Startups Share Your Startup - June 2021 - Put Your Startup On Blast! |
- Share Your Startup - June 2021 - Put Your Startup On Blast!
- My worst feeling as a founder --
- (Question) How can I get team members to help grow a MVP?
- Has anyone copied your business model and you were forced to compete?
- The 10 Biggest Marketing Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
- Is being fast always 100% a good thing?
- Ads Disaster?
| Share Your Startup - June 2021 - Put Your Startup On Blast! Posted: 02 Jun 2021 05:38 AM PDT r/startups wants to hear what you're working on! Tell us about your startup in a comment within this submission. Follow this template: Startup Name / URL More details: What goals are you trying to reach this month?
Discount for r/startups subscribers? * Share how our community can get a discountJoin our discord for instant chat, advice, and emotional support! Startup Life Cycle Stages (Max Marmer life cycle model for startups as used by Startup Genome and Kauffman Foundation) 1. Discovery If you are running a traditional business that is not designed to scale rapidly, feel free to reference a traditional business life cycle model and share what traditional business life cycle stage you are at. [link] [comments]  |
| My worst feeling as a founder -- Posted: 02 Jun 2021 09:50 AM PDT We're always told to take care of our mental health. I completely agree. I didn't do a great job at that for a long time. I eventually started doing it, and bought into the cliche notion of "it's a marathon, not a race" But, the worst feeling for me personally, is when you do the mental health and physical health stuff, and you still get punched in the face. I was a bit stressed this morning, so at 10am, I had no meetings. I decided to go for a bike ride to clear my head. Went for an hour, and came back feeling mostly refreshed. Then got more bad news. *Sigh* I just wanted to crawl into a ball. Hopefully, if this resonates with someone else, then great. Just nice to know I'm not alone, if this helps anyone else, know you're not alone either! [link] [comments]  |
| (Question) How can I get team members to help grow a MVP? Posted: 02 Jun 2021 12:43 PM PDT Hello, I am a 16 year old who recently launched my first website dedicated to giving young introverts one space to be able to share and feel heard in a judge free and low-intensity way. The site has been doing well and I have been given a lot of positive feedback but the workload has gotten a little overwhelming. It's hard to market my idea on multiple platforms while also trying to figure out how to keep users active since it is is only the MVP. From the start I have wanted teammates but found it hard since the people I could find either didn't have the time, skills, motivation, or interest in helping out. And I know that I can't have team members that I don't know well since we would have to share financial expenses. I want to have a team to do this with but I don't know here to find people and how I could trust people I just met (I have asked almost every friend, club, and community that I know of locally). I would appreciate if you guys could give some advice on my current situation and how I can manage all these tasks so I can continue to grow. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Has anyone copied your business model and you were forced to compete? Posted: 02 Jun 2021 01:59 PM PDT Just like all of you I am working on my startup business right now. I've been one of those mediocre non-entrepreneurs who started some years ago but never got it off the ground. However the pieces are there. Everything still functions. I've also done more market research since then. With that in mind I do wonder about being "copied". In a sense that's fine. It may not happen. It may seem I'm getting ahead of myself. However I want to make some sensible decisions early on. What can I do early on in order to potentially deal with competitors? Does anyone have any advice or experience? Part of the reason I ask is because my idea is novel but somewhat easy to duplicate. It's not something I can legally protect either. [link] [comments]  |
| The 10 Biggest Marketing Mistakes And How To Avoid Them Posted: 02 Jun 2021 03:07 PM PDT Every year companies invest huge sums in the development of new products. Whether smartphones, fruit gums or fitness gadgets - the market is literally flooded with new flavors and technical innovations. However, not all that glitters is gold. More than every second product turns out to be a flop. But why is the error rate so high? The management and marketing experts have found out: Many companies, especially start-ups, simply make the same mistakes over and over again. In the following, we take a look at the ten specific mistakes - referred the "deadly sins of marketing". But why deadly sins? Well, in the Catholic faith, the deadly sins are the seven most serious sins. Whoever commits it goes to hell. Marketing sins are also so serious that they can send a product to eternal damnation. Avoidable failures Do you still remember the Fire Phone, the first smartphone from the online giant Amazon? Or Google Glass? Two products that were announced with a lot of fanfare a few years ago and were hotly debated. But after a short time both disappeared from the market. Individual cases? Not at all! Seventy percent of all newly presented consumer goods fail within a year. The situation is even worse for startups. There are no comprehensive statistics on this subject. However, based on the available data, we assume that only five to ten percent of start-ups will survive. But why do so many innovations fail? Is there a recurring pattern that causes so many products to remain unsuccessful on the market? Over the years, we have actually identified ten common mistakes that neither traditional companies nor disruptive start-ups are immune to. They affect all stages of product marketing: from the innovative concept to the marketing mix to success control. A general problem is that companies bring far too many unattractive products onto the market. The market analysis company