Turning your idea into a business

Presented at the Future of Web Apps 2009

Transcript

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3. Turning your idea into a business
   Roan Lavery
   

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5. The plunge
   

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6. Who needs a business model anyway?
   - Dick Costello, Feedburner
   http://www.burningdoor.com/askthewizard/
   

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7. Who needs a business model anyway?
   - Dick Costello, Feedburner
   http://www.burningdoor.com/askthewizard/
   

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8. Who needs a business model anyway?
   - Dick Costello, Feedburner
   http://www.burningdoor.com/askthewizard/
   

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9. Who needs a business model anyway?
   - Dick Costello, Feedburner
   http://www.burningdoor.com/askthewizard/
   

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10. Who needs a business model anyway?
    “With this kind of traffic, we'll figure it out”
    - John Doerr, Google Board
    - Dick Costello, Feedburner
    http://www.burningdoor.com/askthewizard/
    

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11. Web app business models Advertising
    34%
    Subscription
    14%
    3rd party supported
    14%
    Long game
    6%
    Payments
    32%
    http://www.boxuk.com/blog/monetizing-your-web-app-business-models
    

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12. Free love
    

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13. The psychology of free
    

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14. Free love?
    Critical mass
    Advertising down
    User costs
    Bandwidth
    Storage
    Support
    Scaling
    

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15. The problem with free is that every time you double the size of
    your database the cost of maintaining the site grows 6 fold. The
    bigger you get as a free site the less money you make per visit
    and the more it costs to service a visit.”
    “
    - Markus Frind
    

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16. Make ‘em pay
    

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17. Individual
    Business
    ~ x 10
    

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19. = £48,000 a year
    200 users @ £20 per month = £4,000 a month
    

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20. 4000 users @ £20 per month = £80,000 a month
    = £960,000 a year
    = £48,000 a year
    200 users @ £20 per month = £4,000 a month
    

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21. 4000 users @ £20 per month = £80,000 a month
    = £960,000 a year
    CHA CHING!!
    = £48,000 a year
    200 users @ £20 per month = £4,000 a month
    

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22. Topical
    Geographical
    

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23. Topical Freelancers in service industries
    Geographical
    

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24. Topical
    UK based (mostly)
    Freelancers in service industries
    Geographical
    

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25. http://www.omnisio.com/startupschool08/david-heinemeier-hansson-at-startup-school-08
    

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26. Freemium
    

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27. conversion rate = 2.5%
    cost per user = £2 a year
    

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28. conversion rate = 2.5%
    Total Users 160,000
    cost per user = £2 a year
    

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29. conversion rate = 2.5%
    Total Users 160,000
    cost per user = £2 a year
    4000 paying @ £20
    

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30. conversion rate = 2.5%
    Total Users 160,000
    cost per user = £2 a year
    4000 paying @ £20 156,000 free
    

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31. £960,000 - £320,000 = £640,000
    conversion rate = 2.5%
    Total Users 160,000
    cost per user = £2 a year
    4000 paying @ £20 156,000 free
    

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32. March 2007
    

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33. May 2009
    

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34. there it is!
    May 2009
    

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35. Freemium Subscription + free trial
    Daily Sign ups Revenue
    

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36. Lessons learned
    Find your niche audience
    Charge people!
    Be careful about what you give away
    Be creative with business models
    Agile business development
    

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39. Any questions?
    Roan Lavery
    roan@freeagent.com
    follow: @roanlavery & @freeagent
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/guy_incognito/47600607/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/picsandpics/3395713506/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalsextant/1806620459/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/15589195@N04/2128900152/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/drb62/457354545/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenshock/44793290/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bebebeaux/2956060052/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/undaunted/488622130/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ihtatho/627226315/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciordia/2241906999/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucy_baxter/3326890764/
    Attribution
    

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