we're not "doing a startup", topconf
TRANSCRIPT
We’re not “doing a startup”
How to cut through the hype and build your side project into a profitable business.
Rachel Andrew, Topconf 2016
G.K. Chesterton
“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”
This is a marathon, not a 5K.
It’s not about the money (until it is)
Getting started
Choosing the perfect product to bootstrap as a side-project.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/7276841268
Walt Disney
“The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”
• for your own community
• that you can ship quickly
• that solves a problem people will pay to have solved
• that does not need a lot of traction to be useful
• that has existing competition
A product ...
A product for your own community
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drewm
Amy Hoy
“Are you a Ruby developer? Then serve Ruby developers. Are you a UX designer? Serve UX designers.”
The worst that could have happened with Perch? No-one would want it but we’d have a
useful tool for our business.
With a track record in a community you will already have trust.
John Radoff
“The goal of a startup is to find the sweet-spot where minimum product and viable product meet – get people to fall in love with you.”
To launch with a small product, you need to find a problem that can be solved with a small
product.
Perch v.1
• A simple content editor
• No way to add new pages
• No API
• Images could be uploaded - but not resized
The Problem Client requests that an already developed static
site be made editable via a CMS.
The Solution A simple CMS that turned static pages into
editable pages by way of dropping in a couple of PHP tags.
A product that solves a problem that people will pay to have solved
https://www.flickr.com/photos/futureshape/
If you can save a business time they will see the value in paying for your product.
Bootstrapped With Kids, Episode 31
“We think their workflow sucks, but they like it…”
Our target market for Perch was designers and agencies. We aimed to save them time on
smaller projects.
Feedback from paying customers trumps feedback from free users.
Every time.
A product that does not need a lot of users to be useful
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22746515@N02/
“Social” or “community” products need a large user base to succeed.
Choose a product that is as useful to customer #1 as customer #1000
A product that has competition
Perch competitors at launch
• WordPress
• ExpressionEngine
• CushyCMS
• PageLime
• Joomla
• Drupal
What problem is your competition NOT solving? Build it.
New concepts will require you to educate potential customers as to why they even need
your product.
Finding the time
How to make time for side-projects.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mybigtrip/6111406
Malcolm S. Forbes
“One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.”
Sir John Lubbock
“In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking.”
Get set up to be able to pick up and work on your side-project quickly - whenever the time is
available.
Your product must be a first-class citizen alongside your other work.
Set aside time and plan in advance what you will do with it
Diana Scharf Hunt
“Goals are dreams with deadlines”
There is power in setting a goal, writing it down, putting a date on it
How to get started
• Choose your goal
• Define what it is you are going to create
• Put a date on it.
Brian Casel http://casjam.com/the-cascading-to-do-list-or-how-to-get-big-things-done/
“In a nutshell, the idea is to start with the end-goal in mind, then divide it into smaller and smaller increments. Plan all of the actions in detail beforehand, then get to work.”
Be realistic about how much you can achieve. Feeling as if you are falling behind can
demotivate you.
If there is not enough time ...
• Either revise your end date
• Or, remove elements of the project - pushing them into a post-launch phase.
Be ruthless in cutting features that can be added post-launch
The “missing” features at launch will seem far more important to you than to your customers.
Describe the product as it is now. Sell the solution.
• Start Small
• Get feedback from paying customers
• Improve and add to your product based on their needs balanced by your vision.
Minimum Viable Infrastructures
Own Your Own Data
Launch and beyond
Managing a growing side-project alongside an existing job or
business.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall
Winston Churchill
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
• We launched Perch at the end of May 2009
• At launch we were still 100% booked out on client projects
• Income from Perch was initially reinvested into Perch
• January 2013 we made the decision to stop taking on new client work
Our timeline
A successful side-project should be given more time as it represents a
higher % of your income.
Not making a profit?
• Are you pricing too cheaply?
• Are you reliant on expensive services?
• Are you attracting customers who need a lot of support?
The slower growth curve of bootstrapped products gives you time
to fix problems before they become BIG problems.
Never promise a specific timeframe to customers
When your product is a side-project you have even more things that could cause you to push
back a feature.
We don’t publish a roadmap
• It allows us to be flexible and react to customer needs and changing trends in web design.
• It means that customers are not relying on the launch of feature X in order to complete a project.
• It means that we can hold back a feature until we are absolutely sure it won’t cause anyone a problem.
Use Cases not Feature Requests
Find general solutions that will benefit many customers rather than adding
very specific features
Understanding the problem means we can help the customer now and
optimize the solution later.
Delight customers by solving their problems and letting them know when
you have done so
Protect the Core Use Case
Beware adding things just because they “make good demo”
Your product will benefit by being owned by someone who will say no.
Make Frequent Small Releases
Small releases
• Fewer changes = fewer things to go wrong
• Easier to isolate the issue if a problem does occur
• Get features to customers more quickly
• For our customers, less of a dramatic change that they need to communicate to their clients
Semantic Versioning assumes:
major.minor.patch
Progressive versioning
major.minor.progress
http://allinthehead.com/retro/373/progressive-versioning
Don’t be led by a noisy minority
Seek out the opinion of those customers you never hear from. The
happy majority are often silent.
Marketing
How to tell people about your product, when you have no money to
burn.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/5284764031/
Seth Godin
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”
You have made something that genuinely solves a problem. Go tell
people about it!
Pre-launch of Perch
• A month before we put up a landing page and email signup form
• About 500 people signed up
• We emailed the list on launch and those people represented enough sales on launch day to pay back all pre-launch costs.
Your reach will give you your initial customers. Then what?
Content Marketing
Write blog posts and articles on the things your potential customer is
interested in, not about your product.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring podcasts can be inexpensive and a great way to have someone influential talk
about your product for a few minutes.
Paid Advertising
If you cannot track it do not pay for it
Target the “long tail” keywords
Research smaller sites visited by your ideal customer, advertise on those
less expensive sites.
Create your own definition of success
Revenue that is not worth chasing for a 60 person business can be life-
changing for the solo founder.
Is the grass greener on the product side?
The work is always worth it.
Thank you
Rachel Andrew
@rachelandrew
http://rachelandrew.co.uk/presentations/not-doing-a-startup