Startups Does anyone have any methodology or process for validating ideas/mvps? |
- Does anyone have any methodology or process for validating ideas/mvps?
- How do I decide what information about my startup to keep secret?
- Parachute for high level employees
- How can I "white glove" 350+ free sign ups to become paid customers?
- I'm an undergraduate student with an idea that could really benefit some communities, but I don't know what to do next?
- General availability of startup funding
- Here's how to start sharing your idea
- Early Prioritization for Dual-Sided Content-Creation App
- Looking/asking for advice, ideas and tips on how to protect our business and disprove false customer complaints about product quality, incomplete orders, etc.
- How do you test a value prop in a community without pissing off the community?
- Do the traditional job-hopping rules apply in the start-up world?
- Need Help Taking the Plunge
- Need dire help with sales for tech platform
- Securing funding with just Demo
- Know of any video maker tools you use for your startup marketing?
- Startup that doesn’t need users?
| Does anyone have any methodology or process for validating ideas/mvps? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 07:45 PM PST I think everyone is familiar with the concept of MVP at this point. Early stage startups, it's all about validations and iterations. But how exactly do you validate especially when you are at such an early stage that you don't even want to build a MVP yet. Some have suggested to me that, you could do user testing or interviews. But the qualitative or quantitative data I get has nothing to compare to. Suppose I asked a bunch of users if they would use a product concept. And 75% of them said yes, they would pay for it. Is that good? Is that bad? I don't know. Some have suggested that I could do landing page testing. So for example, I can create a landing page that explains my concept and a 'commit' CTA. And then suppose I measure the conversion and I found that 40% of them would convert to a 'purchase', is that good? Is that bad? I don't know. I've watched a lot of the YC school material on youtube. Tons of good stuff. But none seems to give detail to the early stage/mvp process. Most just says, iterate. That's it. I know how to iterate. I just don't know which idea is worth pursuing. Or sometimes, it's 4 variations of a concept and I don't know which path is the right one? [link] [comments]  |
| How do I decide what information about my startup to keep secret? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 12:58 PM PST I know the tendency is to not want to share your idea so people don't steal it, but getting feedback on your idea/ solution is a super important part of building your startup. How do I decide what information is worth sharing, and what is worth keeping secret for competitive advantage? [link] [comments]  |
| Parachute for high level employees Posted: 08 Nov 2020 11:16 AM PST One of my execs is asking for a parachute backed into his employment contract, after being with the company for a while. He's against extending such parachutes to other employees, including to VP level, arguing only c level should have it. He is the only c level person at this stage beyond myself. I want to run an equitable company and am worried about this because execs already make more equity and money. I don't know why it would be harder for them to find a new job if they leave than for lower level employees. Any thoughts would be welcome. [link] [comments]  |
| How can I "white glove" 350+ free sign ups to become paid customers? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 06:02 AM PST Hi all! My first post to /r/startups and I am looking for some advice. I recently had a successful launch on Product Hunt for my saas. I made it to #5 product of the day, got a few hundred free sign ups, and a handful of paid subscriptions. Those free signups have continued to grow since the launch; I'm now sitting with 350+. My next goal is to convert those folks to paying customers. I'm leaning towards more "white glove" suggestions versus automations. The number is still small enough that the tactics don't need to scale just yet. Some background on the service:
What are some small (or large!) things I could be doing to start converting these folks? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Nov 2020 07:29 PM PST Hi all! First time poster here so please bare with me if any of this seems dumb, sorry in advance. Anyways, a few weeks ago I was working on a business project for a course I'm taking right now, and came up with an idea that I think would be really beneficial to my local community as well as on a wider scale. Part of the project has been to get feedback from professionals in the field/industry, and I've gotten a very positive response thus far. I honestly do not care to make money off of it (could totally be non-profit), so this might not be the right place to post this, but I don't know what to do next. It's an idea for an app, but I'm a biology major - so I have absolutely no idea where to start when it comes to the technical details of creating an app or how to go about it. I'm sorry if this doesn't belong here but if anyone has any tips or insight as to what the next steps would be - I'd really really appreciate it! Just looking to make a positive difference for a cause I really believe in and care about :) [link] [comments]  |
| General availability of startup funding Posted: 08 Nov 2020 10:16 PM PST Hi everyone. I'm currently moving forward with filing IP for a medical device startup. My question is in general: how is the market liquidity for angel investors, VC, banks? With the bond market being so low I would think there's tons of money sitting in the sidelines looking for a place to invest? Just looking for any general insight into a financial market I'm about to jump into. :) [link] [comments]  |
