Building Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Startup as a Technical Founder

My talk at Devfest Lagos 2023 about the unspoken truth about Building Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Startup as a Technical Founder.

Transcript

1. Building Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Startup as a Technical Founder Lagos
2. Introduction Lagos
3. Many startups face failure — how can we reduce that?
4. - The question we will be answering at the end of this presentation is how to build a product that solves a problem for a set of people and makes you money. It is also important to note that there is no true or perfect roadmap to building your MVP or Startup but there are guidance to increase your chances.
5. What is an MVP? Lagos
6. - MVP fully known as Minimum viable product is a product with minimal but enough features to attract early-adopter customers and validate an idea early.
7. What is a Startup? 1. You have a startup when you decide to turn your MVP into a business. 2. Startups are rooted in innovation or indie-hacking. 3. Startups aim to remedy deficiencies or problems of existing products or create entirely new categories of goods and services
8. Why is this topic important? Lagos
9. 85% According to Embroker.com, more than Startups fail without an exit
10. - Developers are born builders. We get pushed to solve problems around us and then at some point get triggered to turn it into a business. But as technical individuals (developers, designers) we can get blinded to engineering, design or other things over other critical things while building a startup. This mostly applies to technical solo founders more.
11. What we focus on vs What we should focus more on? Lagos
12. What we focus on 1. Engineering (Tech Stack) 2. Design (User Interface / User experience)
13. What matters more? 1. Customers 2. Product 3. Market
14. Important Guides while turning your MVP to a Startup Lagos
15. True champions emerge victorious by: - embracing the wisdom of others, - adapting to their unique circumstances, - and choosing the optimal course of action.
16. Important Guides while turning your MVP to a Startup • It is okay to make mistakes • Leverage on Community • Your numbers are much more important than your tech stack • Don’t be afraid to charge for your product • If you can get a co-founder (you have worked with) that compliments your weakness that would be great. • Always share what you are building.(Build in Public)
17. Important Guides while turning your MVP to a Startup • Building a team for your vision is hard. Understanding your business’ need and knowing whether an experienced person would be the best to solve it, helps especially for major functions. • Building a great product happens in stages; enable your customers to grow with your product. • You will always have competitions even similar businesses will be built after you have started. Don’t be distracted.
18. Empowering Your Startup: Essential Tools and Platforms Lagos
19. Pioneer.app A platform for ambitious founders, offering support, mentorship, and resources to kickstart your venture.
20. Seedscout Navigate the startup landscape with Seedscout, a platform connecting investors and founders.
21. YC Startup School From the renowned Y Combinator, an online program nurturing startup growth with valuable insights, advice, and a strong community.
22. Antler An international startup generator that connects talented entrepreneurs, providing funding, mentorship, and a global network.
23. Indie Hacker A platform for independent entrepreneurs, offering insights, community support, and real stories of successful bootstrapped startups.
24. Likely Questions You Might Want To Ask 1. When is the right time to move on or exit my Startup? 2. Is it advisable to quit my main job in order to concentrate on my startup?
25. Thank You Goodness Kayode Co-founder at Sendchamp (Acquired) @goodnesskayode