It seems that the more time I spend on looking at the marketing plan, the bigger the task grows. Sure, marketing is only a piece of the business plan, but if there isn't a market or if one doesn't know how to engage this market, the business will go nowhere. With that in mind, I've decided to be a little unorthodox and have made the following decisions.
a) Focus on the marketing plan/strategy, before getting the business entity done.
b)Engage ASU's student population to help with the marketing plan.
To help meet this objective, I went to ASU last week and met with a business planning coach about on-campus contacts who could help us in marketing. The POC he gave me works in the Dean's Office of the Business School; she never replied to my email, even with me name-dropping the business coach :-) I'll try again in a couple of weeks.
Today, I met with a person in ASU's Community & Entrepreneurial Liaison's office -- match students interested in entrepreneurialism with local ventures. My objective to meeting with them is to find students to help us with our marketing section. I think it behooves us to tap into the 18-30 year old demographic and why not use the collective intelligence of these students to solidify our marketing plan.
So, we talked about our venture's needs and what/how these ASU students may be able to help. The school has had a huge response to their solicitation for businesses in the community that want to tap into this group of interested students -- some 600+ businesses responded for 25 or so interested students. He mentioned that if it wasn't for my connection to the LPEC class then he wouldn't set aside time to help a non-ASU affiliated ventures. We talked some more and it was apparent that he understood the opportunity that we could offer his students; he will be pitching Marketing 300-level students in a couple of weeks to find more candidates. So we'll see where this leads us, perhaps with a good team of energetic students to work alongside us to meet a big goal.
As for next week, I have another meeting planned with the director of career services. Which may well allow us some recruiting ops for a different set of students, my guess are students not necessarily in business school. I'm not going to leave any stone unturned while at ASU's campus, this is one of the biggest student populations in the nation, so there is bound to be some interested students.
Actually, I did see a flyer posted in the engineering building's men's room -- ASU Facebook Application Club, join and learn how to make money with Facebook apps. Hmmm, I may have to pay them a visit because it would be foolish to ignore Facebook's built-in user base. Think, engaging Facebook's users as a part of a larger marketing strategy.
Alright, about to start my business class tonight. I need to get a Ning site setup in 30 minutes so that I can hand out the url to partipants -- in case the class doesn't have a good way to communicate with the group.
-john
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Internet Platforms, which one to do?
I read a great posting written by Marc Andreessen on what defines an internet platform and what differentiates one platform type from another. You can find his write-up here.
I appreciate the time he took to write this because it helps me and my team to answer a fundamental question, "Why are we building this product?" It is easy to look at the near-term and focus on solving the "low hanging fruit" problem -- we're doing this to solve problem A. But what happens after A? Perhaps we need to architect our solution, such that we won't have to solve problem B, but allow other people the opportunities to solve B and subsequent problems.
You'll find in Marc's writing that he shamelessly promotes Ning, which is one of his companies. I normally find that type of promotion a little too self-serving, but in this case, it isn't so bad. The reason is that Ning is growing and has not reached critical mass such that mainstream America and Madison Avenue will pay attention. Marc is explaining how Ning is different from other platforms because it is cutting-edge in the way that it will host and run other people's applications. Sure it's a social network, but it allows for 3rd parties to do more than any other type of network will allow. We won't have to host, process, and manage our apps locally because if we deploy on Ning and tap their user base, we'll be using their infrastructure. Kinda neat, huh?
Confused yet? Well, go read his write-up and let me know if it makes you rethink your vision for your ideas.
I appreciate the time he took to write this because it helps me and my team to answer a fundamental question, "Why are we building this product?" It is easy to look at the near-term and focus on solving the "low hanging fruit" problem -- we're doing this to solve problem A. But what happens after A? Perhaps we need to architect our solution, such that we won't have to solve problem B, but allow other people the opportunities to solve B and subsequent problems.
You'll find in Marc's writing that he shamelessly promotes Ning, which is one of his companies. I normally find that type of promotion a little too self-serving, but in this case, it isn't so bad. The reason is that Ning is growing and has not reached critical mass such that mainstream America and Madison Avenue will pay attention. Marc is explaining how Ning is different from other platforms because it is cutting-edge in the way that it will host and run other people's applications. Sure it's a social network, but it allows for 3rd parties to do more than any other type of network will allow. We won't have to host, process, and manage our apps locally because if we deploy on Ning and tap their user base, we'll be using their infrastructure. Kinda neat, huh?
