{"id":1245,"date":"2018-04-13T15:55:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T20:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/starpointgroup.com\/?page_id=1245"},"modified":"2023-08-30T16:09:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T21:09:05","slug":"startup-planning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.starpointgroup.com\/marketing-consulting\/startup-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

LET YOUR PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS BE YOUR GUIDE<\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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“A startup is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.” \u2013 Eric Ries<\/cite><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

STARTUP PLANNING<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Build-Measure-Learn <\/strong>With the publication of \u201cThe Lean Startup\u201d (Ries, 2011), Eric Ries provided entrepreneurs with a comprehensive roadmap for building a new business through repeated cycles of rapid testing and empirically-based learning: a guide that is both inspiring and tremendously helpful. Reis\u2019 \u201cBuild-Measure-Lean\u201d testing cycle (Ries, 2011, p. 75), together with cohort analysis and innovation accounting (Ries, 2011, p. 121), offers a clear roadmap for startup innovators who are contemplating making the leap into the unknown.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

He also documents a personal history of \u201clessons learned the hard way\u201d through a startup venture that nearly failed.  At various points in \u201cThe Lean Startup\u201d Ries asserts that customer research is pointless because \u201ccustomers don\u2019t know what they want in advance.\u201d<\/em> (Ries, 2011, p. 49) While that statement is largely true on the surface, it is also deeply misleading.  No one with experience in new product research would ever directly ask a target customer \u201cWhat features or functionality do you want in \u2018New Product X\u2019?\u201d<\/em> \u2026 and expect to get a reasonable answer. That\u2019s not how it\u2019s done.  Instead, you ask your customers to help you understand their world, and then build something that fits well within it.<\/p>\n

There are many variants on the theme, but stripped to the basics, productive new product development research is a two-phase process that usually starts with a category exploration, often qualitative in nature, and then continues with at least one artfully crafted concept test.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

QUALITATIVE CATEGORY EXPLORATIONS<\/a><\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

A qualitative category exploration is generally the first step in a new product development effort.  It\u2019s relatively cheap, it doesn\u2019t require a massive study or a subscription to access a syndicated data base, and it can take a variety of forms depending on budget and project needs.<\/p>\n

Qualitative category explorations are intentionally non-directive at the outset.  The objective is to allow the user to describe, in their own terms, how they participate in the category, what products they currently use, how they feel about the options available to them, and finally, the benefits (and problems) they have experienced in the category.   These explorations can take many forms. For information on the principal options, read more here<\/strong>\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

CONCEPT TESTS<\/a><\/h6>\n
 <\/h6>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The second step in the development process involves a concept test.  New product concepts can take many forms and, to his credit, Ries mentions several of them.  (A favorite example is the video created by Drew Hudson to demo the intended functionality of Dropbox. (Ries, 2011, p. 97))  In its simplest form a product or service concept is a short written statement \u2013 generally accompanied by a visual element \u2013 that describes what the product or service does, lists a small number of differentiating attributes and (hopefully!) communicates the intended end-user benefit.   In more elaborate variants on this theme \u2013 which we recommend \u2013 one creates a small suite of concept statements or visuals that are crafted to intentionally vary the highlighted functionality and potential end-user benefits.  These concepts are then presented to prospective customers\/end-users for preference assessment either singly or in rotation depending on the assessment methodology.   For more information about how concept tests can accelerate the \u201cBuild-Measure-Learn\u201d validated learning loop, click here\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

MPROVING \u201cBUILD-MEASURE-LEARN\u201d<\/a><\/h6>\n
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Both of these standard new product develop steps can be inserted at the front-end of the validated learning cycle where the impact can be the greatest: prior to any investment in the \u201cBuild\u201d phase of the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The qualitative category exploration is designed to inform and to clarify the entrepreneur\u2019s vision of the market and of the proposed new product or service \u2013 specifically, how the startup might best fit within the framework of existing options.  This, in turn, leads to the concept test phase where those ideas are translated into specific product descriptions complete with references to unique features and a clear, compelling customer benefit.<\/p>\n

By injecting customer research into the front-end of the process, the development team can dramatically reduce uncertainty in terms of feature set, user benefit and product positioning, which form the conceptual framework for the MVP.  This, in turn, should both focus and accelerate the \u201cBuild-Measure-Learn\u201d feedback loop by eliminating non-starters before the \u201cBuild\u201d process is initiated.  Read more here\u2026<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Moore, G. A. (2014). Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers<\/em> (3rd Edition ed.). New York: HarperBusiness, and imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.<\/p>\n

Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today\u2019s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radially Successful Businesses.<\/em> New York: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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