http://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/from-consulting-to-productising-download-pdf/ What do Brad Pitt, Søren Kierkegaard, Confucius and Lester Freamon (from The Wire) have in common? They are all characters that I hired to tell a story that is near and dear to my heart: how to build a consulting business and... how to go from consulting to creating products. I know as usual I am going too fast. 3+ years ago I left an impossibly good job to become a freelance consultant. Now I'm starting the next mutation, by turning what I know into a product that people can enjoy. Now is your chance to know more about this process and to discover my first product (hint: it has to with #presentations). How to run a successful consulting business? How to migrate from consulting to a product based business? Where do products come from? In this presentation I share my story and the key concepts I found along the way with the help of Brad Pitt, Søren Kierkegaard, Confucius and Lester Freamon (The Wire). Hunger was a key motivator for me and it prompted me to go from chasing ideas to following sustainable revenue streams and finally to my own product. Want to find out what that product is? One hint: it has to do with presentations. Here it is: http://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/presentation-hero/

1. FROM CONSULTING
TO PRODUCTISING
Follow the money... and the meaning

2. Later I adapted it for Slideshare
My name is Matteo Cassese and I prepared
this presentation for Berlin’s 4HWW meetup
on 23.7.2014

3. @matteoc preshero.co
I’ve been a
consultant for
the last 3+
years
Today I run a
successful
consulting
business with
multiple clients
and I make a good
living in Berlin.

4. Retainer agreement
@matteoc preshero.co
The most important thing I
learned? To have a
retainer agreement with
my clients. It’s the one
consulting life saver!

5. @matteoc preshero.co
I’m also an
entrepreneur
Sometimes I
encounter
extraordinary
people or ideas,
and I want in.

6. Clients ≠ Partners
@matteoc preshero.co
In this case my potential
clients become partners.
So I am involved in
traditional businesses,
and also startups.

7. ?If everything is going fine,
where is the story in this
presentation?
@matteoc preshero.co

8. My consulting business has not always been
successful.
“Life can only be understood
backwards; but it must be lived
forwards”
- Benjamin Button
@matteoc preshero.co

9. “Life can only be understood
backwards; but it must be lived
forwards”
- Benjamin Button
Let’s go in the past and discover what happened.
@matteoc preshero.co

10. “Life can only be understood
backwards; but it must be lived
forwards” fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
Share on Twitter!
“Life can only be understood
backwards; but it must be lived
forwards”
- Soren Kierkegaard
That’s the right attribution by the way...
@matteoc preshero.co

11. Before we dive into the past...
Why don’t you download these
slides?
Download as pdf
@matteoc preshero.co

12. Signed the
first big
client
@matteoc preshero.co
95% of time
to other
projects
Once I signed up my first
big client I literally
thought: consulting is
working, now let’s go find
some new ideas. I got
distracted from my core
business.

13. ØThis figure comes from my
bank account...
@matteoc preshero.co

14. @matteoc preshero.co
Hunger is a
great
motivator
Hunger gave me attention
and focus!
Hunger is a great motivator: provides
attention and focus fbbr.co/4hww via
@matteoc
Share on Twitter!

15. “Follow the money”
- Lester Freamon
I went back to my main
source of income with the
objective of winning back
my old clients and finding
some new ones.
@matteoc preshero.co
“Follow the money” - Lester Freamon
from The Wire fbbr.co/4hww via
@matteoc
Share on Twitter!

16. @matteoc preshero.co
Business
Model
Canvas
I started applying the
same techniques I use for
my clients to my own
business. And it was
hugely useful.

17. @matteoc preshero.co
Website
Since I had no clients and
a lot of time, I used it to
build a business website
detailing my value
proposition and offering.

18. La Fabbrica della Realtà is an innovation
laboratory centered around people and
ideas.
@matteoc preshero.co

19. La Fabbrica della Realtà is an innovation
laboratory centered around people and
ideas.
@matteoc preshero.co
More than 1 year after
going to zero I came up
with a clear definition of
my business and its goals.
They are my life goals
also...