CB Insights came to the conclusion in 2019 that a lack of demand is the most common reason for start-ups to fail. In addition, more and more companies are neglecting strategic branding. And bad decisions are often made when going to market. Start-ups fail because of the same mistakes over and over again. Now let's take a look at mistake number one: the unsuccessful product concept. A good idea - Anyone who clicks through online shops will occasionally find strange products. Bedside lamps that look like mushroom clouds. Bread boxes for kiwis. Or a room freshener with a salami smell. The question quickly arises: Who actually thought these products were a good idea? The cause of many flops lies at the very beginning of the innovation process - namely with the product concept. Because product development and marketing mix are based on this concept, which is why it plays an extremely important role. Ideally, a product concept delivers a product that is unique and relevant. However, most of the products developed do not serve this purpose for consumers. This is deadly sin number one. In order to design products that are relevant and unique, a company needs to know what its customers want and incorporate them into the innovation process. Consumer orientation is the be-all and end-all. If customers are ignored, this is deadly sin number two. Consumer orientation means collecting information about the target group and the market on a regular basis. The best way to do this is to create a learning plan for the company's head of market research. This defines exactly which data has to be collected and how often so that the company is always up to date. A suitable survey method are, for example, focus groups: in a moderated group discussion with five to eight participants, the company can get to know wishes and needs and receive feedback. Behavioral studies or trend monitoring can also be used to collect data. At the beginning of the innovation process, the target group must be dealt with so that the concept to be developed becomes relevant and unique. It is of course not that easy to come up with new, good products all the time. Creativity! Imagine you have a dinner party and you stand at the stove yourself. But there is one difficulty: Your guests come from all over the world. The question of the menu choice brings beads of sweat to your forehead. How do you manage to conjure up a meal that someone from Spain tastes just as good as a guest from Japan? Companies with global sales markets often face precisely this dilemma. And yet many choose to bundle the innovation process in their headquarters. This is not only risky because there is a lack of sensitivity for cultural differences and tastes. It also prevents the creative potential of all marketing staff from being used. Let us assume that 100 employees work in strategic marketing at a corporate headquarters. There are 800 other bright minds in the regional marketing departments. However, your area of responsibility is limited to the implementation of the strategy from above. Wasting the potential of swarm intelligence and co-creation is deadly sin number three. One means of using the creativity of all locations, on the other hand, is an innovation sourcing system. This is an intranet-based system that is accessible to all marketing employees. It consists of three parts: generating ideas, evaluating ideas, and awarding or implementing ideas. In the first step, all employees are asked to upload product ideas. As a motivation, the best concept could receive a cash bonus and be presented at corporate headquarters. If enough suggestions have been made, the evaluation follows. All employees can rate the concepts on a fixed scale. This is followed by an assessment by an internal jury of experts. At the end of the day, the best idea is awarded and, in the best case, even implemented. However, a concept should always be tested on the consumer before it is implemented. In the absence of this empirical verification, that is mortal sin number four. Because just because the marketing management likes a concept, it doesn't mean that the target group will like it. One way of empirically checking a concept is through benchmarking. Benchmarking compares new products with successful products from the past. These can be own or competitor products. A typical comparison criterion is willingness to buy. Only when the product concept reaches the benchmark in terms of willingness to buy will it be implemented. What does that show us? New concepts should emerge from a cooperative process and should always be empirically verified. When products are tested, it is not just objective factors that play a role. It is also crucial which name is on the product - the brand. But how do you best position such a brand? Positioning your brands properly In contrast to the product, a brand is not visible. It only exists in our head. And so there are always managers who think brands are a nice thing, but not something that you have to invest a lot of money in. The authors disagree. Undervaluing clear brand positioning is deadly sin number five for them. Because a product and a brand are inextricably linked. A brand is something like the psychological carrier system for a product. Brands satisfy emotional needs. They make customers buy shampoos not just to wash their hair with. They buy shampoos to finally get the shiny, full hair they've always wanted. A product can be associated with different emotional needs. Let's take coffee as an example. In the morning we might want to boost our performance with a cup of coffee in order to convince with a presentation. Having a cup with your colleague in the early afternoon is a beloved ritual that gives us momentum for the second half of the day. And in the evening on the couch we might have another drink to relax and review the day. These three different needs - power, momentum, relaxation - can be assigned to the terms dominance, stimulation and balance. The three factors - dominance, stimulation and balance - are fundamental for our emotions and motives and thus ultimately also for