Confused yet? Well, go read his write-up and let me know if it makes you rethink your vision for your ideas.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Internal Communication & External Marketing
Open communication was one of the main topics discussed by the team this past weekend. The main issue was our individual intentions and how we wanted to see our venture proceed. Each of us has a different way to get to the end-game, and this topic will have to be revisited again. In addition, we decided we need a way for us to resolve disagreements; go carting, first-person gaming, and inflatable sumo wrestling were suggested.
Then, we discussed in length how our business planning has been coming along, and to be honest, we're barely getting anywhere important. The reason we believe this to be is that the most important part to a business plan, at least to us, is the marketing strategy. We've focused on the other parts and have largely ignored the marketing plan. Studies have been conducted and many articles have been written about software companies with very promising technologies that ended up going bust because the market was not sufficiently tapped. If we can't get to our customers, we'll never generate revenue. So my task for the coming weeks, months, will be to focus on how to get to our target market, the steps we'll have to take, the money that will need to be spent, and the trade-offs to be done.
-johnThursday, September 13, 2007
Condor: Recap Business Counseling Mtg
Yesterday was our scheduled meeting with SCORE. The purpose for meeting with them was to help us answer three questions:
1) which business structure is most favorable for investors?
2) how do we request seed-capital?
3) how do we determine the valuation of our venture?
So here is how the meeting went...
The meeting was at noon, but I stopped by on the way to work to drop off the draft Condor executive summary for Jim Batz to read prior to the meeting; his expertise is in business planning and manufacturing.
Our Background
His first question for me was about my background, particularly education and current job. Fine.
Then he wanted to know about why I was there? I laid out the three questions that we wanted answered and then we started talking about the business model.
Business Model
A half hour discussion about the business model with him trying to understand how he would make use of it. He asked, "so after this occurs, then what?" Good point, I had never made it clear in the executive summary, and had always assumed that readers would understand what would happen next. Jim's uncertainty meant that we need to include this critical step; good.
Commitment Level
He looked at the executive summary and mentioned, "You're asking for this much money." I explained that it was an early guess at a need and that it was a placeholder value in order to complete the draft executive summary. He then asked, "will you be quiting your job?" Of course I said yes and that was what he wanted to hear.
Purpose of a business?
Uhmmm, I replied, "to make money". He remarked that making money is the result of doing business, not the purpose. My second response was the right one, "to meet the needs of the consumer." He emphasized that we need to always keep the customer's needs understood and met. Fine.
Then we spent the rest of the session focused on what to do for a business plan. He gave us some forms to review and to do -- homework for the next meeting with him.
Who makes the decisions?
He remarked that we have three cofounders... he wanted us to know that someone has to be able to make the final decision. Okay.
Corporate Structure
He referred us to some online sources to understand the different structures, but remarked that we may want to consider an LLC umbrella company with sub-companies under it.
Financials to Valuation
He explained briefly what we need to do to get our financial projections started. This exercise will feed directly in doing our valuation, question 3. This value is also driven by our business model, How do you add value to the market by using your business model?
What is the ideal business going to be 3-5 years from now? What are the things that need to be in place at that 3 year timeframe? Looking out and working backwards, we'll be able to know what internal and external pieces have to be in place to achieve the ideal system. This vision core + ideal will allow us to cost the core capacity and capability. Capacity + Capability = Cost
We'll have to calculate different capacity levels to help us crunch our numbers for different financial scenarios. 100%, 80%, Reasonable Guess, and Break-Even. If we can't succeed at 80% capacity, we shouldn't be in business. This being said, Jim has a manufacturing background and I am not sure how well running a server at maximum capacity will fit into this capacity calculation. Especially since we're thinking of scaling our infrastructure using a hosted model. When we get to this part of the business plan, I'll be sure to work with Jim to iron this out.
So once we understand a maximum capacity, we will also know the maximum capability. This will then allow us to figure out what the cost will be to have a system running full-bore at 100%. We'll be able to cost bandwidth, hosting, rent, salaries, etc... Add up the numbers and that is the cost of running the system. I'm a little unclear though, how to go from this point to the valuation, but we'll get there.
What is your hamburger?
McDonald's sells all sorts of food, but they are identified with hambugers. That being said, what is our core offering, such that Condor will be identified by that service?
Homework/Research
There is a lot for us to review and work on individually/together so that we can all be on the same page. Business entity, corporate structure, licensing, insurance, getting a lawyer, etc...
