m3 changing the odds

Changing The OddsAndrew Heaton | Revinity

Hi, I’m AndrewI’m a Designer.

I Also Write(Usually far slower than I want).

Big Design, Small ScreenConceptual Design for Mobile Devices

Andrew Heaton

Purposely IrregularZen, Punk Rock and Ruthlessness in Experience Design

Andrew Heaton

Tweet and Take Photos@tigerstripe | #M3Conf

Startups are Fatal.

If you’re in a startup, chances are, you’ll be dead in a year.

You get to watch the people you hired leave when it gets tough, while you try

to salvage what’s left of what your build.

You will be heartbroken by the lack of customers, regret not having any

manner of pay model and watch as any money you committed rapidly

disappears.

If you’re tough, you might launch a product that will die withering in an app

store as you lose your house and car.

If you convince your family to buy in to your great idea, you can watch them

lose their future along with yours.

My Only Advice:

My Only Advice:

LET’S DO A STARTUP!(It will be awesome)

But, Let’s Change the Odds and Beat the House.

• Build a Great Product• Get People to Use It• Make Money• Repeat Until Rich or Dead

What Do We All Want to Do?

• Don't Build a Stupid App• Learn to Fight with Your Partners• Don't Spend Money on Stupid Shit• Plan for Day Two• Be Realistic About Success• Grab Some Fucking Magic

if/then:

The Only Rule:There's no fucking rules, dude.

Photo by unknown, but it’s not by me.

Don’t Build a Stupid App

Let’s start with an idea.

A stupid app isn’t just a bad idea, it’s a series of bad decisions over time.

I’d love to tell you my idea, but I need you all to sign an NDA.

Don't Hoard IdeasYou need to expose yourself to get some feedback

to the validity of your idea.

Why Are We Scared to Share?The expectation being someone else is smarter faster better

and will get it done before you with more success.

We All Need to Practice

Explain and sell your ideas as early as possible. There's no shortage of people who start businesses

that can't explain what they do, what the value to the user is, or why anyone should give them money.

Being smooth is simply a matter of practice, and you can't practice behind an NDA. 

Let’s start with an idea.

Signal is an app that allows users to drop notes in

specific locations for other members to discover.

Signal

Signal is an app that allows users to drop notes in

specific locations for other members to discover.

There is surely nothing other than the single pur-pose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Firstname Lastname

00/00/0000 - 00:00PM

0000.0000 - 0000.0000

Signal is an app that allows users to drop notes in

specific locations for other members to discover.

WriteTell me something good.

Signal is an app that allows users to associate notes with specific locations.

Signal

Signal is an app that allows users to associate notes with specific locations.

There is surely nothing other than the single pur-pose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Firstname Lastname

00/00/0000 - 00:00PM

0000.0000 - 0000.0000

Inappropriate Content

Signal is an app that allows users to associate notes

with specific locations and allow others to view, gather

and share.

Inappropriate Content

There is surely nothing other than the single pur-pose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Firstname Lastname

00/00/0000 - 00:00PM

0000.0000 - 0000.0000

Signal is an app that allows users to associate any sort

of content with specific locations and allow others to view, gather and share.

Inappropriate Content

There is surely nothing other than the single pur-pose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Firstname Lastname

00/00/0000 - 00:00PM

0000.0000 - 0000.0000

Signal is an app that allows users to associate any sort

of content with specific locations and allow others to view, gather and share.

WriteTell me something good.

B i U abc

Signal is an app that allows users to associate any sort

of content with specific locations and allow others to view, gather and share.

WriteTell me something good.

B i U abc

Card will post on 11/15/2014, 6:02 pm Set for Specific Time

Is This MVP?

MVP is pure bullshit.In theory it was a good idea, but it's really a way to strip the expensive and hard things out of an app.  

Expensive and hard things are usually what makes an app worth using.  

Maximum Value Product

What are the key items that will provoke usage and adoption?  Strip the rest away.

How Little Can We Do? vs.

