Next step for your app idea (Part 2)

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When you are launching an app, these two parallel processes apply (just like any other product)

  1. Make a great product
  2. Spread it!

So your programmer is now developing the product. It is your job as the entrepreneur/business dev to spread it.

Note that if you’re building a user-based app, i.e. an app that has to have users for it to be valuable, you have to spread it decently BEFORE launch and make a sign-up list like you see on www.Netty.se . Imagine if you’d download Tinder and there was nobody to swipe or you go to Blocket and there is nothing to buy.

A way of spreading the app just before launch is building up a hype e.g. telling the media about the launch. For Netty, media-hype is too early. We have to get creative and spread Netty in other ways to reach students & entrepreneurs.

Side note: New for students. Swipe right on a company = subscribe on the companies student-internships/masters/job-openings!

A more popular term for being creative is Growth hacking (finding ways to grow without expensive traditional marketing). A big part of it is online marketing and making win-win cooperations with others.

If you’re launching an app, read about how other app-startups has “hacked” growth!

Here’s some of the things I am up to while the development is taking place…

  1. Developing an Online marketing strategy with our Online marketing intern
  2. Making three different pitches with our Biz dev intern (One for students, one for entrepreneurs, one for investors)
  3. Applied for Business challenge and STING test drive. Got an KTH-I coach.
  4. Of course, attending every event with my Netty t-shirt 😀 Also attending an SSES workshop soon.
I got way to excited when I got it at night to not take a pic :D

I got the shirt in the middle of the night. I was way too excited to not take a pic to share 😀

…while both of us are studying for exams. If you have any product idea related to events, read important experience below!

 

 

LEAGAL STUFF ABOUT EVENTS

You already know about Netty’s Mingle mode which is the part when you swipe entrepreneurs and companies.

But we’re also going to have an Event mode.
Say you are going to the next Happy hour at SUP46. You can find your event, press “Attending” and enter a code you got from SUP46.
=> You’ll get access to pre-mingle (swipe) with all of the participants of the event! So when you get there, you know who you want to talk to. Furthermore there will be a poll section where the organizers can collect data e.g. “How was the speaker ?” etc

I have gotten four requests already from event-organizers who want to beta-test it at their events! Event-organizers love it.

BUT…
Did you know that it’s illegal to post someone else’s events if you can make a profit out of doing it?
Apparently I would be breaking the law if I’d spontaneously post an event. I have to ask.
But as you can imagine, this law is only there to protect the big companies. Every start-up event organizer is happy for you to post their event. However the big companies would not be happy about it because they don’t want to risk their reputation

Until next time!
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EDIT: Just got accepted into STING Test drive despite a record number of applications! 😀

Thoughts on the course & todays event

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I don’t have many thoughts on the course like Celine did 😛
I was going to take a course because I needed credits. I choose this course and because I love entrepreneurship.

Even though most of the stuff that will be of use for me personally is stuff that I already knew; I don’t regret taking the course.
Almost solely because of insights on innovation and business model. I liked that Serdar talked about Business model because I am writing a business plan right now! I used to think that the product is more important than the business model when you innovate. Now I don’t.
Specifically: Customer segments and how to define a customer was something that influenced my writing. So thanks Serdar! 🙂

Other than that, I’m looking forward.

Netty has made some partners and is moving forward. Prototype probably finished a week after the exam period.
I was happy to see some of you at the last event. Todays event is about building an MVP.
I will be a host there again and help out. Join if you want!

Todays event: http://www.off-site.se/seminar-and-mingle-minimal-viable-product/

Also comments are welcome for updated site www.Netty.se ! 🙂

See you soon

STING, Pivoting & Our first intern

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Just applied to “STING test drive”. It is due to today!

You don’t need to have started with your idea to apply. You do need to have a SCALABLE idea though!

http://www.stockholminnovation.com/vara-program/test-drive/

 

Nettys first pivot is realizing that xpreneurs want to network, but most students don’t care for networking even though it’s good for them. Most students want to meet future employers! Therefore the value proposition and the revenue model will change, for the (much) better.

Value for students: Get in touch with relevant employers

Value for xpreneurs: Network!

Value for companies: Employer branding amongst driven individuals

The students and xpreneurs will not be charged for the value, but the companies will. Employer branding is competitive & hard. Especially if you’re not amongst the big companies. This will be a more cost-effective alternative to sponsoring a bunch of student-stuff. They will reach out to quality students & xpreneurs who are already trying to build relationships.

