Creating a Data-Driven Startup

An update to my original Data-Driven Startups talk ( http://davidcancel.com/data-driven-startups/ ). This talk was given at the MIT Startup Bootcamp (Sept. 2010).

Transcript

1. David Cancel - @dcancel Creating a Data-Driven Startup Startup Bootcamp @ MIT Cambridge, MA, September 2010 Twitter hash tags: #datadriven #sb2010
2. David Cancel - @dcancel David Cancel @dcancel
3. David Cancel - @dcancel Who am I Companies Advisor Investor
4. David Cancel - @dcancel http://www.performable.com/ @performable
5. David Cancel - @dcancel The Problem: 98% of the people who visit your site, leave never to return.
6. David Cancel - @dcancel “The average conversion rate in the United States of America whether you're selling elephants or iPods.” Avinash Kaushik - Analytics Evangelist, Google 2%
7. David Cancel - @dcancel The Solution: Our software helps you find, engage and convert more of your website visitors into customers.
8. David Cancel - @dcancel Performable Connect
9. David Cancel - @dcancel 3 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
10. David Cancel - @dcancel Lesson 1: The middle sucks.
11. David Cancel - @dcancel Fail Win Startup Lifecycle
12. David Cancel - @dcancel Fail Win Startup Lifecycle
13. David Cancel - @dcancel Fail Win Valley of Death Startup Lifecycle
14. David Cancel - @dcancel Most startups die before launching.
15. David Cancel - @dcancel Your “demo” is useless.
16. David Cancel - @dcancel Demos are useless
17. David Cancel - @dcancel So is your business plan.
18. David Cancel - @dcancel Business Plans are worth $0
19. David Cancel - @dcancel Hate Love Product Feedback
20. David Cancel - @dcancel Hate Love Product Feedback
21. David Cancel - @dcancel Hate Love “Interesting” Product Feedback
22. David Cancel - @dcancel I hate your idea This is good http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceface4/4001060687/
23. David Cancel - @dcancel I love your idea Even better http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceface4/4001060687/
24. David Cancel - @dcancel I don’t care Avoid this at all costs http://www.flickr.com/photos/krieg/2194867096/
25. David Cancel - @dcancel Dream Traction Raising Money
26. David Cancel - @dcancel Dream Traction Raising Money
27. David Cancel - @dcancel Dream Traction I have a “demo” Raising Money
28. David Cancel - @dcancel Lesson 2: Your idea doesn’t matter.
29. David Cancel - @dcancel Solve a critical problem. Forget your idea.
30. David Cancel - @dcancel How do you know if you’re solving a critical problem?
31. David Cancel - @dcancel Warning Sign: “If ...”
32. David Cancel - @dcancel “If it was easier to use I would start using it.”
33. David Cancel - @dcancel “If I had more time...”
34. David Cancel - @dcancel “If it was cheaper I would start using it.”
35. David Cancel - @dcancel Lesson 3: The secret.
36. David Cancel - @dcancel Liquidity Discover the secret
37. David Cancel - @dcancel Are you ready to learn the secret?
38. David Cancel - @dcancel #JFDI
39. David Cancel - @dcancel #JFDI Just Fucking Do It.
40. David Cancel - @dcancel #JFDI Just Fucking Do It. Please.
41. David Cancel - @dcancel No more excuses It’s that simple. http://www.flickr.com/photos/88933162@N00/481537731/
42. David Cancel - @dcancel Lean Startup? Customer Development? Who cares...
43. David Cancel - @dcancel It can all be summarized into one sentence.
44. David Cancel - @dcancel Does anyone care about your product?
45. David Cancel - @dcancel There are NO repeatable patterns for startup success. None. Stop looking for one.
46. David Cancel - @dcancel Go solve a real problem.
47. David Cancel - @dcancel Ok enough ranting.
48. David Cancel - @dcancel http://www.flickr.com/photos/joao_trindade/4363149160/
49. David Cancel - @dcancel Optimize your startup for learning by creating a data-driven framework.
50. David Cancel - @dcancel Analytics & A/B Testing are also not the answer.
51. David Cancel - @dcancel Use quantitative & qualitative data to test YOUR assumptions.
52. David Cancel - @dcancel Multivariate Testing is Useless.
53. David Cancel - @dcancel You are way too small to matter.
54. David Cancel - @dcancel The point of testing is to prove or disprove assumptions quickly.
55. David Cancel - @dcancel Optimize your startup for learning not data.
56. David Cancel - @dcancel The 3 Steps to Data-Driven Startup Enlightenment
57. David Cancel - @dcancel Data-Driven Startup Checklist ★ Operating Dashboard ★ Conversion Funnel Analysis ★ Cohort Analysis
58. David Cancel - @dcancel Skip the fancy shit and use Google Spreadsheet. Ghettofabulous.
59. David Cancel - @dcancel Step 1: The Operating Dashboard.
60. David Cancel - @dcancel A single place for your entire team to see where you suck the most.
61. David Cancel - @dcancel Company-wide dashboard Everyone! Including interns. Fictional
62. David Cancel - @dcancel Every initiative has to map to positive changes in these numbers.
63. David Cancel - @dcancel Kill all features that don’t improve your operating metrics.
64. David Cancel - @dcancel Only move to the second step after you’ve mastered the Operating Dashboard.
65. David Cancel - @dcancel Step 2: Conversion Funnels
66. David Cancel - @dcancel Metrics are fun, but Funnels kick ass.
67. David Cancel - @dcancel Fancy Forget pretty visualizations
68. David Cancel - @dcancel Pretty Wasted time
69. David Cancel - @dcancel Keep it raw & ugly Do this tomorrow morning.
70. David Cancel - @dcancel Monitor your funnel weekly to see how changes are impacting your business.
71. David Cancel - @dcancel If you aren’t doing this you are implementing lots of useless features.
72. David Cancel - @dcancel Step 3: Cohort Analysis
73. David Cancel - @dcancel This is the “shot caller” of all analyses. Respect.
74. David Cancel - @dcancel Cohort Analysis by Fred Wilson (post)
75. David Cancel - @dcancel Without a cohort analysis you are flying blind.
76. David Cancel - @dcancel Is your churn going up or down?
77. David Cancel - @dcancel You don’t have a clue until you’ve done a cohort analysis.
78. David Cancel - @dcancel Cohort analytics is in closed beta. Apply at Performable.com.
79. David Cancel - @dcancel Just a few more rants.
80. David Cancel - @dcancel Data Visualizations are a Waste of Time.
81. David Cancel - @dcancel Focus on your business. Not data.
82. David Cancel - @dcancel No one cares how smart you are except for your mom.
83. David Cancel - @dcancel Only one thing matters.
84. David Cancel - @dcancel Does anyone care about your product?
85. David Cancel - @dcancel Thank You! David Cancel Email: dcancel@dcancel.com Twitter: dcancel http://davidcancel.com