What’s the Maximum we can fit?

Good Chart with a Bad Label

Ask Yourself This:

How little do you want to succeed?Aiming for the minimum viable, leads to a minimally

viable chance of an audience.

Learn to Fight With Your Partners

Three is a Magic NumberThere’s three skill groups needed to make a startup successful

• Design• Technology• Business

Three is a Magic NumberThere’s three skill groups needed to make a startup successful

• Design• Technology• Business

If you don’t have the skills, find them.

Who Does What?

In all startups, you need to make agreements of responsibility early.

Who is the Face? Who Makes the Decisions?Who Counts the Money? Who Says No?

If you don't know how to fight, you will have problems.  

A good argument is needed to resolve things.  I've seen tiny cracks become the rift that kills a startup.  

If you have issues communicating, start this way:

"I feel"

Express your thoughts or swallow them forever.

Why is This Important?

This is the beginning of your brand.

The way you treat each other is the way you’ll treat your customers.

Don’t Spend Money on Stupid Shit.

You need one sheet of paper until it’s filled up. You need one pen until it runs out of ink.

Be Ruthless.

Spend Nothing Unless...

It’s highly unlikely you need new computers or phones or co-working space or a pro account on Slack.

If you spend money, spend the lowest amount possible.  If you get funding, double down on the ruthless. Spend

none of that money til you have to.When you do have to spend money, spend it knowing

you are moving forward to something amazing.   

Office spaceBeer FridaysA new computer or monitorsFancy-assed furnitureA new phone for “testing”GroupwareAnything you think equals "corporate culture"Anything you believe is needed to make people take you seriously

A Handy List of Things You Don’t Need

Plan for Day Two

Audience GenerationIn the past, there were easy word-of-mouth ways to get a

new product noticed.  

The interwebs were less crowded and the app market didn't have a dozen apps that looked exactly like yours.

Audience Gen is a Rough Business If you wait til launch, you are further behind.

 I know they're hokey, but preview users are a great thing to have.

A Good WarningIf you are not using your own product internally,

it's not worth anyone else using

Launch Day is Day One of Real WorkThe day you launch is day one.  All the work you just did is to give you the ability to start with a launched product.  

If your plans don’t include what happens on day two, you’re doomed.

I had a team finish their product, launch it, have a party and then all took a two week vacation to congratulate

themselves for a job well done. 

I had another team finish their product, launch it, have a party and then had a planning meeting for the first app update they planned to ship in the next three weeks.

Guess Who’s Still Around?

Day one is the day you have to figure out how you work as a business, not as a scrambling startup team trying to

get a product built.

You Must Know More than “BUILD”

Be Realistic About Success

What Does Success Look Like?

Are you going to make enough money to pay off what you owe and keep your life open?

What metrics do you have measuring use and are they staged or gated?

Can you still work with the people you started with? Is this the team you need going forward?

If you don't know what you want to do, you'll likely never do it.

Grab Some Fucking Magic

There Are 6 Letters You Need to KnowNone of them are technology acronyms.

PMAPositive Mental Attitude

DIYDo It Yourself

The Dirty Secrets of StartupsThere are no barriers to doing this.There is no one who can train you.

There is nothing you can’t do yourself.

Every Day I Strive to Do One Thing:

CREATE SOMETHING FROM NOTHING

If you create anything you are better than most of the other monkeys walking on this rock.

If you don’t have a developer, hack it together yourself. Don’t have design skills, start asking around, we’re an

open community.Don’t have any cash?  Don’t spend any.

Every day you wake up is a day you get to kick some ass and every day

under the sun is a good one. 

“When life hands you a lemon, say, 'Oh yeah, I like lemons! What else ya got?”

― Henry Rollins

Wrap it up, Heaton.What the heck have you been talking about?

Decide What You Want to Do and Why.Make it Happen.

Don’t do the Dumb.

Thanks.

Andrew Heaton | Revinitywww.revinity.com | @tigerstripe