 

Also we have our first intern. Nikhil Bohra from India has a startup ranked in the top 25 there. Teaching simple programming to kids. The same person who Amir wrote about from SUP46 visit. He is here as an exchange student.

See you soon 🙂

Ps. We’re on Twitter now if you want to follow!

Spreading your Startup & Co-ops

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Spreading your startup, especially when bootstrapping, is all about facilitating win-win cooperations with places where you want your startup to be.

For me: Spreading Netty to people who are interested in networking is all about making win-win co-ops with places where the networkers are. One of the interesting places are StudentNode!

StudentNode is a platform where companies post events. But not any events; only events made FOR students. It’s a really cool site which features a lot of different companies. The initiative is intended to boost the relationship between students and our future employers. There are frequent events where students can get to know how it is to work at different companies.
E.g. I attended one of the events today which actually turned out to be a challenge from PwC. It was called ProjectX. Me and a teammate went into a room and tried to find the key to get out of the room. It was a fun exercise of teamwork.
After that I emailed StudentNode, suggesting a coop.

More updates in next blogpost!
http://www.pwcprojectx.se/
http://www.studentnode.com/

STARTING UP!

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Hey everyone! 😀

As some of you already know.

Netty is under development and I will soon be in KTH innovation with my team.

 

If you’re interested, sign up! www.Netty.se

And like us on Facebook and LinkedIn if you like the product 🙂

 

A3-2

Here’s a sneak peek of the ad campaign we’ll run at KTH. Wish me luck 🙂

Venture Cup – Win 250 000 kr for your idea!

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Venture Cup is Swedens biggest competition for startups/business ideas!

If you have an idea, you can submit it and win 250 000 kr!

The most valueable thing (according to me) though is the feedback you get. Everyone who submits get feedback from experts who will read your application. Your idea won’t be public for everyone of course, only for specific experts.

Here’s a workshop by Venture Cup at Student Inc (I’m the one with the white Tshirt)
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And heres something I’ve been doing outside of the library. Promoting entrepreneurship!

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The idea competition is due to 6:th of October.

Followed by the Business plan competition due to months later.

You got nothing to lose! http://www.venturecup.se/

Update & The N-ABC model you need to know for your idea

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There was actually so much to write about in the weekend that I ended up writing about nothing.

As a Tech person who’ve previously underestimated the importance of marketing, I’m not repeating same mistake.

IMG-20150916-WA0000

A poster we put up in a high-school along with a happy student

So www.StudiePortalen.nu is a site where college students helps high-school students by simply sharing their experience of their study and college.
If contributing with your experiences/thoughts of your study is something for you, hit me up!

Also started an online profile for future online marketing.
https://twitter.com/fragaenstudent
(Facebook coming soon)

—

And for the virtual network project:

App

I put a lot of these in the computer departments of the E- and D-house  yesterday. I got an answer today and interviewed rightaway. The programmer hunt seems to be under control.

 

HERE’S WHAT I HAVE TO PREPARE FOR THE MEETING WITH KTH INNOVATION:
Need- What are the problem(s) and important needs you are solving. Who is your customer? What do you know about the market?

Approach- What do you offer? (Tech / solution, business idea)

Benefits- Whats the benefit for your customer with your offer/solution?

Competition- Which are your competitors/alternatives? What makes your offer unique comparing to those?

 

So to follow up on what I previously posted

Step 1: Tell the world

Step 2: Think out you N-ABC

 

Next steps coming soon

So you have an idea. Now what?

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There is a common misconception, probably inherited from movies and some particular cynical views of capitalism, namely that you should keep your ideas for yourself. Otherwise someone can steal your idea!

In my opinion (which is inherited from the opinions from people in the know), the reality does not conform to that.

To start a project/company takes energy. To start a project takes time. People wont quit what they’re doing and invest resources into some idea they heard somewhere.
Angel investors  (private investors who invests from their own pocket) are interesting to look at. The existance of Angel investors supports my claim in a way. Angel investors are experienced and rich, yet they don’t take ideas from a youths. They give money to the youths to capitalize on their time, energy and commitment.
Indeed Angel investors agrees. Here’s a fictional quote that sums up what I’ve heard from Angel investors (just because I like quotes and it looks cool):

The year is 2015! Do you really think your idea is unique? In this day and age, ideas are worth nothing. It’s all about the execution! I invest in the person, not in the idea.

—

So what is the next step?

