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RAPID PROTOTYPING A LEAN APPROACH TO QUICKLY VALIDATING ASSUMPTIONS

David Evans CEO, Geode Software, Inc.

Mentor Prep + Cost Assumptions Business Model Validation Lab Identify Assumptions Rapid Prototyping Mentor Prep + Cost Assumptions Strategic Planning Customer Discovery Customer Validation Mentor Feedback Keep Momentum

I’M BUILDING A HOUSE

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH?

IT STARTS WITH A PROTOTYPE

A methodology to learn something very quickly about your customer WHAT IS A PROTOTYPE? A prototype is an early sample or model of a product, service, experience, or plan that is built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from A methodology to learn something very quickly about your customer

THE LEAN STARTUP WAY “We must learn what customers really want, not what they say they want or what we think they should want.” Eric Ries, Lean Startup Definition of a prototype

IT STARTS WITH A THOUGHT Hypothesize Prototype Validate

HOW NOT TO DO IT “I know what this market needs” SaaS point of sale for ticket resellers 18 months of development Early pilot customer

THE RIGHT WAY “Will people buy shoes online?” Deal with a local shoe store Simple site with limited inventory Only validating the core question

PUT THE OBJECTIONS AWAY I’m too advanced for this... I’ve already built my prototype... I already have a product I am selling... I handle sales, my co-founder handles the product

THIS IS A MENTAL MODEL A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences.

ASSUME A 5% CHANCE OF SUCCESS

Jim Barksdale, Netscape OPINIONS ARE LIKE… “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” Jim Barksdale, Netscape

THE MOST DANGEROUS PHRASES TO A STARTUP “I think…” “We assume…” “Someone said…”

A PROTOTYPE GATHERS DATA Product Service Customer experience Website Marketing campaign 1-pager for sales / marketing Sales process

NOW GO GET IT Feedback from as close to your target as possible Actual interaction is the best If you have to ask, use the “Mom Test”

BUT LET’S NOT GO NUTS

EXERCISE TIME

HYPOTHESIZE PROTOTYPE VALIDATE EXERCISE QUESTIONS What aspect of your business do you want or need to test? What action do you need your customer to take? HYPOTHESIZE What can you do to get a customer to take the desired action? PROTOTYPE How many people does it take to reach a conclusion? How will you measure success? VALIDATE

LESSONS TO TAKE AWAY Prototype Validated Feedback A testable hypothesis is measurable Measure one variable, if possible It’s not just product and marketing that can be prototyped Asking is not testing Must be tangible enough for the audience to “get” it The best feedback is from actual customers with actual money

QUESTIONS?