experimentation 101
TRANSCRIPT
A li2le about me
-‐ Founding CMO, Tala (formerly Inventure) -‐ Director of Product, Grovo -‐ Mentor, Techstars & UN Accelerator -‐ Seed Investor, Inevitable Collec>ve -‐ Founder/CEO, Nex@
Ajay Rajani, Experiment Addict
20+ experiments & side projectsin last 2 years
Scaled companies to 100+ countries across 6 con:nents
Helped raise $100 million+ in VC from Accel Partners, Chris Sacca & others
What is an experiment?
Subject to constraints
Answers ques+on(s) with data
Method creates trust
Why are experiments valuable?
The mixtape (1987)
The mixtape (2016)
To recap:
Compe++ve Advantage(You vs. Them)
Compara+ve Advantage(You vs. You)
Increasingly valuable(internet = permissionless)
Innova&on is more accessible than ever
Average cost to start up
2000 2005 2009 2011
$5,000$50,000$500,000
$5,000,000
Open source & horizontal scaling Cloud & AWS
Growth aOer launch (MAU in millions)
0
125
250
375
500
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
WhatsAppFacebookSkype (2003)
See e.g. decreasing costs of produc>on/distribu>on and increasing speed of adop>on
What makes a great experimenter?
Empathy + self awareness
Maker’s mentality + hacker skillet
Desire for truth+ comfort with data
What makes a great experiment?
Binary outcome Predictable Data Acknowledges subjec+vity
Examples of Great Experiments
Marketplace U+lity Retail / Physical
Enter NexB: a de-‐risking machine for prospec&ve entrepreneurs
GREAT IDEA
FUNDABLE BUSINESS
SoBware & community that streamlines the path to a fundable business
Created by Laymikfrom the Noun Project
Created by David Garcíafrom the Noun Project
Validate key assumptionswith experiments(e.g. product & market)
Win the trust of peopleyou need to help
(e.g. collaborators & investors)
Running a Nex2 Experiment
Idea Experiment Constraints
Currently in beta
V1 plaLorm for community-‐sourced, run & financed experimenta>on
We are living in a >me of great experiments. We are returning to a >me when anyone can be an inventor and innovator.-‐ Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures
Next up: Blueprint
our “magic 8-‐ball” for business ideas
Expert-‐curated experiment playbooks tailored to type of business you’re looking to build
Nex2 Tools & Resources
/Experiments Blueprint Lab ReportCore
Coming Soon
Email: [email protected] Learn more: Nex.2
Experimenta+on 101
The secret sauce of early stage entrepreneurship