Startup Secrets - Roadmap to Success

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START UP SECRETS

An insider’s guide to unfair competitive advantage

Roadmap to Success

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Frequently asked questions: • What is involved in a startup?• What are the things I need to think about / learn to be successful?• Is my (idea/project/opportunity) fundable?• How do I pitch it to raise money?• And many more questions and frequently questioned answers!

What are YOUR questions ?

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Why are we here?

startupsecrets.com Roadmap to Success @underscorevc


Frequently asked questions: • What is involved in a startup?• What are the things I need to think about / learn to be successful?• Is my (idea/project/opportunity) fundable?• How do I pitch it to raise money?• And many more questions and frequently questioned answers!

Startup Secrets as a series is designed to bring these questions to life in practical frameworks and case studies… • So we designed this workshop as a Roadmap to Success

and in turn therefore to the Startup Secrets series as a whole

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Why are we here?



Macro: Building an enduring company…


Vision / Mission

Value Prop

R o a d m a p Enduring CompanyStartup

……… …


Steps…



A good first step…


Some kind of ROADMAP to execute fromMight take many forms for different audiences

Product Roadmap?Business Plan?Investor Pitch Deck?… or even a Napkin Sketch!

It will almost certainly be wrong!

But it can’t be mindless, it needs to be mindful!So you have some straw man, or baseline to work from


Steps:


Ideation Confirmation Creation Validation Repeatability Scalability Profitability Predictability


Each Step: Reduce Risk, Increase Value



Increasing VALUE

Decreasing RISK


Reality - Iteration



Increasing VALUE

Decreasing RISK


What will yours be?

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The roadmap to success…


Pivots?

Ideation

Repeatability?

Predictability?

Scalability?

Validation?

Profitability?

Funding?Creation


What will yours be?• Expect the unexpected…

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Pivots?

Ideation

Repeatability?

Predictability?

Scalability?

Validation?

Profitability?

Funding?Creation

Outliercustomers

Business Model Reworking

FundingMirage

Iterations

The unexpected:“near death” experience

Team Upgrades

Growth vs Leverage?

Re- Creation

(See LinkedIn article here)

StartupEuphoria

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131022163751-1893586-the-money-mirage-3-measures-to-define-early-progress-and-avoid-temptation?trk=mp-reader-card


What will yours be?• Expect the unexpected…

Longer, harder, maybe even bigger

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Pivots?

Ideation

Repeatability?

Predictability?

Scalability?

Validation?

Profitability?

Funding?Creation

Outliercustomers

Business Model Reworking

FundingMirage

Iterations

The unexpected:“near death” experience

Team Upgrades

Growth vs Leverage?

Re- Creation

StartupEuphoria


MILESTONES

Proprietary and Confidential 15

Milestones


Increasing VALUE

Decreasing RISK

Product Market Fit

PrototypeProblem Fit

Value PropIdea Fit

MVP & MVSCustomer Fit

CompanyExecution Fit

CompanyPublic Market Fit

CompanyBusiness Model Fit



Whiteboard:


Project, Org, Company Name

Team• Team Member Names & Backgrounds

Why uniquely qualified to address this problem / opportunity Value Prop

• Problem you’re solving Product / Service

Vision• Market need

Evolution in several years How will you lead it

Create Roadmap – TIMELINE

– Ideation– Confirmation– Creation– Validation / Iteration– Repeatability– Scalability– Profitability– Predictability

Who? Why? How? What? When?


Roadmap to Success


What are you missing?

How much of this is incomplete or missing? Team Value Proposition Product Go-To-Market Business Model

… and many others

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Planning for the perfect pitch…

How much of this is incomplete or missing? Team Value Proposition Product Go-To-Market Business Model

… and many others

MONEY? See “Funding Strategies To Go The Distance”

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http://mjskok.com/resources/funding-strategies-to-go-distance


Incomplete stand outs are better than complete stand ups! We looking for outstanding:

• People• Technology or other disruption• Market opportunity

One outstanding of the above literally stands out vs. all good, but none great

We don’t expect complete• Team• Product• Value prop• GTM plan• Business Model

Entrepreneurs don’t need all the answers!• Self aware, listening, leaders…

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Do you have the right questions?


Startup Secrets Workshops

Full descriptions of each at StartupSecrets.com

1. Startup Roadmap2. Building a Compelling Value Proposition3. Company Formation 1: Vision, Mission,

Culture4. Company Formation 2: Hiring 5. Game Changing Business Models6. Go to Market 1: Strategy7. Go to Market 2: Tactics8. Getting Behind the Perfect Investor

Pitch9. Funding Strategies to go the Distance10. Turning Products into Companies11. Have you Got What It Takes?12. Mastering Mutual Mentorship


T 617.303.0064 @underscorevc

53 State Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02109, USA

Startup Secrets - Roadmap to Success

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