MVP = Minimum Viable Product But should it? My esteemed colleague Raymond Luk is well known for his catchy quotes. If only we could post more of his catchphrases on Twitter. Lots of “OH” material at Year One Labs partner meetings… So yesterday, Raymond said, “The MVP is a process, not a product…” And that’s […]
Target Markets: Should be Disrupted vs. Ready for Disruption
There are a lot of markets that should be disrupted. Big, juicy, billion+ dollar markets that deserve disruption. But there’s a big difference between a market that should be disrupted and one that’s ready to be disrupted. And the distinction is important. Take the HR / Recruitment space. It should be disrupted. It’s huge, there’s […]
Launching Year One Labs – An Early Stage Seed Accelerator
Today is a big day. After 6 or so months, I’ve launched my new startup: Year One Labs. Year One Labs is an early stage seed accelerator that will help fund and build startups, primarily in the web and mobile spaces. Although we’ll be in the business of helping others launch their startups, Year One […]
Scratching Your Own Itch May be Detrimental to Your Startup’s Health
A lot of startups come into existence when the founders work to solve their own problems. They “scratch their own itch” and (hopefully!) find that lots of other people are itchy too. But there are significant risks as well. These days a lot of startups are launched quickly with a couple of technical co-founders. That […]
Product-Market Fit or Market-Product Fit?
When starting out a project we know how important it is to get out of the building, talk to prospects and figure out whether our idea holds any merit. That’s the basis of Customer Development. And the goal is to get to Product-Market Fit, where the product is validated and built for a specific market, […]
In Customer Interviews Don’t Rush to Pitch the Solution
All the theory in the world won’t make a lick of difference if you don’t get into the field and do something. That’s why advice isn’t worth as much as it should be, and isn’t nearly as effective as it should be. Entrepreneurs consistently make the same mistakes over and over, even when there are […]
Being Wrong is So Hard But So Good
No one likes being wrong. It’s frustrating, demoralizing and irritating. Some people flat out refuse to be wrong … ever. You know the type, right? Being wrong is so hard. But it can be so good too. If you can accept being wrong (at least from time to time!), then you’re more likely to have […]
Efficiency isn’t a Sellable Value Proposition
When ranking value propositions to pitch customers, efficiency should be at the bottom of the list. It doesn’t mean enough or have enough real value to inspire purchasing decisions. For starters, efficiency means different things to different people. Who will be more efficient? Is it the person using the software, or are the efficiencies realized […]
Riding a Mega-Trend Isn’t the Same as Solving a Real Problem
Mega-trends are good. Investors like mega-trends. There are lots of opportunities that exist as a result of mega-trends. For example: The population of old people is going to massively overshadow the population of younger people that can replace them in the workforce. That sure looks like a huge opportunity in the recruitment space! But be […]
Useless Feedback
Not all feedback is created equal. A lot of feedback is useless. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the person providing the feedback. Oftentimes it’s the fault of the person requesting it, because they don’t really understand why they’re asking for it in the first place. Startup founders need to go out and validate what […]
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