Can You Solve

Real World Problems?

Google/Flipkart/Uber?

Startups [Your IDEA]

SRIDHAR CHIMALAKONDA

Image Courtesy : Anton Brand

Why this interaction?

Why startup?

popular

Impact

Unmet Needs/Unmet Markets

• Geographic, Demographic, Professional, Size of Business, Share of pocket-wise. Age old trick of segmentation.

Dissatisfiers

What happens after 10 years?

The Key Reason

Why now?

What constitutes a startup?

Bad Idea [Great Idea Later On]

• Plan without execution is really useless

• Long term thinking of the idea

• It should be difficult to replicate

• Several ideas

• Mission oriented

You Know

World Doesn’t Know

• 10 years to build a great startup

• 2 to 3 years

• Derivative Versus Original Idea

• Best ideas look terrible at the beginning

– Search engine?

– airbnb?

• No/Less Competition if you got a great idea

• Great ideas feel so normal that no body steals them

• Perfect Time?

• Clone Companies

• Potential Co-founders

• What customers want?

• What are the demands of the market?

What makes a Great Product?

Great Product

• What to build?

• How to build it?

• Either talk to customers or build your product

• Compettiion from within

• Simple, Simple, Simple [Google, FB, ]

The Startup CEO

People

• Co-Founder Dating

• It’s bad to be a solo founder

• Hiring

• CEO’s role:

– Set vision

– Raise money

– Evangelize

– Make sure everything works

Execution

• What to do?

• How to do?

• Can you get it done?

• Time… Management…

• Focus Focus Focus

• Small

• Never Lose Momentum

• Press – Don’t worry about them

Intuition

A Checklist

• Is it a market where network effects don’t play a big role? Is there space for several competitors?

• Pitch it to as many people, VCs, entrepreneurs, friends. Can you convince them on how you would build a

better product?

• Are the existing companies in the market doing well? Check Crunchbase. How much funding have they

received? See Google Playstore, how many times has the app been downloaded? Are they doing well? Why?

Why not? Competition acts as an excellent validation for your idea.

• Would you be happy with something that gives you enough to live off? How ambitious are you with the

project? Is this a hobby that you might take up full time later on? Where do you plan to get your

investments from? What returns do they expect?

• Does your product category appear onY-Combinator’s list on what startups they’re willing to fund?

Almost all the categories are crowded, but they still invite innovative ideas. Can you be one of them?

• If not the product, can you differentiate in something else? Marketing, Customer service, Revenue model -

Can you sell it at a lower price and make money somewhere else?), Delivery, Speed, User Experience.

Anything. Does your target market care for it? Great!

• How dynamic is your team? Are you ready to get your hands dirty, see how the market responds and pivot

if required? Is there something to go back to if you fail?

• How big is the market? Is it growing? What percentage of your overall target market has been eaten up?

Will it still have space by the time you’re ready?

• If you’ve answered in the affirmative to a few of the above questions, take a deep breath, validate your

answers, build a business plan and there you go. If not, scrap it.

An Activity

Develop[ed] India

Problem | SolutionWith Name & Roll No.

What do you need towards startups?

Curiosity Perseverance

Pitch

For [audience]

I would like to [create… web/mobile/physical…]

that [does… help… unique advantages]

---------------------------------

using [these resources]

For [old age people 60+]

I would like to [create an e-commerce app with one-click]

that [makes monthly shopping easy for them]

---------------------------------

using [these resources]

Mark a * if

you like an

idea

Ticklers aka Exercises

• Read a newspaper and make a table with

• Problems

• estimate of number of people (market) today and after 3 years

• Proposed solution

• Make a table with

• List top 10 electronics companies

• What languages they use to develop their products?

• Estimate of number of hours an entry level employee writes programs a day

Next Steps

• Create a FUN room

• Form groups

• Write the pitch and stick it in the notice

boards till today 5 PM

• I am here till next Tuesday

• https://researchweb.iiit.ac.in/~sridhar_ch/

Join Me!!!

Bridge the gap between the three worlds

sridhar_ch@research.iiit.ac.in

Questions?

Critic?

Suggestions?

42

Acknowledging all sources of data and clipart/image owners