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Think like a tech startup webinar

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Tallwave
Tallwave

This document provides an overview of an agenda for launching a new idea or business. It discusses validating ideas through quick prototyping, finding product-market fit, developing an MVP, telling your brand's story, and optimizing sales and marketing systems. Caveats for technology businesses are also presented, such as the risk of inertia, the likelihood that the initial idea will be wrong, and potential challenges as the tech business outpaces the core business. Guest speaker Greg Woodman shares his experience transforming a niche business into a major fundraising platform through database marketing.

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PRESENTERS: Jerrod Bailey Partner & Practice Lead Robert Wallace Partner, EVP Marketing July 14, 2015
AGENDA ● You have an idea, now what? ● Where does your idea stand? ● Conventional wisdom and an alternative approach. ● How to make your idea a reality. ● Guest speaker: Greg Woodman ● Caveats when creating technology. ● Q&A
INTRODUCTION
YOU HAVE AN IDEA ● For a new business ● For an existing business an idea to make $/save $ an idea people will LOVE an idea that will change the world
Which side do you want to be on?
Companies need to grow…. or die.
Where does your idea/company stand? A new idea? An existing business ready to pivot? Move fast. Gain traction quickly. Build features that users love.
Conventional Wisdom $ $100K Bet #1: Product Bet #2: Go-to-Market 2.0!3.0!4.0!n.0! Product- Market Fit!! Idea Scale
An Alternative Approach $ Idea Scale
An Alternative Approach $ Idea Scale $ Sales & Marketing Website & Brand Software (MVP) Prototype Product- Market Fit
How do you get to product market fit?
Plan & reduce risk. Validate until you find the right answer. Define your brand and tell a great story. Create optimized sales systems.
Business Blueprint ● Value Propositions ● Differentiators ● Disruptive Qualities ● Customer Segments ● Customer Acquisition ● Financial Model ○ Revenue Streams ○ Expense Drivers ○ Financial Thresholds ● Validation Gaps ● Competition ● Market Sizing ● Current Team Evaluation & Gaps ● Observations & Hypotheses
Prototype + Validate ● Test your assumptions with end users. ● Reduce development scope and focus on features that matter. ● Have a tangible user experience to showcase to prospective investors and customers.
Prototype + Validate Sketch Wireframe Digital Wireframe Photoshop Comp Quickly Ideate & Test with Users in a Clickable Prototype
Prototype + Validate Introduced a SaaS solution to an industry that relies heavily on spreadsheets and static reports. Quickly created a prototype to demo to prospective customers and investors. Raised funding to complete development of product. Launched product with customers lined up to use the platform. Prototype + Validate
Tell Your Story ● Your brand is your most important asset. ● Products won’t sell themselves. ● Features and functionality are not what people buy. Benefits and value are.
Positioning, Branding, and Messaging: Get to the point. POSITIONING STATEMENT: Sparrow is the leading payment solutions provider that delivers state of the art tools and services to merchants, ISOs and ISVs. Unlike competitors like Authorize.net, Sparrow is the only company that combines product innovation with superior levels of service that result in increased operational efficiencies, the creation of new revenue streams, and growth for our customers. POSITIONING STATEMENT: Originally developed for the United States Armed Forces Exchange, 5th Dimension continues to exceed PCI Compliance standards. While most companies are reactive in dealing with cyber-attacks, 5th Dimension Logistics has been proactive about payment security, the handling of confidential information and online fraud prevention. The bottom line is that we are in the security business and our customers are relying on us to keep their payment data safe. With that mission in mind 5th Dimension enables our merchants to safely process credit cards and ACH transactions. BEFORE AFTER