| Here's how to start sharing your idea Posted: 09 Nov 2020 01:54 AM PST Disclaimer : Never ran a successful business. Go to How for the answer. WhyYou love your idea. You think it has the potential to be a billion-dollar company. Or more realistically a multimillion-dollar one. We've all been there. But here's the thing you've already heard a thousand times but that I have to say again. Sharing your idea and putting it out there increases your chances to be that next unicorn. Why? Because you'll get invaluable feedbacks. It'll help you iterate on your idea and lead you to a place you'd never have reached by yourself. Sharing your idea with ten persons means you now have ten more brains working for free on your idea. Possibly smart, experienced brains. No one is gonna steal it. Think about it. Would you invest time, money and efforts on someone's else idea? Would you spend hours after work or quit your job to work on an idea you've heard from a guy you barely know at a meetup? Very unlikely. So yeah, other people don't care about your idea. So here's the thing. It is normal to feel like you should hide it. We've all been there. But you have to trust more experienced entrepreneurs when they say that you should start to share it. Once you've accepted this fact it'll take time for you to get comfortable with this concept. Maybe months, maybe even years. But the fastest you'll reach that place the fastest you'll get even greater ideas. HowSo how to get to that point? It's simple. Pick a shitty idea. Anything. Something that you have no interest in. You want an example? Here's one: Cupcake delivery. Yeah, it's like Uber eats but for cupcakes. Pretty bad idea right? But after all you're no Nostradamus. It may be a huge market. Ok so now you've got this terrible idea. Start to share it with people like you seriously believe it's the next great thing. Then watch the magic happen. See where you'll end up after a few conversations with other entrepreneurs, your friends, your colleagues. By the fourth iteration you might be onto something very different from the original idea. Something better. Pick another idea and repeat the process. Here's another one. Voice filters, like there are photo and video filters on Instagram. Why not funny voice filters? Or even an instagram with short audio recordings instead of pictures. Again, go and share it, iterate on it. Do that a few times and hopefully you'll realize that 1) no one's gonna steal your idea 2) you have so much more to gain by sharing it with other people. [link] [comments]  |
| Early Prioritization for Dual-Sided Content-Creation App Posted: 08 Nov 2020 02:47 PM PST Hey Everybody! Anyone have any experience launching a dual-sided, Content-Creation App and can provide some insight on what marketing strategy they took to acquire their first 1000 users? By content creation, I mean something like Medium that requires BOTH writers and readers. Our app will be on Test Flight within 2 weeks and we currently have 150 users signed up. Of that 150, 30 of them are our ideal user persona (the people who will be creating) and the rest are people that will require content to be on the app for them to stick around. Our current strategy is to stay as close to the hip to the 30 content creators and rapidly iterate BEFORE we spend any efforts trying to find more users, but now that we're getting closer, I'm starting to wonder if this is the best plan. We are a free DTC app and we know that we have to get to critical-mass as quick as possible. Getting there is going to be hard as shit, so users are at best gonna just give us one look so we are emphasizing getting it right. Now, I'm wondering if any of you have had any experience with launching an product that missed the mark, but users stuck around because they knew you were working on getting it right. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Nov 2020 04:59 PM PST Firstly, I apologise if my post doesn't fit here but I have been doing hours of research in the past few days and found nothing specific to my situation, so am now turning to Reddit for help.(If anyone can direct me to a more appropriate community or website after reading this, that would be highly appreciated). Secondly, I will try to shorten this post to the best of my abilities and I thank, in advance, everyone who will take their time to read through the end. I work at a company that manufactures high quality children's transportation toys, ranging from simple push strollers to scooters. Customers can start with a basic package and then choose between a wide arrange of add ons aswell as purchasing a complete set. In any case, we provide all the necessary parts, include a detailed manual, a 24h customer support contact and it is up to the customer to assemble the product themselves. I'm guite new to this company but it has recently come to my attention that we have no system developed to protect ourselves from false customer complaints, ranging from product quality to missing parts and the list qoes on. I'll give an example: each box of add ons or complete sets is assembled on a production line with no fewer than 5 people, each of whom double checks for missing or broken parts (in case the person before them missed something) and a person at the end, who's sole responsibility is to check that the box is complete and has been assembled correctly, after which it is sealed with a company logo sticker. This means each box goes through at least 6 pairs of highly trained, attentive eyes. I can't claim mistakes don't happen but they are kept to an absolute minimum. A few days ago we received a customer complaint, claiming that a set of add ons was missing 2 major components (which just happen to be the most expensive ones). Both components are roughly the size of a dinner plate, meaning the chances of 6 experienced workers forgetting to include them is pretty much zero. But since its our word against the clients, of course we apologised and sent them the "missing parts" on our cost. Example number 2 (and this is the one that struck a nerve with me the most): one of the (most expensive) add ons we offer is a set that includes a motor, battery, charger, throttle and a number of other parts. Assembling a motor is a job that requires absolute precision, is costly and is the most time consuming job at our production. Myself and another colleague are the only two who have been specifically trained to handle this item. In comes a customer who has now complained for the third time that their motor arrived incomplete. The first time it