Presentation for workshop at Culture of Innovation Collaborative.

1. Getting Heard + Funded
Sean Ammirati
@SeanAmmirati
Partner, Birchmere Ventures
Adjunct Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
May 21, 2013
COMMERCIALIZING YOUR IDEA

2. Most Startups FAIL
The Reason

3. NO ONE WANTS
what they’ve built.
IS BECAUSE...

4. WHY IS THIS
IMPORTANT?

5. Dec 2006
Conviction to
build FeedHub
Aug 2007
Private Beta of
FeedHub
Launch FeedHub
@ Demo 2007
Sept 2007
10 MONTHS
“STEALTH MODE”

9. Dec 2006
Conviction to
build FeedHub
Aug 2007
Private Beta of
FeedHub
Launch FeedHub
@ Demo 2007
Sept 2007
10 MONTHS
“STEALTH MODE”
Wasted Time

10. “Launch early enough to be
embarrassed by your
product’s first version”
~ Reid Hoffman
Co-Founder & Chairman
LinkedIn

11. “I should let you know,we're not
done.It's early days and some
things could change to the API
before we release it.”
~ Timothy Jordan
Google

12. #ifihadglass

13. Known
Problem
Known
Solution
Waterfall
Development
Requirements
Design
Implementation
Verification
Maintenance

14. Known
Problem
Unknown
Solution
Agile
Development
Requirements
Design
Implementation
Product Backlog
Sprint Backlog
Released
Code

15. Unknown
Problem
Unknown
Solution
Lean
Startup
Customer
Discovery
Customer
Validation
Product Backlog
Sprint Backlog
Released
Code
Customer
Creation
Company
Building

16. Known Solution
Lean
Startup
Agile
Development
Waterfall
Development
Kanban
Unknown Solution
KnownProblemUnknownProblem

17. 1. Customer
Discovery
A product solves a problem for
an identifiable group of users
2. Customer
Validation
The market is saleable &
large enough that a viable
business might be built
3. Customer
Creation
The business is scalable
through a repeatable sales and
marketing roadmap
4. Company
Building
Company departmental
and operational processes
are created to scale
THE CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT MODEL

18. BUILD
MEASURE
LEARN
IDEAS
CODEDATA
Minimally
Viable
Product

19. BUILD
MEASURE
LEARN
IDEAS
CODEDATA
Minimally
Viable
Awesome
Product

20. Adapted From : The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development
MAP #1
PPC Campaign
Landing Page
MAP #2
Product Drawings
Detailed Spec
MAP #3
Prototype
Functional Output
Features / Benefits
description
‘More info’
Call to Action
Face-to-face
technology demo
Field Pilot
Market insight
Find early adopters
Locate Strategic
partners
Seed Funding
Paid-beta
customers
Revenue
Customer
Validation
Capital Investment
Customer
Interaction
Objective
MAP #1 > Concept MAP #2 > P-M Eval MAP #3 > P-M Fit
Investment $ $$ $$$

21. ~ $35k
~ $100k
~ $200k
concepts
scale
spin
out
~$100k - $150k target first
investment
~ $275k average total investment
All Community Driven Commerce Focused
& Shared Overhead
STUDIO SEED
+
CONCEPTS ~ $1k

22. “NON-SOFTWARE”
EXAMPLE
Innovation Happens

23. GOALS FOR
INNOVATION HAPPENS

24. 1. Provide networking events connecting
entrepreneurs & large corporations

25. 2. Encourage entrepreneurs to
focus more on getting customers

26. 3. Create a culture of
“buying local” in Pittsburgh

29. APPLICATION
EXERCISE
What is your MAP?
• Minimally Awesome Product
• Customer Interaction
• Objective

30. COMMUNICATION
IS KEY
FOR FUNDING

32. 2004
2006
2010450+

33. Key
Partnerships
Cost
Structure
Revenue
Streams
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
Value
Proposition
Customer
Relationships
Channels
Customer
Segments
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
VALIDATE HYPOTHESIS ...

34. Key
Partnerships
Niche
Content
Cost
Structure
Revenue
Streams
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
Value
Proposition
Customer
Relationships
Customer
Segments
Niche
Customers
Channels

35. Key
Partnerships
Cost
Structure
Revenue Free
Streams Paid
Key
Activities
Key
Resources
Value
Proposition
Basic
Usage
Premium
Usage
Customer
Relationships
Customer
Segments
Casual
High
Volume
Channels

36. THANK YOU
@SEANAMMIRATI

37. PHOTO CREDITS
Slide 6: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa_goddard/8434074140/
Slide 8: http://www.flickr.com/photos/data70/4748860721/
Slide10: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/1431818434/
Slide 30: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/3329778720/