dominic bortolussi's lean startup lessons

@twg

LEAN STARTUP LESSONS(AND A LEAN CANVAS

EXPERIMENT)

Dominic BortolussiThe Working Group

twg.ca

@twg

DOMINIC BORTOLUSSI

FOUNDER THE WORKING GROUP - 2002.

WEB AND MOBILE SOFTWARE CREATION

STARTUP ENTHUSIAST, MENTOR, ACTIVATOR

@twg

“This industry is a dying giant”

(the news industry)

@twg

“We aren’t a news source, we aren’t professional

journalists, and we don’t care.”

- Their ‘About’ page, Dec, 2013.

@twg

REVENUE HAS DECREASED BY 13% ACROSS CANADA’S

NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS

(SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA)

@twg

AND IT’S PREDICTED TO DROP 20% BY 2017

(SOURCE: PWC GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA OUTLOOK)

@twg

LAYOFFS AT THE NATIONAL POST, GLOBE & MAIL, TORONTO SUN, CBC…. THE LIST GOES ON

@twg

Wait..“This industry is a dying

giant”

What TV is doing to the movie industry. - U.S. News & World Report (1958)

Yes …1958

@twg

EVERYTHING GETS DISRUPTED

@twg

NOBODY’S RUNNING OUT OF IDEASBut we’ll want to identify the good ones.

@twg @twg #techraking

@twg @twg #techraking

@twg

HOW DO WE MAKE SURE OUR IDEAS ARE GOOD?

AVOID

Front Porch ForumYou???TSN

@twg #smwsmash

ABOUT US

“LIFE’S TOO SHORT TO BUILD SOMETHING NOBODY WANTS.”

- @ASHMAURYA

“LIFE’S TOO SHORT TO BUILD SOMETHING NOBODY WANTS.”

- @ASHMAURYA

@twg

The OLD WAY and The NEW WAY

@twg

Lean Canvas: Your Startup Blueprint

@twg

Lean Canvas: Your Startup Blueprint

@twg #techraking

1. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS & PROBLEM

•List the 3 biggest problems your customer has

•List existing alternatives

@twg #techraking

2. UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

•Single compelling message stating your difference and value.

•Target early adopters

•Focus on finished story benefits

@twg #techraking

3. SOLUTION

•Sketch out the top features or capabilities for each problem

@twg #techraking

4. CHANNELS

•Channels are how your business will reach its customers

•They let people know about your product

•PR, SEO, Word of Mouth

@twg #techraking

5. REVENUE STREAMS AND COST STRUCTURE

•How will you make money?

•How much money do you need to make?

@twg #techraking

6. KEY METRICS

•One or two key activities that will drive people to use your product

•One or two key activities that prove your product is useful

@twg #techraking

7. UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

•Channels are how your business will reach its customers

•They let people know about your product

•PR, blogging, email

@twg @twg #techraking

@twg #techraking

THEINFORMATION.COM

“IN A STARTUP NO FACTS EXIST INSIDE THE BUILDING. ONLY

OPINIONS” - @SGBLANK

“IN A STARTUP NO FACTS EXIST INSIDE THE BUILDING. ONLY

OPINIONS” - @SGBLANK

@twg

Test the hypotheses of your Lean

Canvas

Learn as much as you can about

your customers and their pain

Keep going until you stop learning

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

GET OUT OF THE

BUILDING

GET OUT OF THE

BUILDING

DO INTERVIEWS (YOU MIGHT

HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE)

DO INTERVIEWS (YOU MIGHT

HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE)

@twg

Ask about their problems. “What is

the hardest part about _____.”

Learn about their pain, and what

they currently do to resolve it.

Listen, romance, repeat, record

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY“PROBLEM” INTERVIEWS

@twg

Tell your customers your value prop

and solution details. Present

something.

How are they solving it today? Is this

better?

Will they commit to trying it and a

price?

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY“SOLUTION” INTERVIEWS

@twg

THEN WHAT?

Repeat, interview, and fine tune your Solution.

Do this until you feel ready to create your

‘Minimum Viable Product’ to launch.

Track the metrics.. looking for traction.

@twg

Steve Blank - The friendly ‘Godfather’ of Lean

TWG STARTUP ACADEMY - LEAN CANVAS

@twg

CUSTOMER - STARTUPS

Early Stage Software Startups - developing and

testing their MVP.

Have 25K+ now to allocate to design,

development, testing of their MVP.

Planning to raise more significant investment

once Market fit has been established.

@twg

PROBLEM - STARTUPS

Software production - need to iterate their MVP

on the web, or in mobile.

Hiring - need to find talent to design, build, test

Investment - need to build relationships with

investors

Experience - don’t know everything about

growing and running a business.

@twg

UVP - STARTUPS

Augment your Startup with an investment from

Canada’s top designers and developers.

Work with an investor who can roll up their sleeves

and work alongside you, building and testing your

product.

@twg

SOLUTION - STARTUPS

A partner who invests by delivering on the design, coding,

and testing for your MVP

A partner who invests by finding and growing your design

and tech team

A partner who can show you the best practices in Lean and

Agile approaches to software development. Validate MVP.

A partner who has a deep and active investor network

A partner who helps fill the gaps in knowledge and

experience

@twg

CHANNELS - STARTUPS

Funding Roadshows

Accelerators - MaRS, Extreme Startups,

IdeaLab, General Assembly

Startup Weekend Toronto

Angel Networks

Meetups - Rails pub night, LeanCoffeeTO,

#nerdlearn

@twg

REVENUE - STARTUPS

Average early stage VC’s have .300 ‘winners’

batting average

Average early VC’s stage aim for over 8X on

their winners

Our batting average so far is .600 (so far..)

And we need only a 2 - 3 X on our winners

@twg

CUSTOMER - INVESTORS

Angels,

Looking at technology startups,

100K+ to invest

@twg

PROBLEM - INVESTORS

Inexperienced teams (technology, business,

marketing).

Product needs to still be validated

Unknown cost to build and iterate product

@twg

UVP - INVESTORS

De-risk your investment in Startups with a Partner

investment from one of Canada’s top software design

and development firms.

@twg

SOLUTION - INVESTORS

A partner who can help the Startup validate their MVP.

A partner who can teach best practices in Lean and Agile software

dev.

A partner who can deliver design, code, and testing for their MVP

A partner who can help grow their design and tech team

A partner who has a deep and active startup network

A partner who helps fill their gaps in knowledge and experience

A partner who does some or all of the above as an investment.

@twg

CHANNELS - INVESTORS

Funding Roadshows

Accelerators - MaRS, Extreme Startups,

IdeaLab, General Assembly

Startup Weekend Toronto

Angel Networks

Meetups - Rails pub night, LeanCoffeeTO,

#nerdlearn

@twg

TWG ACADEMY ALUMNI

Shoplocket - Acquired 2014Greengage ((now Nudge) - Active, Funded, ScalingThe OMX - Active, FundedPilot App - Acquired 2013Front Porch Forum - Active, Funded, ScalingPostageApp - Active, Funded, ScalingUnhaggle - Active, Funded, ScalingRayku - Active, MVP validationOrganicsLive – Active, ScalingStrokelink - Active, waiting..

@twg

WE’RE EXCITED TO WORK WITH YOU.

Email: dom@twg.caPing: @dombort