Download - Lean ideation workshop
Developing lean ideas
IDEASAlan Jones
Chief Growth Hacker
BlueChilli
TONIGHT…AGENDA
‣ Introductions: who are we? At what stage in the idea process are we?‣ Rapid review of Lean Methodology‣ A lean case study‣ What makes an entrepreneurial idea?‣ Homework ☹
• Makes money; or• Creates other value for the entrepreneur
• Builds awareness/personal brand• Proves/hones your skills
What’s a lean entrepreneurial idea?
• Coming up with a new way to achieve something as fast as possible, using as little money and time as possible
• Using the resources you have available to you• Not spending serious money until you’re sure you can earn it back
What’s lean entrepreneurial ideation mean?
@BIGYAHU
About me
‣ Early Microsoft online product manager‣ Early Yahoo! hire‣ Co-founded HomeScreen, Bluepulse, Pollenizer, The
New Agency, FromLittleThings.co‣ Invested in Startmate, Pollenizer, Blackbird VC,
ChromaSun, BugHerd, OtherLevels, Scriptrock
About you
‣ Who are you?‣ What have you done?‣ What do you do now?‣ Do you have an idea to develop?
‣Share it briefly with the class‣We’ll return to it later
‣ or are you here to learn how to find one?‣What do you hope to do with your ideas?
The value of ideas
‣ An idea is worth very little, what counts is developing and executing on your idea
‣ BUT‣ You can’t develop and execute if you have no idea‣ …so ideas are important!
INTRODUCTION
Risk and sharing
‣ “The biggest risk… is not whether you can deliver it, but whether anybody wants it” — Pollenizer
‣ http://friendda.org - hand outs
lean ideation case study
LEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEASTRIPPYTHING
1Trippything
People might need help managing travel itineraries
• Take six months and $300k to build a web platform• Believe focus group market research on revenue models• Spend $250k on marketing and launch• Spend $30k on 3mths ad sales team salaries• Find everybody loves it but users don’t want to pay or
advertise• Total potential spend $750k
1Trippything
Lean ideation approach • 1 week to design a brand and an interface mockup
• 1 day to setup A/B testing landing pages to test benefits, features and price variations
• 2 hours to review landing page data • 1 day to realise Trippything was a great idea at
the wrong time• Total estimated spend: $1,500
1
Think people might need help managing travel itineraries
TRIPPYTHING
LEAN PROCESS1. 1 week to design a brand and an interface mockup2. 1 day to setup A/B testing landing pages to test benefits, features and
price variations3. 2 hours to review landing page data 4. 1 day to realise Trippything was a great idea at the wrong time5. Total estimated spend: $1,500
LEAN idea DEVELOPMENT
IT’S NOT ABOUT ONE IDEALEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS
The WD-40 story and Norm Larsen’s nuclear missiles
It’s about multiple ideas — “Ideases”
With ideases, each idea leverages what you’ve learned from your previous ideas
EXERCISE: CREATIVE JUICES
Take one of the following products
Develop 10x one- sentence descriptions that will sell it
‣ Johnsons Baby Wipes‣ Uber cars‣ iPhone 5‣ Australian Tax Office‣ Path app for iOS/Android‣ A golden retriever puppy
Where do ideas come from? – Seth Godin
Listening to a lecture
Where do ideas come from? – Seth Godin
Reading a book(but not watching TV)
Where do ideas come from? – Seth Godin
From bad ideas
(but only if you have enough of them)
Where do ideas come from? – Seth Godin
• Ideas hate conference rooms• Ideas fear experts• Ideas adore a beginner’s mind
(a little awareness is a beautiful thing)
Where do ideas come from? – Neil Gaiman
“The Ideas aren't the hard bit. They're a small component of the whole. Creating believable people who do more or less what you tell them to is much harder. And hardest by far is the process of simply sitting down and putting one word after another to construct whatever it is you're trying to build: making it interesting, making it new. “
Execution planning
‣ If ideas aren’t important, what is?‣ Execution: developing your idea, testing it, finding
customers for it, retaining customers and maximising their lifetime value
‣ How much time can you dedicate? When will it be?‣ Write down your execution plan
Resource audit
‣ What resources do you have to call upon?‣ You might have money (but not time)‣ You might have time (but not money)‣ Friends with skills and time‣ Mentors with experience and connections‣ Lean methodologies
‣ List your resources now
EXERCISE
Cliché surfing
‣ Take a cliché and invert, deny or scale it
Idea cloud exercise
Starting idea Change product/service
Change customer
Change pricing model
Change channel
Product/Service
Diapers to your door
Diapers to your workplace
Diapers to your door
Diapers to your door
Diapers to your door
CustomerFirst-time young
mumsWorkplace
crecheTwin/triplet
mumsFirst-time young
mumsFirst-time young
mums
Pricing model
Monthly subscription
Annual contractMonthly
subscriptionBuy nappy
creditsMonthly
subscription
Marketing channel
Parenting magazines
HR department sales call
Relatives through PR
Parenting magazines
Daily deals site (e.g. Spreets)
BONUS EXERCISE
Lean canvas
INSPIRATION
Resources I recommend
‣ Blungr and Domainr for product names and domains‣ Namestall for names‣ CPC ads on Facebook, Google‣ Tumblr or WordPress for a test environment‣ Twitter and Facebook pages for free social marketing‣ Mailchimp‣ Launchrock‣ Canvanizer for lean canvas in the cloud‣ General Assembly community
HOMEWORKLEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS
1. Write a <300 word story on a company that developed a product or service through lean methodology. What do you think they did right or wrong? What would you have done differently?
2. Develop your favourite idea as a Lean Canvas, either alone or with a class member.
3. Join the Google Group to get help and share ideas — leave me your email address for an invite to the private group.
Q&A
LEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS