Startup: 4. Building Product, Talking to Users, and Growing

Problem

• What is it ?
• How does it relate to you ? ( Am I passionate about that problem ? )
• Verify others have it

Where to Start

• Learn a lot ! Become Expert. ( How industry works )
• Identify customers segments ( optimize for small group of users )
• Storyboard Ideal User Experience ( write it down )
  • How Customers find about you (Ads, WOW)
  • What you communicate to them
  • Sign up, purchase
  • What they do after purchase (leave review, comment)

Minimum Viable Product ( MVP)

• What’s the smallest feature set that you should build to solve the problem that you are trying to solve ?

First Few Users

• you, your mom, friends, online communities, local communities, niche inluencers, mommy bloggers
• Cold Calls, Emails, Press

Customer Feedback

• support@
• Surveys: OK
• Interviews: Better
• Quantitative: Retention, Ratings, NPS
• Qualitative: ask Why, Why, Why
• Honestly Curve ( paying customers are most honest, not your mom)

First Version of Product

• Build Fast
• Optimize for present stage ( 1-100 users)
• Temporary Brokeness > Pernament Paralysis
• Don’t build all features customers asking for

Growrth

Three Types:

• Sticky ( Keeping current customers and get them either come often or pay more
• Viral ( Word of mounth)
• Paid (Ads, SEM, Display Ads, Groupon, B2B, street marketing)

Sticky Growth

• Repeat Users
• Good Expierence Wins -> They will want to use you
• CLV/LTV (Customer Lifetime) + Retention Cohort Analysis

Viral

• WOW Experience + Good Referral Programs
  • Customer Touch Points (How they will reffer to their friends)
  • Program mechanics ($10 for $10)
  • Referral Conversion Flow

Always watch your Growth ( Growth Plan)

Pivoting

1. Bad Growth
2. Bad Retention
3. Bad Economics