Positioning, Branding, and Messaging: Tell the world your story.
Find Your Customers ● Build a list of target customers. ● Identify compelling messaging to convert prospects to customers. ● Implement systems that are easy to manage and are scalable with capital/revenue. ● Create efficient, long-term revenue acquisition systems.
Find Your Customers VFT Success ● Utilized LinkedIn and remote assistants to automate sales process. ● Seeking high level execs at fortune 500 companies ● Targeted BOOLEAN searches on LinkedIn list of prospective customers ● Achieved 40 qualified leads in first two days. ● LinkedIn is 300% more efficient than your next best sales prospecting channel
GREG WOODMAN Founder and CEO Affinity Connection ● Since 2000, transformed a niche fraternity alumni newsletter business into a database-enabled fundraising powerhouse serving myriad organizations. Award-winning Marketing VP with AIRWALK Footwear ● Grew revenue from $14 to $250 million in four years ● Featured in The Tipping Point, Forbes ● AIRWALK #20 spot among the “Coolest Brands” ranked by Teen Research Unlimited ● Footwear News’ Footwear Marketer of the Year in 2008 Prolific publisher and serial entrepreneur in the collegiate market ● Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year greg@affinityconnection.com
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION A Product company has very different DNA than a Services company. Expect to import talent once you launch and give them autonomy.
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Beware of development shops and digital agencies. They will build what you ask for. Make sure your partner is including your target buyers in their ideation and testing, even if you have to provide the users!
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION It's easy to think you have the right answer for the market but be aware that you're too close to the program. Use people (users) outside your organization to expand and nuance your thinking about what problem you’re solving and for which types of users.
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your organization tends toward inertia so prepare for it. Speed, Prototyping and Validation are your levers to keep organizational support. With a minimal budget, Prototype immediately and test with users.
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your current idea is guaranteed to be wrong in some fundamental ways. Anticipate this, and hone down your first version of your product so you have financial room to pivot. Avoid dev partners who do not advise removing unnecessary features.
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Early, positive feedback from users can lead you to make bigger bets than you should. Always be asking “what am I missing”, and think of ways of validating hypotheses. For example, consider setting up a separate, branded landing page to validate whether you can build a list of beta users. This will tell you how hard it will be to attract your early adopters. You can do this before you touch a line of code.
Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your tech business may quickly surpass your core business. Structure the company in such a way that you can attract outside capital to share the risk or so you can decouple the businesses later. This means clearly defining ownership and accounting delineations. Later, it may mean operational delinations.
Tallwave has launched, packaged, or advised over 70 early-stage and fast-growth companies: Software-as-a-Service B2B and B2C Digital Marketing Ecommerce AdTech EdTech Healthcare IT Consumer Insight Technology Consumer Goods And more...
The Tallwave Way $ Idea Scale $ Sales & Marketing Website & Brand Software (MVP) Prototype Product- Market Fit
Plan & reduce risk. Validate until you find the right answer. Define your brand and tell a great story. Create optimized sales systems. SUMMARY Questions?
INFO@TALLWAVE.COM JERROD.BAILEY@TALLWAVE.COM ROBERT.WALLACE@TALLWAVE.COM TWITTER.COM/TALLWAVE FACEBOOK.COM/TALLWAVE

