Evaluating Startup Ideas (General Assembly class)

Many startups and businesses are being founded based on a hunch, a judgment call, incomplete information, and faith-based hallucinations — and most of them fail miserably. Startup founders and business owners only then ask themselves why. This class takes a different, risk-mitigating, more scientific approach to the art of starting a business. You’ll learn how to develop a product people really need by uncovering these needs well in advance. Before you write one line of code, before you hire a large team, before you take a big risk, you’ll learn how to evaluate if people need your product through three activities to learn from your future customers.

1. NEED TO KNOW: EVALUATING STARTUP IDEAS TOMER SHARON | UX RESEARCHER | @tsharon
2. LEAN USER RESEARCH FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT leanresearch.co
3. EXERCISE
4. WHAT IS YOUR STARTUP IDEA?
5. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES?
6. goo.gl/S3iqNH
7. EVALUATING STARTUP IDEAS FOUNDERS PROBLEM LEAN RESEARCH METHODS MAKING SENSE
8. FOUNDERS
9. BOB-THE- BUILDER MENTALITY
10. WE DON’T RESEARCH. WE BUILD.
11. FOUNDERS PERCEIVE THEIR STARTUPS AS A CODING EXERCISE
12. A CODING EXERCISE DOES NOT REQUIRE GETTING INSIGHTS FROM USERS
13. THESE STARTUPS CREATE PRODUCTS NOBODY NEEDS
14. THEY PERFECTLY EXECUTE THE WRONG PLAN
15. WATCH MY GOOGLE I/O 2014 TALK: PERFECTLY EXECUTE THE WRONG PLAN youtu.be/9TJTbRw4ri8
16. 86% OF STARTUP IDEAS ARE BORN FROM A FOUNDER’S PERSONAL PAIN
17. IDEAS ARE MOSTLY FOR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES…
18. NOT FOR PROBLEMS TO SOLVE
19. 95% OF STARTUP FOUNDERS ASK, “DO PEOPLE NEED MY PRODUCT?”
20. DON’T HAVE TIME TO WASTE ON LEARNING FROM USERS
21. DON’T HAVE TIME TO WORK ON THE WRONG PRODUCT
22. CAN WE BUILD IT? SHOULD WE BUILD IT?  
23. WHAT’S A PRODUCT WORTH BUILDING?
24. HOW TO EVALUATE A STARTUP IDEA?
25. PROBLEM
26. A PROBLEM WORTH SOLVING
27. GAP BETWEEN CURRENT AND DESIRED STATE
28. +
29. HOW MUCH THE PROBLEM OWNER CARES ABOUT IT
30. LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT YOUR PROBLEMS
31. WHAT’S LEAN USER RESEARCH?
32. PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO PRODUCT USERS, THEIR PERSPECTIVES, AND THEIR ABILITIES TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
33. 3 QUESTIONS LEAN RESEARCH CAN ANSWER
34. WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED?
35. WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?
36. CAN PEOPLE USE IT?
37. HIGH-QUALITY IMPACTFUL FAST IGNORED SLOW CRAPPY
38. LEAN USER RESEARCH METHOD LANDING PAGE
39. WHAT IS IT?
40. MOSTLY LOOKS LIKE THIS:
42. FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATING AN IDEA, LANDING PAGES ARE MOSTLY USED IN A WRONG WAY
43. WRONG WAY ASK FOR EMAIL
44. ARE PEOPLE INTERESTED ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS?
45. RIGHT WAY PROVE COMMITMENT (E.G., PAY) EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
46. EXPERIMENT WITH LANGUAGE CALL TO ACTION VALUE MAIN MESSAGE
47. EXERCISE
48. GOOD OR BAD LANDING PAGE?
54. LEAN USER RESEARCH METHOD EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
55. A STRATEGIC RESEARCH TECHNIQUE TO UNCOVER USER NEEDS.
56. DIN
57. WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE SEARCH ON GOOGLE
58. WHAT TYPE OF WRITER AM I? BARACK OBAMA HEIGHT
59. OPPORTUNITY
60. RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS ARE INTERRUPTED SEVERAL TIMES A DAY TO NOTE THEIR EXPERIENCE IN REAL TIME
61. INSIGHTS ABOUT USER NEEDS EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
62. USEFUL PRODUCT FEATURES EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
63. CURRENT PAIN POINTS AND DELIGHTS EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
64. EXPERIENCE SAMPLING TIPS
65. CAREFULLY THE QUESTION [REPEATED BEHAVIOR, NO YES/NO, NO OPINIONS, NOT QUANT] DIN: WHAT DID YOU WANT TO KNOW RECENTLY? WHY?
66. 8 x 3 x 100 TIMES A DAY DAYS PARTICIPANTS
67. DECIDE HOW TO COLLECT DATA: SMS, EMAIL, APP, PHONE DIN: WE USED PACO
68. EYEBALL THE DATA
70. CLASSIFY DATA
71. GENERATE FREQUENCY CHARTS EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
72. IDENTIFY EMERGING THEMES EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
73. EXERCISE  
74. HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE IN-STORE GROCERY SHOPPING EXPERIENCE WITH TECHNOLOGY?
75. PHRASE AN EXPERIENCE SAMPLING QUESTION  
76. goo.gl/xVs7z9
78. LEAN USER RESEARCH METHOD OBSERVATION
79. “IF YOU WANT TO BE A GREAT ARCHEOLOGIST, GET OUT OF THE LIBRARY!” - ???
81. FIELD STUDY CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY FLY-ON-THE-WALL SHADOWING ETHNOGRAPHY GUIDED TOUR
82. 4 PILARS
84. LOOK FOR
86. TRY TO…
87. VIDEO RECORD
88. TAKE PHOTOS
89. COLLECT ARTIFACTS
90. SKETCHNOTE
91. DON’T PITCH
92. DON’T ASK WHAT THEY NEED
93. DON’T ASK FOR FEEDBACK
94. QUICK DEBRIEF
95. WHAT SURPRISED YOU? EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
96. WHAT WAS MOST IMPORTANT TO THE PARTICIPANT? EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
97. WHAT STOOD OUT? EVALUATE YOUR STARTUP IDEA
98. WHAT SHOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY?
99. EXERCISE
100. LET’S WATCH 2 OBSERVATION SESSIONS
101. LIST 4 PROBLEMS PARTICIPANTS HAVE
103. RECAP
104. A GOOD PROBLEM TO SOLVE ALSO INCLUDES IDENTIFYING HOW MUCH PEOPLE CARE ABOUT IT
105. A GOOD LANDING PAGE PROVES COMMITMENT #ASKTHEMTOPAYFORNOTHING
106. A FUN WAY TO MINE PEOPLE’S LIVES BY ASKING ONE SIMPLE QUESTION #EXPERIENCESAMPLINGFTW
107. THE POWER OF BEING A FLY ON THE WALL #OBSERVATIONOMG
108. THERE ARE NO FACTS INSIDE THE BUILDING #INDY
109. “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON A POWERPOINT SLIDE JUST BECAUSE THERE’S A PICTURE WITH A QUOTE NEXT TO IT.” - ABRAHAM LINCOLN
110. THANK YOU @tsharon leanresearch.co