The next step is to tell it to the world

Go to events and pitch your idea to as many as you can! This is what I did yesterday at SUP46, indeed it was super valuable.

I found a programmer who got so intrigued by the “It’s a mix of LinkedIn and WhatApp” pitch that we pivoted the idea for 20 minutes from a programmers point of view!
I also found 3-4 iOS developers who may or may not be interested in joining my team.

—

The idea in your head will never improve as long as it remains in your head only. Do yourself a favor and share it today in class! You will get two invalueable things: Feedback and contacts!

Networkr – How big should you think?

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You want to hear a secret?
Last week, KTH innovation sent me a ticket to Stockholm Tech fest.
What they didn’t know was that they accidentally also sent me a ticket to the super-VIP hangout BEFORE the Tech fest.
(I’m not talking about the VIP dinner, but the VIP hangout that took place before that!)

I wasn’t even aware of it myself, even though they’d ask me
– Are you a speaker or an investor?
– (Me:) umm, I’m just a student…

—

Being in a room with only investors felt kind of alienating, but at the same time, of course I felt like I should take advantage of the situation. I didn’t know how, but I just made sure to talk as much as I could.

The last conversation of the day happened to be with a student of Handelshögskolan who started J12Ventures, a company that invests in Startups. He told me

“I’ve had so many ideas the last 6 months, and all I’ve been wanting to do is to network with KTH (technical-) students. But I’m isolated at handels and there isn’t really an event
between KTH and Handels…”

Having trained my ear to listen to “pains”, of course I saved that sentence in my brain-RAM as we continued the conversation. I later thought of arranging an event between Handels and KTH. Then I applied the concept of always “thinking bigger” as Micael told us at his talk.
Should we really be limited by events in our possibilities to network?
Why not make an app where you combine LinkedIn with WhatsApp?

I call it Virtual Networking…

The main concept being that you can “Create a room” (representing an event), and in there you can chat everyone else in the room. You can also see every other conversation in the room, and jump into conversations. You can of course chose to chat privately, Skype and exchange contact information (kind of like you exchange business card).

I went on to pitch the idea to a friend who works at STING (the best Startup incubator in Sweden if I remember correctly), who thought it was an interesting idea and supported it.

—

Michael (our last speaker) told us to “Think big”. Well, I already know that, right? I originally learned it from Tai Lopez, a wealth mentor. That’s why I want to make an app instead of an event…

But why not take a step further and make the app not just for business networking, but for everything. Like reddit! The difference being that Networkr is in real-time and more
interactive.

So what do you think. Should I go with niched or not?

Remember: “If you try to satisfy everyone, you won’t make anyone happy” – Serdar Temiz
PS. Can I use Networkr as my idea for the cource?

Me <3 The startup world

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I guess everything started when I came to KTH, only to discover that innovation is possible, and people like you are doing it!…

I’ve lived in the suburbs of Stockholm my whole life. And not the good kind. The kind where drug dealing is common and theft/shooting happens every once in a while.
But I was a good boy. I was smart they said. I got good grades and my future would be bright.

That was the view of everyone except my Father. Not because of something personal to me, but because he was not a (business-)optimist. So I grew up thinking that it is
hard for everybody except the wealthy 1 % who controlles everything. I would become a doctor, get a job/house/kids and that would be the best I could do.

Then I started at KTH and I couldn’t help but to get fascinated by the innovation that is done by “regular people” and youths. People just like you and me! Being exposed to talks and events at school, I felt that the more experienced were very encouraging. I guess I was so fascinated because I had so low  expectations.

I happily dwelved into the startup world by going to events where I found out that it is a rather small community, and everyone knows each other. Even though I was busy with studies and web design, I took the position of being a Brand ambassador for two startups. I am now the Brand ambassador at KTH for Venture Cup.

The whole time has been like a 1-year-journey in a flow state. Novelty, new challenges to overcome & room for personal development are always found in the  Startup world!

Next year, I am the project manager of Entrepreneurial Days here at KTH which you are invited to. But even earlier than that

Join me at SUP46 today
https://www.facebook.com/events/581650585306870/
(I was planning to post sooner but I was busy recruiting)

PS. You must know about Venture Cup! Far too many students have an idea but think that they are too young/inexperienced/incompetent to execute. That is most likely not the case.

Venture Cup is Swedens biggest competition for ideas and Startups where you can win 260 000 SEK. Talk to me if you have an idea, there’s tons of free support to get 🙂