20. Why didn’t I do this at the
beginning?
@matteoc preshero.co

21. @matteoc preshero.co
“If I do, I
understand”
- Confucius
First I needed the “doing”.
“If I do, I understand” - Confucius
fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
The “understanding” came right after. Share on Twitter!

22. From consulting to productising
@matteoc preshero.co

23. Consulting is not scalable.
@matteoc preshero.co

24. Consulting is not scalable.
You can increase your rate.
@matteoc preshero.co

25. Consulting is not scalable.
Only until you run out of time.
You can increase your rate.
@matteoc preshero.co

26. time vs money
I used to be an employee
trading time for money.
@matteoc preshero.co

27. time vs money
@matteoc preshero.co
Here I was a consultant,
still trading time for
money.

28. time d e c o u p l e money
@matteoc preshero.co

29. Products are the key to decoupling
time and money fbbr.co/4hww via
@matteoc
Share on Twitter!
time p r o d u c t s money
Products are the key to decoupling
time and money. But how do you go
about finding products?
@matteoc preshero.co

30. 3 keys to product discovery
@matteoc preshero.co

31. expertise
@matteoc preshero.co
You have to start from the
areas where your expertise
is close to 100%. If you stray
away from your domain of
knowledge, your chances of
success diminish.

32. ease
@matteoc preshero.co
Your product needs to come
from something that easy,
effortless to you. If it’s hard
for you then it’s not the
right path!

33. passion
@matteoc preshero.co
You need to have fun
dealing with the product,
you need to love the
customer base of the
product and be passionate
about what your customers
will do with it.

34. PRESENTATION HERO
Saving the world... from bad presentations
@matteoc preshero.co
I found my product. It’s a
presentation training course
called Presentation Hero!

35. PRESENTATION HERO
Saving the world... from bad presentations
Check it out! You click here now!
@matteoc preshero.co

36. Terrific resources I found along
the way
@matteoc preshero.co

37. @matteoc preshero.co
Patrick McKenzie
(patio11)
The bootstrapped
software as a service
business expert.

38. @matteoc preshero.co
MicroConf
(Prague 10.2014)
Watch the videos if you
can’t afford the
conference.

39. @matteoc preshero.co
Nathan Barry
(Authority)
Master product builder
and product launch
evangelist.

40. @matteoc preshero.co
Noah Kagan
(OkDork)
Practical, tactical
marketing tips that work.

41. @matteoc preshero.co
Brian Dean
(Backlinko)
The missing manual to
pearly white hat SEO.

42. Takeaways
@matteoc preshero.co

43. If you’re a consultant you must have
your clients on a retainer agreement
fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
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Retainer Agreement
@matteoc preshero.co

44. expertise
ease passion
The 3 keys to product discovery are
expertise, ease and passion fbbr.co/
4hww via @matteoc
Share on Twitter!
@matteoc preshero.co

45. You
@matteoc preshero.co
I can’t tell you the future of
PRESENTATION HERO just yet. Only
you can decide how this
presentation ends.

46. @matteoc preshero.co
Share these
ideas with
others?
Apply these
ideas to your
business?

47. Save this presentation!
Download as pdf
@matteoc preshero.co

48. It’s all up to you!
Share this presentation
fbbr.co/4hww
Photo Credits: Matteo Cassese by Stefano Corso, Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button, copyright Warner Bros. Pictures, The Wire copyright by HBO,
Noah Kagan copyright by Noah Kagan, Brian Dean copyright by Brian Dean, Se
Faccio Capisco by Fab Lab Reggio Emilia, Pasta with finocchiona by Luca Nebuloni
Some rights reserved
Icons: Public Domain, Relax designed by Arturo Arce from the Noun Project
Creative Commons – Attribution (CC BY 3.0)
From consulting to productising,
following the money and the meaning
fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
Share on Twitter!
@matteoc preshero.co