JFDI Mentor Rowan Simpson
spoke to 75 founders yesterday at Startup Talks as part of the JFDI–Innov8 2012 Bootcamp.
He asked the audience to think of a startup as a chain and the following concepts as links in the chain.
Need – Real Demand – Product – Manufacture – Distribution – Marketing – Behaviour
For a startup to succeed and realize its intended impact, these links must be strong.
How do you know whether there are strong or weak links holding your startup together? If you can answer the following questions, you are on the right path.
Need
Q: What problem do you solve?
Real Demand
Q: Is there someone who wants you to solve that problem
Q: Who needs your product the most, right now?
This question is borrowed from Paul Graham. Note that there are two parts to this question: it asks who are the customers who need your product the most and who are those that need it the most urgently. Those aren’t necessarily the same people.
Q: Do they know that they have this need?
Q: How much are they prepared to pay to solve that problem.
Product
Q: Can you design a solution to the problem?
Make sure the solution you design actually solves the problem you’ve identified.
Manufacture
Q: Can you build a solution to the problem?
Designing and building a solution to the problem you’ve identified are two different things. In order to build a business, you must be able to make and sell your product in a scalable way and at a high enough margin. Otherwise, it’s not a business, it’s an art project.
Distribution
Q: Where are the customers?
Identify where your customers exist first, then figure out how to reach them. Too often, startups try to figure out the latter first.
Q: How do you reach the customers?
Q: Who is already talking to them?
Tap into networks and people who are already reaching your target customers.
Marketing
Q: How will you persuade people to use?
Q How will you persuade people to buy?
Most startups answer one but not both of these questions. That won’t keep you in business. Also keep in mind that the customer and the user are not always the same person/organization.
Behaviour
Q: Do they actually use it.
Do not skip this step– make yourself humble with real data.
Q: Do they use it as you thought they would?
And the most important question:
Q: Now that you know what you know…what are you going to do differently?
Rowan’s talk is based on friend Kevin Starr’s presentation at PopTech, which you can check out here.
Real awesome presentation by Rowan. Especially the style he used in presenting said subject matter.