our actions. We also make our purchasing decisions on this basis. The Limbic Map is a diagram in which dominance, stimulation and balance are drawn as opposite poles. In between there are many nuances such as ambition, sensuality or creativity. All the motifs on the card represent potential brand positioning. The Limbic Map can therefore be used as a starting point to visualize the needs of the customers and to consider what the brand should stand for. If a brand already exists, you start with the current state. Where is the brand currently in the minds of customers? This positioning should be proven by market research. Then the desired position must be determined. What emotions should the brand represent in the future? The answer forms the basis of all subsequent product and marketing decisions. In summary, this means: a clear emotional positioning of the brand is important in order to be able to address the needs of customers in a targeted manner. But even a clear brand positioning is of little value if it is not taken into account in the innovation process and marketing mix. This can have serious consequences. Bringing product and brand into harmony Imagine you want to get a quick green smoothie from the supermarket. You can choose between a brand that has other healthy products and a Sour-Patch smoothie. Which one would you choose? Probably not the Sour-Patch smoothie. The problem is, most people clearly associate the Sour-Patch brand with sugary sweets. That doesn't go with the idea of a healthy smoothie. If, as in this fictional scenario, there is a lack of consistency between the brand and the product concept, then that is deadly sin number six. Before any new product innovation, the question should be whether the product credibly fits the brand. Ideally, the customer already has an idea of what a brand stands for. And he will compare this basic idea with every new product. If the two do not go together, there is a high probability that he will not believe the product promise and resort to the product of the competition. Admittedly, things are not always as straightforward as in the case of Sour-Patch sweets. The hair care brand Gliss Kur has long been known for repairing broken hair. But there are other areas in the hair care segment that promise lucrative business - for example hair volume or dandruff removal. The management of Gliss Kur could come up with the idea of expanding the brand to include these segments as well. This is called a line extension. But the decision should be carefully considered. The prospect of further market shares speaks in favor of introducing an anti-dandruff shampoo. On the other hand, there is the risk of a lack of credibility. It could also dilute the core brand. Consumers no longer know exactly what the brand is all about. Assume that the line extension is decided anyway. Now it's a matter of avoiding deadly sin number seven: a lack of coordination between the brand and the marketing mix. The marketing mix includes all elements of product marketing: How is the packaging designed, what does the product cost and what do the respective advertisements or clips look like? For example, a detergent that is strong against stains shouldn't be sold as a fine pink powder. A sensual, withdrawn commercial would also be counterproductive. Instead, all marketing instruments must exude power. For example, with a coarse-grained, white powder and a spot in which the force of the spots is illustrated with drastic before-and-after images. The product as well as the marketing mix should reflect what the brand stands for. Brand, product and marketing mix are in the starting blocks. What do you have to consider at the launch? Plan realistically They commission expensive forecasts, make over-optimistic plans and think they can predict the future with them. In the end, they are completely taken by surprise if it turns out differently. Making unrealistic plans and taking them for granted is mortal sin number eight. In many companies, for example, test market simulations are carried out before a launch. Market research institutes test the planned marketing mix on the basis of customer samples. They then provide predictions of success for criteria such as sales or market share with the help of probabilities. First of all, there is the problem that some decision-makers cannot deal with probabilities. If a certain sales volume is predicted with 80 percent probability, this is already booked in their eyes. The fact that, in the end, much smaller quantities may go over the counter is not part of their considerations. Another problem: Which market will look exactly the same in a year as it does today? The consequence of misinterpretations and unworldly prognoses: Excessive launch expectations arise that the product cannot meet in reality. However, unrealistic planning is not only due to misunderstandings between market research and management. Sometimes managers set budget figures that are far too optimistic to win an internal competition for resources. If a limited budget is available for developing new products, the manager who promises the greatest sales or the fastest growth with her product concept usually wins. The authors advocate a more realistic planning philosophy. In practice, this means: leaving room for the unforeseen and researching market potentials in detail. In addition, products and launch strategies should be constantly checked and optimized on the basis of customer feedback. We can state a simple rule: planning realistically means accepting uncertainties and not getting carried away into internal competitions. The product is ready, the launch is planned. Sounds like nothing could go wrong now. Or does it? Good launch control is essential Important key figures are not recorded here, and errors are not admitted. Corrections and readjustments are also out of the question. That failure is mortal sin number nine. In the course of the launch, thorough monitoring of market success is essential. The managers responsible should first set targets for the first year after the product launch, for example