Next Meeting
I scheduled the next meeting for Oct. 24th at 11am.
To Do List
There is a lot to do yet; this never changes. We should try and meet this Sunday to review our personal expectations for the business, our roles, etc... Setting aside the project for now, what is it that we want from this business and how each of us thinks we can get there.
That's it for now!
-john
1) which business structure is most favorable for investors?
2) how do we request seed-capital?
3) how do we determine the valuation of our venture?
So here is how the meeting went...
The meeting was at noon, but I stopped by on the way to work to drop off the draft Condor executive summary for Jim Batz to read prior to the meeting; his expertise is in business planning and manufacturing.
Our Background
His first question for me was about my background, particularly education and current job. Fine.
Then he wanted to know about why I was there? I laid out the three questions that we wanted answered and then we started talking about the business model.
Business Model
A half hour discussion about the business model with him trying to understand how he would make use of it. He asked, "so after this occurs, then what?" Good point, I had never made it clear in the executive summary, and had always assumed that readers would understand what would happen next. Jim's uncertainty meant that we need to include this critical step; good.
Commitment Level
He looked at the executive summary and mentioned, "You're asking for this much money." I explained that it was an early guess at a need and that it was a placeholder value in order to complete the draft executive summary. He then asked, "will you be quiting your job?" Of course I said yes and that was what he wanted to hear.
Purpose of a business?
Uhmmm, I replied, "to make money". He remarked that making money is the result of doing business, not the purpose. My second response was the right one, "to meet the needs of the consumer." He emphasized that we need to always keep the customer's needs understood and met. Fine.
Then we spent the rest of the session focused on what to do for a business plan. He gave us some forms to review and to do -- homework for the next meeting with him.
Who makes the decisions?
He remarked that we have three cofounders... he wanted us to know that someone has to be able to make the final decision. Okay.
Corporate Structure
He referred us to some online sources to understand the different structures, but remarked that we may want to consider an LLC umbrella company with sub-companies under it.
Financials to Valuation
He explained briefly what we need to do to get our financial projections started. This exercise will feed directly in doing our valuation, question 3. This value is also driven by our business model, How do you add value to the market by using your business model?
What is the ideal business going to be 3-5 years from now? What are the things that need to be in place at that 3 year timeframe? Looking out and working backwards, we'll be able to know what internal and external pieces have to be in place to achieve the ideal system. This vision core + ideal will allow us to cost the core capacity and capability. Capacity + Capability = Cost
We'll have to calculate different capacity levels to help us crunch our numbers for different financial scenarios. 100%, 80%, Reasonable Guess, and Break-Even. If we can't succeed at 80% capacity, we shouldn't be in business. This being said, Jim has a manufacturing background and I am not sure how well running a server at maximum capacity will fit into this capacity calculation. Especially since we're thinking of scaling our infrastructure using a hosted model. When we get to this part of the business plan, I'll be sure to work with Jim to iron this out.
So once we understand a maximum capacity, we will also know the maximum capability. This will then allow us to figure out what the cost will be to have a system running full-bore at 100%. We'll be able to cost bandwidth, hosting, rent, salaries, etc... Add up the numbers and that is the cost of running the system. I'm a little unclear though, how to go from this point to the valuation, but we'll get there.
What is your hamburger?
McDonald's sells all sorts of food, but they are identified with hambugers. That being said, what is our core offering, such that Condor will be identified by that service?
Homework/Research
There is a lot for us to review and work on individually/together so that we can all be on the same page. Business entity, corporate structure, licensing, insurance, getting a lawyer, etc...
Next Meeting
I scheduled the next meeting for Oct. 24th at 11am.
To Do List
There is a lot to do yet; this never changes. We should try and meet this Sunday to review our personal expectations for the business, our roles, etc... Setting aside the project for now, what is it that we want from this business and how each of us thinks we can get there.
That's it for now!
-john
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
"Competitor" raises $9 Million
One of the companies that competed with my Angus idea just raised $9 million in funding...wow. Back in mid-July, I was still working on Angus, which was advertising at the point of sale. I was attempting to solve a common ecommerce problem called, shopping cart abandonment. This is the problem where shoppers add items to their cart and then decide to checkout, but for different reasons, they decide to leave the retailer's site. While investigating the advertising market and the different business models being used, I came across BazaarVoice, whose business it is to compile consumer product reviews.
