Serving a Global Market from Your Garage - By Sangeet Paul Choudary #PNCamp, Pune

Serving a Global Market from your Garage

Sangeet Paul Choudary

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A few examples

Startups can be lonely celebrations

A startup... is an obscure entity with

the potential for non-linear growth

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Bumps and Engines

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Getting growth right

PR Bumps + Viral Engine

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Hacking the PR BumpSOURCE: PLATFORM THINKING

Rule 1: Think of the Journalist as a

CustomerThey’re interested in a good story, not in you.

Counterintuitive worksHARO?

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Rule 2: Twitter is the new backstage pass

Sneak into their conversations with interesting nuggets

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Rule 3: Recursive PR

Understand the PR Food Chain and feed the Plankton!Who reads Who!

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Rule 4: Catch the Newbie

The busier and more secure a person, the less he needs you!

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Rule 5: Sister Concerns

Same brands but lower editorial constraints

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Rule 6: Contributor Networks

You don’t need to be the editor’s friend!

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Rule 7: Be the Page One Celebrity

Own your Google SERP

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Rule 8: Hack the Hackers: Reddit and HN

Secure a contributor post

Build a voting ring

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Rule 9: User-generated PR

Users using your product in unusual ways, make the best stories

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Rule 10: Straight from the horse’s mouth

No one will tell your stories unless you do

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Go from product-first to audience-first while telling stories!

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In summary...

Think of the stories you’ll tell

Knock on the easy gates - get social proof - knock on the hard ones

Break into conversations and show them something new

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Designing the Viral EngineSOURCE: PLATFORM THINKING

Viral = Invites?

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Not quite!

Build the product

Slap on an invite loop

World domination

We think of growth divorced from product experienceSOURCE: PLATFORM THINKING

Lazy execution brings in lazy users

DailyMotion Digg The GuardianWashington Post

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That Sneezing

Guy

DropletsAir

How Diseases Spread

TARGET

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Sender Motivations

Seeds

External Network

How Products Spread

Recipient Motivations

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Ingredient 1: Viral Seeds

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Viral Seed

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(A survey)(A deal)

(A product listing)

(Q/A)

(A lesson)

(A slideshow)(A project)

(A folder)

Viral Seeds

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Ingredient 2: External Network

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User-generated growth leverages a network where users are already connected

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Blogosphere

Contact list integration

Social networks with explicit relationships

Networks with implicit relationships Networks of exchange

Choose the right

network

Add value to the network

Be First-to-network

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AirBnB onCraigsList

Relevant Activity

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LinkedIn onOutLook

Relevant Connections

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Etsy onPinterest

Relevant Format

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Ingredient 3: Sender Motivations

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FUN FORTUNEFAME

+

Doesn’t distract user from product usage

Why Users Spread The Word?

Self-expression

Self-promotion

InorganicIncentives> >

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MOTIVATION Show the world how creative I

am

YouTube,Instagram

Tell the world about your creationsVIRAL

ACTION

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MOTIVATIONGather support

for my cause

KickStarter, Change.Org

Tell the world about your

causeVIRAL ACTION

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MOTIVATION

SurveyMonkeySkillShare

Get others to take some

action

Reach out to inform them

about the actionVIRAL ACTION

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Ingredient 4: Recipient Motivations

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SHOW TELLvs.

PITCH

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CALL TO ACTION

Clear CTA at the end of

Pitch

P.S. I love you. Get your free email at Hotmail

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HACKS ARE BORN TO DIE...

TRUE DESIGN ENDURES!

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THANK YOU!FOR MORE,

VISIT PLATFORM THINKING