prove Aspects of Product– Cost of Customer Acquisition, Conversion Rates /

Pricing, Viral Coefficient

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Care Prep

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Ways to Make Your MVP More Minimum

• Paper Prototype• Smoke and Mirrors Prototype• Fake Site• Leverage Existing Platforms or Third

Party Products

• Steve Blank – Startup Owner’s Manual – Customer Development

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LoanToolbox and PhotoZone

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Before You Build Anything

• Wireframes• Graphic Comps• Paper Test and Iterate • Don’t Miss Key Questions

http://www.socalcto.com/2011/08/32-questions-developers-may-have-forgot.html– Targets/Mobile, Notifications, Email, Marketing Tracking, Analytics /

Metrics / Reporting, SEO Support, Social / Viral, Location, Time Zones, Video

• End Result: Wireframes, Comps, Functional Notes/ Specification

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Balsamiq

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Complexity of Your Product

Complex> 12 Prog Mon> $100K

Simple< 3 Prog Mon< $35K

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Complexity of Your Product

Complex> 12 Prog Mon

Simple< 3 Prog Mon

Equity Only Developer

Dedicated Technical TeamIn House, Outsource, Hybrid

Freelance Developer(s)

Technical Cofounder

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Founder Developer Gap

• Mark Suster, GRP, Ideal Startup Team

– http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/02/06/how-to-configure-your-startup-team/

Technical AdvisorProgrammer

FriendPart-time CTO ?

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Outsourced Designers/Developers

• eLance, oDesk, 99 Designs• Off-Shore Firms• Do You Have Ability to Direct/Review?• Contract Issues

– Own the Code Repository, Hosting Arrangement, etc.– Iterations– Deliverables/Features/Functions– Test, Fix Process– Price - Not to Exceed– Termination

• Agile?

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Elusive (Illusive) Technical Cofounder

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Be Prepared When You Meet a Developer

• They Want– Solve a problem, create something neat from

scratch– Learn something new– Food and other Rewards

• Hate– Salespeople / Being Sold – Pretending to Know More Than You Know – Not Knowing Enough– Time Wasters - Don't talk too much.  Stay on

point.  Only go social when they go social. 

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How Do I Interview a Developer?

• Review and Discuss Portfolio• Check Match for Culture

• Simple Coding Tests or Review Code They’ve Written

• Audition Project

• Get Help

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How to Judge Developers or Symptoms of a Weak Developer

• Frequently missed deadlines• Delivery of code/product that clearly has not been

tested; Bugs – no big deal.  The system keeps crashing – no problem; Annoyed at testers for finding bugs.

• Massive overtime• Fixing one thing breaks something else• Source code control is only marginally being used• No attention to detail, don’t ask questions

• The first 90% of a project takes 90% of the time. The last 10% takes the other 90%.

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What Language Should I Use?

• Ruby/Rails• Python/Django• PHP + Zend/Cake or Joomla/Drupal/WordPress• Java• .Net

• Mobile? ESP? Analytics? Video? SEO? Social/Viral?

Building an MVP

LMUFebruary 2013

Tony Karrer, Ph.D.CEO, TechEmpower, Inc.akarrer@techempower.comhttp://socalcto.com