Presentación realizada en el #webcat Barcelona de Abril del 2012 Autor: Bernat Farrero (@bernatfarrero) Versión con audio: http://vimeo.com/40772001

1. measuring VIABILITY
of a business idea
by @bernatfarrero

2. THE idea
fight the MYTHS
We need to sign an NDA
It’s unique, no one did it before Hello, these are
Funding won’t be a problem my two friends
EGO and DOGMA!
Technology isn’t the key
Our product will take X time to build and launch
No need for planning, we’ll figure it out on the way
We’ll get a loan / subsidy
We are a very united team, we’ll always get along
Failing isn’t a problem, at least we’ll learn a lot!

3. First things first: measure interest
Make sure you solve a real problem!
• Create a coming soon page or presentation page
• Conduct polls, research substitute products on the same or
similar markets, make viable assumptions
• Find and ask your target in specialized forums and blogs
• Gather compromise to buy from you as soon it’s running
“Market matters most; neither a stellar team nor fantastic
product will redeem a bad market. Markets that don’t exist
don’t care how smart you are.” — Marc Andreesen

4. Get yourself a friend
• Include people who you trust to be GOOD at what you aren’t, and
CAPABLE of helping you to start getting something done
• Write down how your relationship towards the product/business
will be in the future and it will save you many woes

5. Prototyping, creating MVPs
• Don’t wait any longer! Build your first Minimum Viable
Product. The smallest feature set customers will pay for.
...and LAUNCH!
• Establish a currency with which to measure every success
Demand for FREE >>>> Demand for very low price
"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your
product, you've launched too late" - Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn.

6. Intermediate MVPs and METRICS
• Get obsessed on MEASURING EVERYTHING meaningful
and “get out of the building”
Following the Value Path:
vision MVP1 -> MVP2 -> MVP3 -> Product / Market FIT
Test assumptions, risks and hypothesis Now you’ve got a BUSINESS MODEL
and fail fast, if necessary it’s time to scale!
changing pivot (features, segment, positioning or others)
The product is showing strong demand by
passionate users representing a sizable market
"A business is a repeatable process that makes money,
everything else is a hobby" - Paul Freet

7. The Startup Experts in reinventing wheels
Human institution designed to create products/services under conditions
of extreme uncertainty. Its special ecosystem favor disruptive
innovation. The tough truth: Most startups fail (less than 10% are
successful)
The Entrepreneurs Vision, focus and guts
- Individual with great sense of vision
- Prepared to assume bold risks
- Strong sense of commitment.
- Good at getting people aligned
- Passionate about what she does
- Ready to question her assumptions
- Any sort of market experience
- Aligned personal principles
(IPOs, growth, valuation, funding, ethics, environment, exit, etc.)

8. The five parts of every business
1. Value Creation
Discovering what your market wants and building it
2. Marketing
Building demand for what you’ve created
3. Sales
Turning prospect customers into paying customers
4. Value delivery
Ensuring your customers receive what was promised and they are
satisfied by it
5. Finance
Bring in enough money to keep going and make the effort worthwhile

9. Draw a Business Canvas by Osterwalder

10. Negotiation + Generate expectation
Suppliers: Custom production, special quality or special pricing.
Partners: Strong collaborations that help the initial growth.
Carriers: Bulk prices without bulk demand.
Banks: Get commissions and fees go away.
“You are fortunate, when we’ll be big you will
greatly benefit from being the the visionary who
collaborated with us now.”
the chicken or the egg dilemma

11. Thanks!
You got an idea?
@bernatfarrero
bernat@itnig.net