FAST START STUDIO ACADEMY

SERGEY SUNDUKOVSKIY PH.D.

What to Do Once You Have an Idea

1

Introduction2

Background3

Agenda

Putting Together a DeckVisualizing Your IdeaFinding Co-Founders/Mentors/AdvisorsPrototype Wireframing

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Startup Progression

Idea is not a product, product is not a company

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Putting Together a Deck

10-20-30 RuleShow Do Not TellTaxicab and Elevator PitchesTarget CustomerMarket AnalysisDifferentiation and JUDPressure TestingCompetitive Advantages

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Business Plan vs. Business Deck

Business Plan as we knew it in the Business School is dead

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Putting Together a Deck8

Deck Rules

10 slides In reality it is 3 (others are used as reference)

20 min In reality it is 5 (at most)

30 point font Last guy from the end of the table Too much information

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Deck Rules

Picture is always better !!!!!It is worth 84.1 words

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Deck Structure

Executive SummaryProblemSolutionPlatformMarket OpportunityBusiness ModelPricing

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Financial ProjectionsCompetitorsDifferentiationCompetitive AdvantagesTeamMilestones/Roadmap

Example Company12

Executive Summary

GuidedFlow is a help management platform designed to enable website owners and self-service solutions to produce interactive tutorials, walkthroughs aiding

end-consumer adoption and task completion

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Problem

Problem: Traditional websites and software platforms struggle with user onboarding, feature

discovery and task completion due to confusion and complexity of software interaction

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Solution

Solution: GuidedFlow allows website owners and software platform companies to produce interactive tutorials, walkthroughs and guided help workflows to

aid customer onboarding, feature discovery and complex task completion

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Guided Flow16

Help Bar

Competitors17

Competitors (cont.) 18

Pitches19

Pitches

Taxicab Pitch“Facebook for teenagers”, “Flicker for Video”Elevator Pitch

What do we do? Who are we doing it for? How are we different?

“ConferenceByWire is an event streaming solution that brings live and on-demand events directly to the remote viewers over the Internet. Unlike other solutions it does not require significant infrastructure investment”

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Pressure Testing

Have your idea and the pitch pressure testedDo not insist on NDAs. Nobody cares

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Market and Customer22

Differentiation

Distinction without difference

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Differentiation

FeaturesBusiness ModelTarget Audience

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Differentiation and JUD

What Investors Are Looking For? JUD – Just Enough Difference Different Enough Not Too Different

Valid Question “Why existing competitors are not focused in ‘this’ area?”

Invalid Question “Why wouldn’t existing competitors replicate ‘this’?”

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Competitive Strategies

Prices We are just like that only cheaper

Differentiation We are just like that with following differences

Niche We are just like that only verticalized

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Competitive Advantages

Not Easy to Overcome Original Content Execution Loyal Customer Base Brand Awareness

Easy to Overcome Patents First Mover Obscurity

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Deck Distribution

Push your deck online

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Visualizing Your Idea

Idea DescriptionIdea VisualizationWireframes Mockups (UI)Clickable Prototype (UX)VideolizeMind Mapping

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Idea Description

Idea Description Success Calculator: Inventor (cloud over the head). Many factors

represented by circles (founder experience circle, previous startup experience circle, competition circle, funding circle, customer circle, market size, industry circle, board of directors circle, product development experience, advisers circle) go into the SourceIgniter Predictor Engine box, what comes out is a Success Score

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Idea Visualization31

Wireframes vs. Mockups32

Clickable Prototype33

WifeFraming Tools34

Mark Up35

Videolize

Videolize aka video scribe – Same as visualize only better

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Mind Mapping

Organize Your Thoughts

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Mind Mapping Tools38

Wireframe39

Mockup40

Finding Co-Founders/Mentors/Advisors

Co-Founder Selection CriteriaFinding Co-FoundersCommitment vs. InvolvementMentor/Advisor Selection CriteriaMentor/Advisor ExpectationsIncubators

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Co-Founder Selection Criteria42

NOT GOOD BAD

GOOD

Where to Find One?43

Co-Founder Selection Criteria (cont.)

Complementary SkillsetWorked Together BeforeSimilar Work EthicSimilar Commitment LevelSimilar Conflict Resolution StyleCan Disagree and CommitIdeal Number of Co-Founders is 3

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Commitment vs. Involvement45

Decide How to Decide

Do no block unless you feel very strongly about it

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Mentor vs. Advisor

Expectation Setting Hands On vs. Not Hands On

Mentor Advice

Advisor Cover Gaps Pressure Testing Industry IQ Introductions

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Mentoring

Real difference is focus. Mentors focus on you. What do advisors focus on?

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Mentoring (cont.)

Do I know anything about being pregnant?

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Incubators

Help Getting StartedLearning the RopesGood MentorsGreat AdvisorsHelpful IntroductionsRight Atmosphere Place to “Hang Your Hat”

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Right Incubator Program

Make sure to pick a right program for you

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Building a Static Prototype

Prototype’s PurposePrototype FeaturesPrototype DurationPrototype Starting Point

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Fine Line

Half-Baked and the Prototype are not the same thing

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Prototype Purpose

Fail Quickly and PivotProve Business HypothesisDiscover Inflection PointsCollect Customer FeedbackCollect Initial AnalyticsZero in on a Customer ProfileGet Funding

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Prototype Mockups55

Prototype Mockups (cont.)56

Prototype Mockups (cont.)57

Prototype Mockups (cont.)58

Prototype Structure59

Prototype Wiring

Wire it together

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Product Development61

Startup DNAby Yevgeniy Brikman

Product Development62

Startup DNAby Yevgeniy Brikman

Product Analytics

If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it

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Analytical Tools64

Traction Points

Sample Traction Points CTR Number of sign ups Number of sign ins Number of video uploads Number of product configurations Number of store deployments

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User Testing

ABT – Always Be Testing

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A/B Testing

Less the data, louder the opinion

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What Can Be A/B Tested?

HeadlineLead (first sentence)Hero ShotFontColorCall To Action Number of Steps in the FunnelAlgorithm

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A/B Testing Tools69

Usability Testing

Eye Tracking

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What Are They Measuring?

AttentionEmotion Task Completion TimeHoveringClicksHotspottingPath

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Usability Testing Tools72