Des Traynor speaking at Launch Incubator and on This Week in Startups. There is an infinite amount of advice for startups, but if I had to boil it down to just 10 essentials, these are the most crucial principles every founder needs to understand from an early stage.
2. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4. Without a vision
you’ll flip flop frequently
because you’re not set on
what the future looks like
5. An opinion about
what the future
looks like
The technological
trends you want to
bet on
+ +
What makes a vision…
An idea of change
you want to make
in the world
6. Commerce
Rise in “on demand” impulse
purchases
Real time wins everything
Same day local delivery next
big thing
Rise in subscription services
for commerce
Messaging
SMS is dead
Email is displaced by Slack
New opportunities in
public/private, text/video,
permanent/ephemeral,
1:1/group, personal/group
Customer expectations
shifting as a result of above
Marketing
Shift towards personal &
personalized
Closed loop ROI now vital
Metrics driven
Advertise to start
engagement, not to convert
Clicks & opens dying
What does your future look like?
20. to build the best way for people anywhere in the world to shop for groceries
21. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread design viral
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
28. …which gets you a wide range of feedback…
I need to collaborate
with my director
I want to sell my
photos in 1 click
I’d love to export straight
to Instagram
Better filters pls!
33. Here’s the new application. It’s got one
window.You drag your video into the
window.Then you click the button that
says “burn.”
That’s it.
That’s what we’re gonna make.
34. Ready?
The show doesn’t go on because it’s
ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30 on a
Saturday night.
41. 1. First impressions count
2. The press only cover new material
3. The less you say, the more people listen
Why?
42. Read more on the blog:
How to run a successful beta in 7 steps
43. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
48. mysql> CREATE USER 'monty'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'some_pass';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'monty'@'localhost'
-> WITH GRANT OPTION;
mysql> CREATE USER 'monty'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'some_pass';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'monty'@'%'
-> WITH GRANT OPTION;
mysql> CREATE USER 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'admin_pass';
mysql> GRANT RELOAD,PROCESS ON *.* TO 'admin'@'localhost';
mysql> CREATE USER 'dummy'@'localhost';
And when they signed up, it probably looked like this
49. 1. Your tour is out of date
2. Your docs are out of date
3. Your welcome email is out of date
4. Your video is out of date
The risks…
51. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
52. You need to know
who your real
competitors are
59. Read more on the blog:
Understanding direct and indirect competition
60. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
62. existing
solution
new
solution
You want to maximize the top forces and minimize the bottom ones
The 4 forces influencing a customer switch
Reasons to switch
Reasons to stay
Problems with Current Product Attraction of New Product
Existing Habits & Allegiances Anxiety & Uncertainty of Change
64. This is why switching
is hard and your
product needs to be
~10x better
65. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
66. You need to consider
how your product
will spread
70. A simple way to picture how your product can go viral
Your app
User arrives at site Logs in Uses product
Does something
worth sharing
Shares
Social network
Appears in
social network
Seen by friends Friends click link
71. Measure your product’s k-factor
(viral growth rate)
k a b c d
(k > 1 for viral)
% of users who
publish one share
per visit
share events per
user per visit
users referred from
social networks for
each share event
% of “c” that
are authenticated
users
= ✕ ✕ ✕
72. To improve your virality, focus on the 3 green ratios
Publishing
Daily
Authenticated
Users
Daily
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Unique Users
MUU to MAU
MAU to DAU
DAU to pDAU
73. This is all about sign-ins – these 3 techniques will help…
MUU to MAU
Improving MUU to MAU
Let your users
sign-in any way
they want
(Facebook,Twitter,
etc)
Keep your users
signed in for as long
as you think wise
Promote social
sign-in above your
own login system,
default to whatever
network they
arrived from
74. MAU to DAU
Improving MAU to DAU
This is all about giving your users reasons to return.
The habit forming work we saw earlier helps here.
