product development for startups
TRANSCRIPT
Product DevelopmentBy, George DeebOctober 19, 2016
@RedRocketVC www.RedRocketVC.com 312-600-7560
Managing Partner (2010 to Date)
Chairman & CEO (2008-2010)
Founder & CEO (1999-2008)
Investment Banker (1991-1999)
BBA-Finance (1987-1991)
About George Deeb
Do Your Research
Industry- Understand high level trends and needs
Competitors- Know what you are up against, and be better
Prospective Customers- Ask what are their current painpoints- Ask their reaction to where you are heading- Get them to be free pilot customers during testing period
Product Vision/Roadmap
Build a Business, Not a Functionality- Clearly think through revenue plan and functionality
Gather Inputs From All Stakeholders- Employees across depts, technologists, customers
MVP to Start- Honda now, Rolls Royce later- Initial architecture decisions could create long-term hurdles
Think Through a Three Year Plan (Product is Never Done)- How will Version 1.0 evolve into Version 2.0 and 3.0
Protect Your Intellectual Property- Get good legal advice here on patents and contracts
Product Specifications
KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid!- The easier it is to use, the more people will use it- It is better to drive “wisdom”, than “widgets”
Pick Platforms- Will you need each of Android, iOS, Web? Start small.
Pick Coding Languages- Should you code in HTML, Java, Python or Ruby?
Design vs. Development Plans and Teams- Need to optimize for both, they are NOT the same thing
Involve Marketing- Incorporate social sharing into your product design
Development Plan
Agile Software Development Process- Two week sprints and regroup with new learnings
Beta vs. Version 1.0- Get your MVP live as beta and start testing it- Not officially Version 1.0 until you have tested and are happy
New Code vs. Open Source- Don’t reinvent the wheel, plenty of free software out there
Hosted Internally vs. The Cloud- Don’t incur big overhead day one, leverage the Cloud
UX Testing
Watch Users Play With Your App- Is the interface intuitive—are they doing what we intended- Is the product engaging—does it suck them in from start
Leverage Key Technologies- Take advantage of A/B testing—which version works best- Many tools for eye-tracking and user testing
Inhouse vs. Outsource
Are You a Technical Founder?- Then building your own team, probably makes sense
Are You NOT a Technical Founder?- Either need to partner with a technical co-founder- Or, engage a development agency for your MVP- Perfectly fine to start with agency, but internalize long term
What Do VC’s Prefer?- Ultimately, you will need your own team to attract capital
Get Good Legal Protections in Both Cases- Make sure all employees, agencies or contractors sign all
copyrights over to you
Estimating Costs
Project Manager’s TimeDevelopers’ TimeDesigners’ Time (including UX time)QA TimeThird Party Software Licenses– CMS, database, ad serving, credit cards, email mgmt, etc.
Hardware NeedsCloud Services/Hosting/DomainsLegal Time to Protect IP (e.g., contracts, patents)Proof-of-Concept Marketing Support
Whatever You Estimate . . . Build In Cushions to Be Conservative!!
Development KPIs
Staying On Time—Break Into Bite Size PartsStaying on BudgetQuality Control MetricsProductivity/Resource Utilization MetricsSite Performance MetricsSupport Desk MetricsUser Satisfaction/NPS MetricsEmployee Satisfaction MetricsFinancial Return Metrics- Shoot for a 10x ROI on your development spend
However Long You Think It Will Take . . . Double It!!
Further Reading
http://www.RedRocketVC.com
Lesson #20: Setting Your Product & Pricing StrategyLesson #36: Picking The Best Technology for Your StartupLesson #70: Protect Your Intellectual PropertyLesson #73: Consumer Usability TestingLesson #118: Market Research for StartupsLesson #129: “Productize” Your Business for Maximum EfficiencyLesson #170: Your Proof of Concept is More Important Than ProductLesson #172: Don’t Finalize Tech Dev Plan Until You Involve MarketingLesson #197: R&D and Sales Must Be Tied to the HipLesson #230: Evolve From Selling “Widgets” to Selling “Wisdom”Lesson #232: Do You Own The Copyright to Your Own TechnologyLesson #238: Continue to Innovate, or Die a Slow Death
@georgedeeb