was supposedly missing 2 outlets, the second time they said it came without the on/off button. Now I'm not claiming that I'm perfect and never make mistakes but it is pretty much impossible forgetting to include these outlets because they connect to everything else inside the motor. Same goes for the on/off button. We did ask for a photo of the motor as proof, but to be honest anyone who knows how to use a drilling machine can just take out the 8 screws that hold together the motors outer shell, remove the 2 outlets and thats it. Again, the customers word against ours so they have now received already the third motor(costing us around 200eur each plus shipping). So finally here are my questions: what options do we have, in what ways can we protect ourselves from these kind of situations? How do we obtain proof that a certain set box is complete, before it is shipped to a customer to prevent these kind of false claims? One idea was weighing each set box(if complete they should all weigh the same, but in that case a customer can always say the weight was incorrect)another was asking the customer to post back the entire set box in its original form, so it can be assessed, fixed and shipped back with no extra costs to the customer. I believe to the most part, if the customer is lying, they will not take things further in that case. Im asking for ideas, advice, basically anything that could help a business protect itself from false customer accusations. I thank you for taking the time to read this long post and appreciate every single reply. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you test a value prop in a community without pissing off the community? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 07:20 AM PST I do genuinely care about communities I want to add value to. BUT, when testing desirability for a solution / or confirming hypothesis, I always worry about annoying the community. I know I shouldn't. If the purpose is true, then it will not annoy anyone. But still. How do you deal with this feeling? [link] [comments]  |
| Do the traditional job-hopping rules apply in the start-up world? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 12:58 PM PST In my previous role, I was a hiring manager for a SaaS start-up reporting directly to the CEO. I interviewed a lot of candidates for a few different positions both in the US and in India. While I was only concerned if a candidate had multiple very short-term (less than a year and especially if less than six months) jobs in the last five years, my boss preferred candidates who had been with their current employer for three years or more. He could be convinced to hire "job-hoppers", but it was always considered a negative. Obviously every hiring manager has their own opinions, but what is the most common attitude towards job-hoppers at startups? How frequently can a candidate change jobs before it negatively impacts their chances? If job-hopping is a red flag to you, how important do you consider it? For context, the longest I've ever stayed with one employer is a little over three years with most of my previous jobs lasting between one and two years. I'm curious if one year is the unofficial minimum (which is my general guideline) or the two year "rule" for traditional jobs still applies. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Nov 2020 06:47 AM PST Hi everyone. Looking for insights from people who have gone to work on their startup full-time. I was brought on as a co-founder for a startup about a year ago. I've been working on it part-time due to my full-time job of being a teacher. I absolutely love when I get to work on my startup. The concept of it is a dream "job" for me, the other co-founders are phenomenal people, and it has great potential to be something big. We are at a point where my team needs me full-time and is able to provide us salaries, but I am in the middle of a school year, in the middle of a pandemic. I can't just leave. I need help figuring out what I should take into consideration when going to a startup. Pros • Fun and fulfilling • More creative and intellectual freedoms • Opportunity for growth • Equity shares Cons • No benefits • Risk Any insight into what I should be considering when taking the plunge into a startup would be really appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Need dire help with sales for tech platform Posted: 08 Nov 2020 12:31 PM PST Hope you guys are doing well. I'm a college student and I have a tech platform that consists of a mobile app and a web app that helps brands market and I'm pretty confident in the product. I have no idea how to do sales though. I feel like I should start with smaller brands and stuff but now that I'm done with all the tech I have no idea how to find creators/brands that need marketing. Any and all advice or help would be lovely. Cheers! [link] [comments]  |
| Securing funding with just Demo Posted: 08 Nov 2020 12:17 PM PST Good morrow R/startups , I am a the co-founder and Technical side of a on demand delivery app. I've been developing the MVP I'm not really frontend more backend but since it's just me doing the MVP , I was wondering VC's need a pretty MVP or a working one. [link] [comments]  |
| Know of any video maker tools you use for your startup marketing? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 03:01 AM PST Any suggestions of explainer video maker tools that you have used to explain the concept of your startup idea? Not looking to hire actors or a very expensive video designer, but simple to use video makers that do not require a large budget. Especially if you have used one that has stock content that can be used with easy voice additions and subtitles. [link] [comments]  |
| Startup that doesn’t need users? Posted: 08 Nov 2020 02:44 AM PST Are there startups with no need for customers (retail or B2B) that can be profitable? I would consider for example some investment related startups as not needing customers because they can successfully make money playing markets with an initial capital and no need for users to benefit from their product/service. Are there other fields or ideas that are similar? [link] [comments]  |
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