Have lots of triggers
(push notifications,
emails, etc) to
alert users who
aren’t on site
Solve the cost
benefit analysis of
actions (e.g. make it
easy to do things
that give reward)
Make sure users’
actions can affect
each other (to cause
them to return)
75. Improving DAU to pDAU
For every action a
customer takes you
should ask:
“Is there a good story
here, such that we can
automatically share it on
their behalf via a social
network?”
DAU to pDAU
• Spotify:listens, faves, playlists
• Pinterest:pins, likes
• Nike:runs, starts, stops, cheers
• Foursquare:check-ins, badges, comments, tips
• TripAdvisor:reviews, likes, locations
• Yelp:reviews, comments, check-ins
This is all about lightweight shareable actions.
76. LinkedIn Recommendations are long,
thoughtful pieces.You have to literally ask
for them, as they’re not easy to do
One click
endorsements are
framed perfectly.
“Does Brian have
these skills”,YES!
Boom, 5 actions for
one click.
That triggers an alert
to Brian who logs in
and is, himself, hit
with a lot of
questions about
other people and
their skills
Improving DAU to pDAU
This is all about lightweight shareable actions.
DAU to pDAU
77. This is what virality is.
Publishing
Daily
Authenticated
Users
Daily
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Unique Users
MUU to MAU
MAU to DAU
DAU to pDAU
78. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
81. More users makes the
product better, attracting
more people
Increased competition
makes network less
attractive to advertisers
More advertisers repels
more users
More users attracts more
advertisers
CROSS-SIDE
SAME-SIDE
CROSS-SIDE
SAME-SIDE
Understand same-side and cross-side network effects
82. The role of price in a two-sided marketDemand
Price
Demand
Price$0.01
penny gap
In theory In practice
83. Identify and avoid winner-takes-all markets
Is there a large
cost to either
side for using
>1 product?
Are there
strong positive
network
effects?
Is there room for
differentiation
by specific
features? !
Market will evolve to
winner-takes-all
Yes Yes No
84. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
87. ALL
OF THE TIME
MOST
OF THE TIME
SOME
OF THE TIME
VERY LITTLE
OF THE TIME
FEW
OF THE PEOPLE
SOME
OF THE PEOPLE
MOST
OF THE PEOPLE
ALL
OF THE PEOPLE
Track Time
SMS Alert
Enter Milestones
Search for Files
Search for People
Use Calendar
Import ICS
Set up Time Tracker
Post Message/Reply
Create Project
Add/Complete Tasks
View Dash
Schedule Meeting
Add Team/Company
Archive Project
Change Permissions
Account Settings
Edit Project
Merge Projects
88. ALL
OF THE TIME
MOST
OF THE TIME
SOME
OF THE TIME
VERY LITTLE
OF THE TIME
FEW
OF THE PEOPLE
SOME
OF THE PEOPLE
MOST
OF THE PEOPLE
ALL
OF THE PEOPLE
!
!
!
! !
89. When a good org is mature,
there’s not a lot of work here.
This is the core of our strategy.
It’s hard work.
It’s meaningful work.
It works.
We need to stay way out of here.
90. 4 types of work in your roadmap
Improving a feature:( customer satisfaction)
Getting more people to use it:( % adoption)
Getting people to use it more:( frequency)
A new feature to support a new workflow:( customers/revenue)
91. Howoften
How many use the feature
Always
Often
Rarely
Never
None Few Most
Increase
frequency
How can we
trigger more
usage?
All
92. Howoften
How many use the feature
Always
Often
Rarely
Never
None Few Most All
Increase
adoption
What’s stopping
people from using us?
93. Read more on the blog:
Where do product roadmaps come from?
94. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
97. In a recent customer survey,
we asked users what
features they wanted from
the new version of Microsoft
Office. More than 90 percent
asked for features that were
already available in office…
“
“
98. Sell what the feature let’s the user do, not what it is
101. Have a plan for how next week’s customers hear about this week’s launch
102. Follow up with users and non-users to learn what worked/didn’t work
103. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
112. When you get new information,
you change your opinion.
Always act on that change.
113. If you knew then what you know now, would you still have…
built that feature?
chosen that architecture?
shipped that integration?
designed that screen?
114. Sharing everything we know
about growing a startup
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