a desired market share or sales. These values are then collected and evaluated on a monthly basis. It must then be decided on an ongoing basis whether the product and marketing strategy will be continued, adjusted or stopped. Benchmarks of past successful market launches serve as guidelines. It is important that the decision is based on data - and that a badly running product is not only kept on the market because the manager responsible does not want to admit defeat. That brings us to deadly sin number ten - political power play. Managers who work in strategic marketing are often judged on the number of products launched. Keeping to schedules is also a sign of good work. Delays, for example when creating and testing the marketing mix, are often met with incomprehension in the executive suite. This leads to products being punched through that are poorly or half-finished. The Chief Marketing Officer should therefore ensure that every innovation and launch decision is carefully examined and empirically substantiated. In short: a launch should always be controlled and free from power games. Remember: Tipping bad products in good time is always cheaper than pulling the rip cord after many expensive commercials. TLDR The reasons why so many products and startups fail are obvious. A lack of customer focus and insufficient performance control lead to bad products being launched. Branding is often so neglected that in the end the brand and product no longer fit together. And internal power struggles for reputation and budgets prevent undesirable developments from being recognized and corrected in good time. The success or failure of start-ups depends directly on whether the product becomes a hit, which is why a screwed-up product usually leads to the failure of the entire start-up. Instead of streamlining processes and reducing costs, companies should now focus more on the importance of marketing. Building a brand is not a gimmick, but the basis for long-term success. Only those who keep an eye on their target group and understand their needs will develop products that are attractive and relevant. This creates long-term value - for companies, investors and customers. Did you experience something similar when you launched your product? I would appreciate more deadly fails in the comments to learn from the mistakes of others. [link] [comments]  |
| Is being fast always 100% a good thing? Posted: 02 Jun 2021 06:27 AM PDT TL;DR: Dev/Product manager who's v fast when it comes to launching, somehow convinces me to launch app that doesn't work. And we spend capital on acquiring customers who did not want to come to test. We had an actual 0% turn up. I'm calming myself to zen so that he listens to my plan for the product instead of pushing asap. -- I hired a wonderful talent who's obsessed with speed. Product doesn't work yet, but he's set a dead line within days (for an app that requires a little bit more work) His priority is getting testers, Me and him messaged +100 individuals, offering to pay all of them, and none of them could show up to our event. Why?
He's dumbfounded that the danes are this introverted & that what i've been saying, he wouldn't listen to me. I know my market very deeply for many years, I know how to attract them, and we're killing setting time for strategizing aquiring customers properly for an immediate launch for a product that doesn't even work yet!! The only people that responded were expats, and they all said it was either too soon, didn't have ios, they preferred morning, or simply ignored us over time. What ended up happening is we were burning capital very quickly on boosting posts + paying customers (when I genuinely think we can get them to pay us if we plan and breathe for a week) I still think it's still great to have someone like that on the team, he even delivers and has had 75+ products released with millions of units downloaded. However, I would not buy any of his products because they are very low quality, can you guess why? Because he's obsessed with launching. He's stated himself he doesn't have an eye for design nor cared much about it, it's more of an appetizer. Not just of graphics but of strategy, saying the data we get will be king and throwing out any assumption/plan I have! Being a result guy doesn't always mean doing things immediately. I love learning, however I'm finding myself having to protect my vision from people like him or investors who ask me to pivot. I know it's all in good intention but these people are destroying what I wanted to do with this product. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jun 2021 06:17 AM PDT Need Advice! I'm working with a FB ads manager (on month 3 now) and the ROAS is 2.21. This is for a cosmetics brand and he has ads running to 18-65 year olds, some for both genders and some targeting all demographics without any interest added. He said interests don't work. I might not be from this space but all of this seems absurd to me. My target demo is makeup lovers, ages 22-35. So showing ads to 18-65 year olds, including men and all demographics and interests isn't right is it? And this would probably drive up costs? Right now I have an average $21 COA for a $36 AOV. He has ads converting at $72 kept on and ads converting at $4 shut off. And he has ads that less than a dollar was spent on, shut off. So less than $1 spend wouldn't even be a fair chance to check if the ad was a winning ad or not. He has a daily budget of $90 for the $72 COA ads and better ads with a COA of $7 have a daily budget of only $26. He also has the exact same original ad as the retargeting ad. But if a person didn't convert after seeing that ad, why would they convert after being shown that ad again? My questions are: Are the above obvious mistakes or all part of the research process? What I mean is, how big are the above mistakes? Is he maybe using some sort of software that turns ads on and off? If I can spot mistakes above, am I better off learning ads myself? I know the basics on how to set up ads. [link] [comments]  |
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