From consulting to productising - follow the money and the meaning

How to run a successful consulting business? How to migrate from consulting to a product based business? Where do products come from?

In this presentation I share my story and the key concepts I found along the way with the help of Brad Pitt, Søren Kierkegaard, Confucius and Lester Freamon (The Wire).

Hunger was a key motivator for me and it prompted me to go from chasing ideas to following sustainable revenue streams and finally to my own product. Want to find out what that product is? One hint: it has to do with presentations.
http://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/from-consulting-to-productising-download-pdf/
http://www.lafabbricadellarealta.com/presentation-hero/

Transcript

1. FROM CONSULTING TO PRODUCTISING Follow the money... and the meaning
2. My name is Matteo Cassese and I prepared this presentation for Berlin’s 4HWW meetup on 23.7.2014 Later I adapted it for Slideshare
3. preshero.co @matteoc I’ve been a consultant for the last 3+ years Today I run a successful consulting business with multiple clients and I make a good living in Berlin.
4. preshero.co @matteoc Retainer agreement The most important thing I learned? To have a retainer agreement with my clients. It’s the one consulting life saver!
5. preshero.co @matteoc I’m also an entrepreneur Sometimes I encounter extraordinary people or ideas, and I want in.
6. preshero.co @matteoc Clients ≠ Partners In this case my potential clients become partners. So I am involved in traditional businesses, and also startups.
7. preshero.co @matteoc ?If everything is going fine, where is the story in this presentation?
8. preshero.co @matteoc “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” - Benjamin Button My consulting business has not always been successful. Let’s go in the past and discover what happened.
9. preshero.co @matteoc “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” - Soren Kierkegaard That’s the right attribution by the way... Share on Twitter! “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
10. preshero.co @matteoc Before we dive into the past... Why don’t you download these slides? Download as pdf
11. preshero.co @matteoc Signed the first big client 95% of time to other projects Once I signed up my first big client I literally thought: consulting is working, now let’s go find some new ideas. I got distracted from my core business.
12. preshero.co @matteoc Ø This figure comes from my bank account...
13. preshero.co @matteoc Hunger is a great motivator Hunger gave me attention and focus! Share on Twitter! Hunger is a great motivator: provides attention and focus fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
14. preshero.co @matteoc “Follow the money” - Lester Freamon I went back to my main source of income with the objective of winning back my old clients and finding some new ones. Share on Twitter! “Follow the money” - Lester Freamon from The Wire fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
15. preshero.co @matteoc Business Model Canvas I started applying the same techniques I use for my clients to my own business. And it was hugely useful.
16. preshero.co @matteoc Website Since I had no clients and a lot of time, I used it to build a business website detailing my value proposition and offering.
17. preshero.co @matteoc La Fabbrica della Realtà is an innovation laboratory centered around people and ideas. More than 1 year after going to zero I came up with a clear definition of my business and its goals. They are my life goals also...
18. preshero.co @matteoc Why didn’t I do this at the beginning?
19. preshero.co @matteoc “If I do, I understand” - Confucius First I needed the “doing”. The “understanding” came right after. Share on Twitter! “If I do, I understand” - Confucius fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
20. preshero.co @matteoc From consulting to productising
21. preshero.co @matteoc Consulting is not scalable. You can increase your rate. Only until you run out of time.
22. preshero.co @matteoc time vs money I used to be an employee trading time for money. Here I was a consultant, still trading time for money.
23. preshero.co @matteoc time money decouple
24. preshero.co @matteoc time money products Products are the key to decoupling time and money. But how do you go about finding products? Share on Twitter! Products are the key to decoupling time and money fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
25. preshero.co @matteoc 3 keys to product discovery
26. preshero.co @matteoc expertise You have to start from the areas where your expertise is close to 100%. If you stray away from your domain of knowledge, your chances of success diminish.
27. preshero.co @matteoc ease Your product needs to come from something that easy, effortless to you. If it’s hard for you then it’s not the right path!
28. preshero.co @matteoc passion You need to have fun dealing with the product, you need to love the customer base of the product and be passionate about what your customers will do with it.
29. preshero.co @matteoc PRESENTATION HERO from bad presentations Saving the world... I found my product. It’s a presentation training course called Presentation Hero! Check it out! You click here now!
30. preshero.co @matteoc Terrific resources I found along the way
31. preshero.co @matteoc Patrick McKenzie (patio11) preshero.co @matteoc The bootstrapped software as a service business expert.
32. preshero.co @matteoc MicroConf (Prague 10.2014) preshero.co @matteoc Watch the videos if you can’t afford the conference.
33. preshero.co @matteoc Nathan Barry (Authority) preshero.co @matteoc Master product builder and product launch evangelist.
34. preshero.co @matteoc Noah Kagan (OkDork) preshero.co @matteoc Practical, tactical marketing tips that work.
35. preshero.co @matteoc Brian Dean (Backlinko) preshero.co @matteoc The missing manual to pearly white hat SEO.
36. preshero.co @matteoc Takeaways
37. preshero.co @matteoc Retainer Agreement Share on Twitter! If you’re a consultant you must have your clients on a retainer agreement fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc
38. preshero.co @matteoc expertise preshero.co @matteoc ease passion Share on Twitter! The 3 keys to product discovery are expertise, ease and passion fbbr.co/ 4hww via @matteoc
39. preshero.co @matteoc You I can’t tell you the future of PRESENTATION HERO just yet. Only you can decide how this presentation ends.
40. preshero.co @matteoc Share these ideas with others? preshero.co @matteoc Apply these ideas to your business?
41. preshero.co @matteoc preshero.co @matteoc Save this presentation! Download as pdf
42. preshero.co @matteoc preshero.co @matteoc Share this presentation fbbr.co/4hww Photo Credits: Matteo Cassese by Stefano Corso, Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, copyright Warner Bros. Pictures, The Wire copyright by HBO, Noah Kagan copyright by Noah Kagan, Brian Dean copyright by Brian Dean, Se Faccio Capisco by Fab Lab Reggio Emilia, Pasta with finocchiona by Luca Nebuloni Some rights reserved Icons: Public Domain, Relax designed by Arturo Arce from the Noun Project Creative Commons – Attribution (CC BY 3.0) It’s all up to you! Share on Twitter! From consulting to productising, following the money and the meaning fbbr.co/4hww via @matteoc