Presentation on how to turn ideas into developed ideas and ideas into prototypes.

1. What to Do Once You Have an
Idea
1
FAST START STUDIO
SERGEY SUNDUKOVSKIY PH.D.

2. Introduction
2

3. Background
3

4. Agenda
4
Visualizing Your Idea
Putting Together a Deck
Finding Co-Founders/Mentors/Advisors
Building a Prototype

5. Startup Progression
5
Idea is not a product, product is not a company

6. Visuals
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Idea Description
Idea Visualization
Wireframes
Mockups (UI)
Clickable Prototype (UX)
Videolize
Mind Mapping

7. Idea Description
7
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

8. Idea Visualization
8

9. Wireframes vs. Mockups
9

10. Clickable Prototype
10

11. Prototyping Tools
11

12. Videolize
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Videolize aka video scribe – Same as visualize only better

13. Putting Together a Deck
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10-20-30 Rule
Show Do Not Tell
Taxicab and Elevator Pitches
Target Customer
Market Analysis
Differentiation and JUD
Pressure Testing
Competitive Advantages

14. Business Plan vs. Business Deck
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Business Plan as we knew it in the Business School is dead

15. Putting Together a Deck
15

16. Deck Rules
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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

17. Deck Rules
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Picture is always better !!!!!
It is worth 84.1 words

18. Deck Structure
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Executive Summary Financial Projections
Problem Competitors
Solution Differentiation
Platform Competitive Advantages
Market Opportunity Team
Business Model Milestones/Roadmap
Pricing

19. Mind Mapping
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Organize Your Thoughts

20. Mind Mapping Tools
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21. Pitches
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22. Pitches
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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”

23. Pressure Testing
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Have your idea and the pitch pressure tested
Do not insist on NDAs. Nobody cares

24. Market and Customer
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25. Differentiation
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Distinction without difference

26. Differentiation
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Features
Business Model
Target Audience

27. Differentiation and JUD
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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’?”

28. Competitive Strategies
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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

29. Competitive Advantages
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Not Easy to Overcome
 Original Content
 Execution
 Loyal Customer Base
 Brand Awareness
Easy to Overcome
 Patents
 First Mover
 Obscurity

30. Deck Distribution
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Push your deck online

31. Finding Co-Founders/Mentors/Advisors
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Co-Founder Selection Criteria
Finding Co-Founders
Commitment vs. Involvement
Mentor/Advisor Selection Criteria
Mentor/Advisor Expectations
Incubators

32. Co-Founder Selection Criteria
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NOT GOOD BAD
GOOD

33. Where to Find One?
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34. Co-Founder Selection Criteria (cont.)
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Complementary Skillset
Worked Together Before
Similar Work Ethic
Similar Commitment Level
Similar Conflict Resolution Style
Can Disagree and Commit
Ideal Number of Co-Founders is 3

35. Commitment vs. Involvement
35

36. Decide How to Decide
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Do no block unless you feel very strongly about it

37. Mentor vs. Advisor
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Expectation Setting
 Hands On vs. Not Hands On
Mentor
 Advice
Advisor
 Cover Gaps
 Pressure Testing
 Industry IQ
 Introductions

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

39. Incubators
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Help Getting Started
Learning the Ropes
Good Mentors
Great Advisors
Helpful Introductions
Right Atmosphere
Place to “Hang Your Hat”

40. Right Incubator Program
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Make sure to pick a right program for you

41. Building a Prototype
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Prototype Purpose
Prototype Features
Prototype Duration
Prototype Starting Point
Evolutionary vs. Throwaway

42. Fine Line
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Half-Baked and the Prototype are not the same thing

43. Building a Prototype
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If you are not failing you are not trying hard enough

44. Product Development
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Startup DNA
by Yevgeniy Brikman

45. Product Development
45
Startup DNA
by Yevgeniy Brikman

46. Prototype Purpose
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Fail Quickly and Pivot
Prove Business Hypothesis
Discover Inflection Points
Collect Customer Feedback
Collect Initial Analytics
Zero in on a Customer Profile
Get Funding

47. Product Evolution vs. Revolution
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OR
Which picture do you think is right?
Hint: They are not identical

48. Product Analytics
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If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it

49. Analytical Tools
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50. Traction Points
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Sample Traction Points
 CTR
 Number of sign ups
 Number of sign ins
 Number of video uploads
 Number of product configurations
 Number of store deployments

51. User Testing
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ABT – Always Be Testing

52. A/B Testing
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Less the data, louder the opinion

53. What Can Be A/B Tested?
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Headline
Lead (first sentence)
Hero Shot
Font
Color
Call To Action
Number of Steps in the Funnel
Algorithm

54. A/B Testing Tools
54

55. Usability Testing
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Eye Tracking

56. What Are They Measuring?
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Attention
Emotion
Task Completion Time
Hovering
Clicks
Hotspotting
Path

57. Usability Testing Tools
57

58. Business Metrics
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Sample Business Metrics
 CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
 Churn
 Break Even Duration
 TOC (Total Cost of Ownership)
 LTV (Live Time Value)
 Average Support Contracts

59. Prototype Starting Point
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Find open source starter product to build upon

60. Prototype Features
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61. Prototype Features
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Features need to prove business hypothesis aka core
functionality
 Usability trumps completeness
 Speed trumps completeness
Some Business models are too complex for an
evolutionary prototype. You might have to settle for throw
away prototype
 Too much technical debt to remedy
 Too expensive to evolve
 Can’t find needed resources