I did a SWOT analysis for Angus back then and wrote that BazaarVoice was one of Angus' competitors in the mature market for influencing consumer purchases. I'm not sure whether I'm happy that we set aside the Angus idea, because of this company's recent funding acheivements, but it's kindof neat to see that the analysis was purposeful.
I did a SWOT analysis for Angus back then and wrote that BazaarVoice was one of Angus' competitors in the mature market for influencing consumer purchases. I'm not sure whether I'm happy that we set aside the Angus idea, because of this company's recent funding acheivements, but it's kindof neat to see that the analysis was purposeful.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
YC Application and beyond
I've been working on filling out the YC application for this Wintor 2008 funding round. It's taken me a lot longer than I thought. The reason for this is the nagging question of whether my "idea has legs?" It's come down to two ideas on our plate, Condor and Elephant. Condor is consumer related while Elephant is very much a b2b. While I figure out which of the two has a greater upside, I'll try to get the Condor survey out soon.
Regardless of the YC deadline, I have to realistic about it and position myself for local funding opportunities. There are some preparations that I still need to do, especially on the recruiting front for rapid prototyping developers.
-john
Regardless of the YC deadline, I have to realistic about it and position myself for local funding opportunities. There are some preparations that I still need to do, especially on the recruiting front for rapid prototyping developers.
- I have a Sept 12th meeting with a SCORE counselor, I hope to get some Condor questions answered, as well as recruiting strategies.
- I visited Glendale Community College recently and spoke with one of their guidance counselors for how to tap the student population about recruiting for the team.
- I will be doing the same recruiting at ASU and it may be easier to do this now that they have an office that handles the liaison between entrepreneur and student-intern.
-john
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Survey Feedback & Planning
I've got a three-pronged attack for this survey. Feedback loop, administering survey, getting the word out.
The feedback I've received about the survey questions have varied greatly. Most people thought the questions were good, but that sort of feedback doesn't provide much info to me. I did receive two useful emails which pointed out a wording flaw in the survey.
The wording at issue is similar to the following example survey about ballroom dancing experiences,
Question #1 Have you ever done ballroom dancing? [Yes, No]
Question #2 How would you describe the first time you doing ballroom dancing? [text box]
Question #3 Would you be interested in lessons? [Yes, No, Maybe]
This may seem well and good to you, but it isn't ideal. If the respondent selects No for the first quesiton, then the following questions wouldn't make sense and would be awkward to answer. That's the issue I have to fix with my questioning.
I downloaded an open-source survey script, called Ask People, to administer this survey. I also added a Google Analytics script to this survey so that I can capture traffic details (location, new or returning visitor, etc...) while the survey is being taken. I intend to use the results of the survey and the traffic information to help paint a good picture showing the opportunity at hand. This may help me with recruiting :-)
The survey wouldn't be any good if I don't get the word out and pull favors. Part one is to email my friends and family to ask them to take the survey. Two, I will also ask them to forward the survey to their contacts. Three, I will be asking friends who use social networks (myspace, facebook, friendster) to post the message out to their network. Ideally, I'll get several hundred results from around the country. We'll see.
-john
The feedback I've received about the survey questions have varied greatly. Most people thought the questions were good, but that sort of feedback doesn't provide much info to me. I did receive two useful emails which pointed out a wording flaw in the survey.
The wording at issue is similar to the following example survey about ballroom dancing experiences,
Question #1 Have you ever done ballroom dancing? [Yes, No]
Question #2 How would you describe the first time you doing ballroom dancing? [text box]
Question #3 Would you be interested in lessons? [Yes, No, Maybe]
This may seem well and good to you, but it isn't ideal. If the respondent selects No for the first quesiton, then the following questions wouldn't make sense and would be awkward to answer. That's the issue I have to fix with my questioning.
I downloaded an open-source survey script, called Ask People, to administer this survey. I also added a Google Analytics script to this survey so that I can capture traffic details (location, new or returning visitor, etc...) while the survey is being taken. I intend to use the results of the survey and the traffic information to help paint a good picture showing the opportunity at hand. This may help me with recruiting :-)
The survey wouldn't be any good if I don't get the word out and pull favors. Part one is to email my friends and family to ask them to take the survey. Two, I will also ask them to forward the survey to their contacts. Three, I will be asking friends who use social networks (myspace, facebook, friendster) to post the message out to their network. Ideally, I'll get several hundred results from around the country. We'll see.
-john
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