Team Rover

RitaOliverVaniaRaj

Business Canvas #1: Original ideaLocation Based Asset Tracking for China SMEs

Business Canvas #2

The China SME market for RFID tagging was

not as large as we imagined Pivoted to a Yammer Clone for the China SME

market Advisor and VC feedback for the pivot was

great so we saw far more potential there Learned importance of being flexible and

willing to decisively pivot!

Lessons Learned – First Pivot

Key Partners

• Payment providers

• Established Social

Networking platforms

like QQ, Sina.com

• Smartphone App

Store providers

Key activities

• Web site

development

• Mobile App

Development

• Database

management

Value Propositions

• A more secure

social network among

business

communities

• Simplify and

organize the lives of

busy professionals

• Streamline

communication and

management projects

• Memorialize

meeting outcomes

Customer Relationships

• Automated Services

• Customer care line

Customer Segments

• SMEs in China (#

employees 20-100)

Key Resources

• Software Developers

• Software

Channels

• Internet website

• App stores

• Word-of-Mouth

• Social Networking

Websites

• Baidu / Google

Cost Structure

• Cost of technology development

• Customer Service

• Data Storage

Revenue Streams

• Freemium (Initial trial and free service for tracking a small

number of items)

• Monthly subscription cost based on usage

Business Canvas #3

Had become a Yammer clone for the Chinese

market … but then saw potential beyond that Now taking the best features of social

collaboration companies – including Yammer, Doodle and Dropbox – to include in the MVP

Communication: Constantly seeking feedback – from customers, advisors, and business team.

Needed to work on IP and licensing clearances – especially since we are dealing with China – This took longer than expected.

Lessons Learned – Second Pivot

Key Partners

• Payment providers

• Established Social Networking

platforms like QQ, Sina.com

• Smartphone App Store

providers

• Chinese Government (for

license applications)

• China Mobile Operators e.g.

China Mobile, China Unicom

Key activities

• Web site development

• Mobile App Development

• Database management

• Office application development

or linkage

Value Propositions

• A more secure social

network among business

communities

• Simplify and organize the lives

of busy professionals

• Streamline communication

and management projects

• Solidify meeting times

• An efficient communication and

collaboration platform for SMEs

who don’t have an OA software

Customer Relationships

• Automated Services

• Customer care line

Customer Segments

• SMEs in China (# employees

20-100)

Key Resources

• Software Developers

• Software as a service

Channels

• Internet website

• Appstore

• Word-of-Mouth

• Social Networking Websites

• Baidu / Google

Cost Structure

• Cost of technology development

• Customer Service

• Data Storage

• Chinese Domain registration

• Chinese SMS partnerships

• License fees

Revenue Streams

• Freemium

• Initial trial and free service for tracking a small number of items

• Monthly subscription cost based on usage

Business Canvas #4

Web Site Launch Application Process in China

Takes 5 weeks

Web Site Application Approved

Submit Web Site Application to Communications Administration 通管局

Company ID and License

Web Site Description

Ownership Certificate Owner State ID

Get a web space from a web hosting company

Mail Information to Web Hosting Company

万网审核 Submit Domain Name ApplicationsDomain Name Application Check

2-3 Work Days

4 Work Days

15 Work Days

25-Day Process

Prepare for the unknown - Getting Internet site

up and running in China is a non-trivial effort Don’t assume anything - Learned that UI

design in China is way different than in US Needle in a haystack - Finding early adopters

is really hard, especially when people don’t trust you

Where’s the microscope - Analytics is a great friend if you want to know your customer’s needs

Lessons Learned – Third Iteration

State of the Union

Visitors Statistics To-Date from Google Analytics

City Visits Pages/Visit Avg. Time

on Site% New Visits

Bounce Rate

1. Fuzhou 378 13.99 00:08:49 32.01% 17.72%

2. Xiamen 13 11.38 00:07:10 53.85% 15.38%

3. Beijing 9 7.44 00:08:27 88.89% 33.33%

4. Hangzhou 5 4.40 00:00:48

100.00% 20.00%

5. Shenzhen 4 3.75 00:02:25

100.00% 50.00%

6. Guangzhou 3 2.00 00:00:50

100.00% 33.33%

7. Chongqing 2 2.50 00:00:16

100.00% 50.00%

8. Dalian 1 1.00 00:00:00

100.00%

100.00%

9. Shanghai 1 40.00 00:14:36

100.00% 0.00%

10. Nanjing 1 1.00 00:00:00

100.00%

100.00%

Top Ten Most Visited Sources

Micro-blogging Page First Page of Site before logging in Page to log in Listing of company groups Invitation to other colleagues Viewing Members of the company Private Message inside the 35hzs.com

Popular Visited Pages- from Google Analytics

Customer feedback from last block

Front page was too simple Reply messages need to be showed Concern about security

What we have improved from customer feedback Front page Full function SMS Sign-in Authentication

Learned from trial users in Oliver’s company: The site should be designed based on users’ daily work flow How to increase stickiness - rankings, supervisor’s

responses, useful & interesting contents

Customer feedback

Talked to Salesforce and one other competitor

(gongxf.com) in China Social Collaboration for Business is new concept in

China Salesforce Chatter: targeting Global Customers in

China gongxf.com 工學坊： Offer free HBR articles for their

customers Demand is there for Business Social Collaboration

Software Nascent Market: Only have early adaptors now Chinese Government is not intervening this

Other Players in China

More evangelists! More marketing and advertising activities are

needed to raise customer awareness to attract real users

QQ.com and Sina.com is more for consumer market Need to have another channel for the B-to-B market

Continue to refine key features of the MVP Coding Challenge

Start charging for the product according to a “Freemium” model

Biggest Challenges and Next Step

Unlike other MBA courses or working in a well-

established company, emulating an early stage startup requires no clear cut tasks. As a result, passion, individual initiative, team spirit, and the ability to function well as a team are critical to success.

Legal strictures and requirements cannot be ignored. Proper licensure and clearance is critical, especially when working within a country such as China. These obstacles simply took longer to overcome than initially anticipated.

Other Lessons Learned