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Think like a tech startup webinar

  • 1. PRESENTERS: Jerrod Bailey Partner & Practice Lead Robert Wallace Partner, EVP Marketing July 14, 2015
  • 2. AGENDA ● You have an idea, now what? ● Where does your idea stand? ● Conventional wisdom and an alternative approach. ● How to make your idea a reality. ● Guest speaker: Greg Woodman ● Caveats when creating technology. ● Q&A
  • 4. YOU HAVE AN IDEA ● For a new business ● For an existing business an idea to make $/save $ an idea people will LOVE an idea that will change the world
  • 5. Which side do you want to be on?
  • 7. Where does your idea/company stand? A new idea? An existing business ready to pivot? Move fast. Gain traction quickly. Build features that users love.
  • 8. Conventional Wisdom $ $100K Bet #1: Product Bet #2: Go-to-Market 2.0!3.0!4.0!n.0! Product- Market Fit!! Idea Scale
  • 10. An Alternative Approach $ Idea Scale $ Sales & Marketing Website & Brand Software (MVP) Prototype Product- Market Fit
  • 11. How do you get to product market fit?
  • 12. Plan & reduce risk. Validate until you find the right answer. Define your brand and tell a great story. Create optimized sales systems.
  • 13. Business Blueprint ● Value Propositions ● Differentiators ● Disruptive Qualities ● Customer Segments ● Customer Acquisition ● Financial Model ○ Revenue Streams ○ Expense Drivers ○ Financial Thresholds ● Validation Gaps ● Competition ● Market Sizing ● Current Team Evaluation & Gaps ● Observations & Hypotheses
  • 14. Prototype + Validate ● Test your assumptions with end users. ● Reduce development scope and focus on features that matter. ● Have a tangible user experience to showcase to prospective investors and customers.
  • 15. Prototype + Validate Sketch Wireframe Digital Wireframe Photoshop Comp Quickly Ideate & Test with Users in a Clickable Prototype
  • 16. Prototype + Validate Introduced a SaaS solution to an industry that relies heavily on spreadsheets and static reports. Quickly created a prototype to demo to prospective customers and investors. Raised funding to complete development of product. Launched product with customers lined up to use the platform. Prototype + Validate
  • 17. Tell Your Story ● Your brand is your most important asset. ● Products won’t sell themselves. ● Features and functionality are not what people buy. Benefits and value are.
  • 18. Positioning, Branding, and Messaging: Get to the point. POSITIONING STATEMENT: Sparrow is the leading payment solutions provider that delivers state of the art tools and services to merchants, ISOs and ISVs. Unlike competitors like Authorize.net, Sparrow is the only company that combines product innovation with superior levels of service that result in increased operational efficiencies, the creation of new revenue streams, and growth for our customers. POSITIONING STATEMENT: Originally developed for the United States Armed Forces Exchange, 5th Dimension continues to exceed PCI Compliance standards. While most companies are reactive in dealing with cyber-attacks, 5th Dimension Logistics has been proactive about payment security, the handling of confidential information and online fraud prevention. The bottom line is that we are in the security business and our customers are relying on us to keep their payment data safe. With that mission in mind 5th Dimension enables our merchants to safely process credit cards and ACH transactions. BEFORE AFTER
  • 19. Positioning, Branding, and Messaging: Tell the world your story.
  • 20. Find Your Customers ● Build a list of target customers. ● Identify compelling messaging to convert prospects to customers. ● Implement systems that are easy to manage and are scalable with capital/revenue. ● Create efficient, long-term revenue acquisition systems.
  • 21. Find Your Customers VFT Success ● Utilized LinkedIn and remote assistants to automate sales process. ● Seeking high level execs at fortune 500 companies ● Targeted BOOLEAN searches on LinkedIn list of prospective customers ● Achieved 40 qualified leads in first two days. ● LinkedIn is 300% more efficient than your next best sales prospecting channel
  • 22. GREG WOODMAN Founder and CEO Affinity Connection ● Since 2000, transformed a niche fraternity alumni newsletter business into a database-enabled fundraising powerhouse serving myriad organizations. Award-winning Marketing VP with AIRWALK Footwear ● Grew revenue from $14 to $250 million in four years ● Featured in The Tipping Point, Forbes ● AIRWALK #20 spot among the “Coolest Brands” ranked by Teen Research Unlimited ● Footwear News’ Footwear Marketer of the Year in 2008 Prolific publisher and serial entrepreneur in the collegiate market ● Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year greg@affinityconnection.com
  • 23. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION A Product company has very different DNA than a Services company. Expect to import talent once you launch and give them autonomy.
  • 24. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Beware of development shops and digital agencies. They will build what you ask for. Make sure your partner is including your target buyers in their ideation and testing, even if you have to provide the users!
  • 25. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION It's easy to think you have the right answer for the market but be aware that you're too close to the program. Use people (users) outside your organization to expand and nuance your thinking about what problem you’re solving and for which types of users.
  • 26. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your organization tends toward inertia so prepare for it. Speed, Prototyping and Validation are your levers to keep organizational support. With a minimal budget, Prototype immediately and test with users.
  • 27. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your current idea is guaranteed to be wrong in some fundamental ways. Anticipate this, and hone down your first version of your product so you have financial room to pivot. Avoid dev partners who do not advise removing unnecessary features.
  • 28. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Early, positive feedback from users can lead you to make bigger bets than you should. Always be asking “what am I missing”, and think of ways of validating hypotheses. For example, consider setting up a separate, branded landing page to validate whether you can build a list of beta users. This will tell you how hard it will be to attract your early adopters. You can do this before you touch a line of code.
  • 29. Caveats When Creating Technology RISK REMEDIATION Your tech business may quickly surpass your core business. Structure the company in such a way that you can attract outside capital to share the risk or so you can decouple the businesses later. This means clearly defining ownership and accounting delineations. Later, it may mean operational delinations.
  • 30. Tallwave has launched, packaged, or advised over 70 early-stage and fast-growth companies: Software-as-a-Service B2B and B2C Digital Marketing Ecommerce AdTech EdTech Healthcare IT Consumer Insight Technology Consumer Goods And more...
  • 31. The Tallwave Way $ Idea Scale $ Sales & Marketing Website & Brand Software (MVP) Prototype Product- Market Fit
  • 32. Plan & reduce risk. Validate until you find the right answer. Define your brand and tell a great story. Create optimized sales systems. SUMMARY Questions?