MS

Michael Skok

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

When starting with a product idea, many entrepreneurs face unique questions about how to transition from that product to a full-fledged company.

MS

Michael Skok

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

As a venture capitalist, I often qualify deals as being a 'feature', a 'product', or a 'company'. It's crucial to identify which one you have and how to evolve it into what you want to achieve.

MS

Michael Skok

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The iPad was initially dismissed by many as just a larger iPod, yet it became a revolutionary device that changed the consumer electronics landscape.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Even if you have an amazing product, you must deeply understand the market and ensure that customers are willing to pay for it.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's essential to understand at least one market where real customers will pay for your product, and you need more funding than you initially think, especially for hardware development.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's important to listen carefully to what constitutes a 'whole product' versus just a component, as this distinction can significantly impact your market strategy.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Many startups fail because they don't adequately map out the flow of money in their target market, which is essential for securing funding and sustaining operations.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

In the early stages, I learned that having a solid marketing strategy and understanding customer needs is as crucial as the technical aspects of product development.

GF

Gregg Favalora

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The journey of turning a product into a company often involves significant challenges, including market identification and securing adequate funding.

MS

Michael Skok

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The transition from a product to a company requires not just a great idea but also a clear understanding of the market dynamics and customer needs.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

When starting a business, 100% of your initial expenses are typically in engineering, focusing on product development, but as you grow, expenses shift towards proving market acceptance.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

As you scale sales and marketing, those costs become the primary expenses, often surpassing R&D spending, which is crucial for creating awareness and building a pipeline.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

To build a successful business model, design your product to reduce costs and friction in the go-to-market process, ensuring it aligns with market needs.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Think like an architect when building your company; plan for profitability and ensure your product is designed to meet market demands effectively.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Develop a minimum viable product by focusing on your core value proposition, building only what is essential to solve the customer's problem.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Utilize crowdsourcing and external resources to build your product efficiently, rather than trying to do everything in-house.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Successful startups often consider their internal teams as customers, ensuring that their products meet internal needs before exposing them to the market.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Leverage open-source resources and community contributions to enhance your product without incurring high development costs.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Before building your product, clearly define the problem you are solving and ensure it is significant enough to warrant a solution.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Understanding the pain points of your customers is crucial; validate your product by ensuring it addresses a real and valuable problem.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

A minimum viable product is irrelevant if it does not solve a valuable problem; ensure that your product's viability aligns with its value.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

To validate your product, focus on gaining insights from potential customers about their pain points and the value your solution provides.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Identify and target a specific market segment to avoid diluting your product's focus and resources; this helps in achieving product-market fit.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Finding a minimum viable segment allows you to test your product effectively without needing to change it significantly, ensuring consistent customer satisfaction.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

You need to assess whether a customer is genuinely interested or just being polite when they say 'yes'.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's crucial to gather feedback from a diverse group of customers to avoid bias in your understanding of their needs.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Meeting with multiple customers helps you categorize their needs and identify the right direction for your product.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Creating a scorecard to track customer needs and feedback is essential for refining your product offering.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

When discussing a potential solution with customers, always ask them what specific problem you would be solving for them and what they would be willing to pay for it.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

If customers express a willingness to pay for your solution, consider asking them for a commitment, like writing a check in advance, to validate your idea.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's important to focus on a critical need in the market rather than just a nice-to-have feature, especially in the B2B space.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Narrowing your target market to a specific segment with a critical need can lead to greater success than trying to appeal to a broad audience.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

To build a successful startup, focus on solving a blatant critical need that has a significant impact on your customers' lives.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's not just about having a viable product; it must also be a valuable product that addresses real customer needs.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Startups should focus on a narrow market segment initially to avoid overwhelming themselves and to build a solid foundation for growth.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Many startups fail because they try to do too much at once; it's better to expand on success one customer at a time.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Creating a product that is easy to use and integrates well with existing solutions is key to reducing friction for customers.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Your product should provide value quickly to avoid losing customers who expect rapid payback on their investment, and self-proving value through analytics is essential to demonstrate the value delivered from day one, making it clear to customers how much they benefit.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

When starting with a minimum viable product, it's crucial to progressively disclose features to avoid overwhelming users with a steep learning curve.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The 'Drupal Gardens' product was designed to simplify web publishing, allowing users to go live in 15 minutes while enabling them to add functionalities progressively as needed.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Creating a delightful out-of-the-box experience is vital for customer engagement, as seen in Apple's success with user-friendly templates.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

In the enterprise world, having a quantifiable return on investment (ROI) is critical, as customers will demand to know the financial benefits of their investment.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

A product should be sticky, meaning customers become dependent on it and want to use it daily, as demonstrated by the widespread adoption of iPads and iPhones.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Building products that fulfill essential needs can lead to customer loyalty, making them reluctant to give up the product, which is key to creating successful companies.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Disruptive innovation can be achieved without requiring users to change their existing systems, as demonstrated by VMware's virtualization technology that increased server utilization without altering applications.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The CAD market is significant, representing over $8 billion in software, as it enables engineers to prototype digitally, reducing costly mistakes in physical products.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

SolidWorks succeeded by offering a 3D CAD system that was affordable and user-friendly, allowing engineers to make rapid design changes without the high costs associated with traditional systems.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Focusing on smaller sales opportunities, like 1-5 seat deals, can be more beneficial for startups than pursuing larger, more complex contracts that may take longer to close.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

We wanted customers to have a few seats of ProE exposed to 3D while still using AutoCAD, as they were already familiar with its benefits.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

We had to keep our messaging incredibly simple to ensure our VAR channel could effectively sell our product to larger accounts.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The key to our business model was predictability in revenue streams, which we achieved by focusing on customer adoption and a repeatable sales process.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

We built a partner system to create applications on top of SolidWorks, focusing on credibility and selecting key partners in each vertical market.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

In a startup, the only advantage you have is time, so you must move quickly to capitalize on your ideas before established competitors.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

Events force actions; creating deadlines within your company can help align teams and drive decision-making effectively.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The mantra at SolidWorks was to hire well, focusing on bringing in confident individuals who could drive sales and contribute to the company culture.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

The journey of building a company is as important as the success itself; entrepreneurs often start companies to change the world as they see it.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

We learned that bundling products can create greater value for customers and help maintain competitive pricing during market challenges.

HI

Harvard Innovation Labs Cast

06/12/13

@ Harvard Innovation Labs

It's essential to understand that while the product is crucial, leveraging data effectively can provide significant business advantages.

Harvard i-lab | Startup Secrets: Turning Products into Companies

Takeaways