Daily Archives: October 19, 2015

One important element of the venture project is to do some market research in the first phase of building a business plan so I have gathered som thought on our project. By interviewing 5 people from different sources we have got some feedback on our product EasyMessages. When getting the feedback, they all got to watch the Video Pitch and ask complementing questions.

Who? Wanted to reach both early tech adopters and stressful business people with the targeted characteristics by choosing respondents from both groups. In this way we can compare the reaction to see were they overlap. It is a small set of data so the choice of individuals can affect the feedback a lot. From the limited pitch this should still be enough to gather some initial thoughts.

How did we find them? Searched in our own networks since the target group is close to our educational orientation. Family friends were a good way to find the attractive group of people.

Feedback 1: Direct response “I would be willing to pay an initial cost to have an app that solves my organizational problems”. Express a willingness to pay around 50 SEK to have an app that solves this problem. Prefers an initial cost but could also see a low monthly cost of ca 10-20 SEK. The targeted customer can probably afford this even if it can be a bit of a barrier.

Feedback 2: “I like the way of gathering all sources under one roof”. Likes the idea and express an interest in knowing which messages comes from what source. Think the icons used in the video pitch prototype is important.

Feedback 3: Enjoys the app and see the only challenge on how to let big players like Facebook differentiate in the app. Otherwise they may not want to collaborate. Needs to look into this but should be able to lift some players and benefit them in the work. Great potential of fast growth and funding and soon selling to one of the big market players.

Feedback 4: Great idea. Likes the most: the highlighting of the person you’re communicating with. Suggests opportunity to interlink this with usual contact book so all personal information also is gathered and can be used directly via the app, e.g. phone calls.

Feedback 5: Want us to think about: How to market the idea. Which forums are the best to enter? The project are on the right track of targeting the specific segment of customers with multitasking stressful business lives and early tech adopters. Possibility to do a market research on which forums that bring these two groups together? Also look in to different ways of marketing and establishing customer channels that contributes to an easier every day life for the targeted customers.

Going further with feedback: These are points we’ve considered in group and we will take them with us in the further development of our business plan. All ideas and feedback will be gathered and evaluated separately but definitely be used in some way.

Beside this we’ve gotten some detailed feedback from the opposition group we will regard 🙂

 

This is my second post to sum of the feedback work with the startups I’ve tried to help during the course. The first one up was Mentimeter and now it’s Boksnok’s turn.

Boksnok is a startup in a very early stage. They are soon to release their product to public and have pre-orders on their webpage http://boksnok.se/

They have developed an app for mobile tablets with interactive children books that they will sell to parents of kids in their targeted ages. They have established relations with customers and books that will be available. The product have been developed through an iterative process with customer feedback so I’ve got to test a demo and later also the actual app. The main feedback I gave on the demo and application were as following:

Design: The design needs to be compelling for both the parents and the children which makes the product unique. It needs to satisfy the need of two customer groups at the same time and the characteristics of these groups differ and the subject behind using the app is different. The kids want to be entertained and the parents targeted wants a calming setting to enjoy. I think the app design fulfills this by being easy to understand and very visual, it succeeds to attract adults by adding elements such as comments and music. To increase the value from their proposition even more they could work on the customization even more. Maybe it can add value if it is possible to customize the book design through colors, background pictures and music etc.

Functionality: Interactive and customized is what I think they’ve captured and should continue to improve. To attract both parents and kids they could twist the functions so it involves both at the same time even more. One option could be to have some sort of review function throughout the books were the readers can evaluate the app and interact with other readers through example parent forums. This could be a way to involve the parents even more. This also opens up for other partners like parenting discussion forums or related consumer goods.

To sum up the points I’ve communicated, these are the main takeaways for Boksnok’s further development:

• Push key points of being interactive and visual. This is what distinguishes them from traditional books and children-parents activities.
• Evaluate options of having partnerships with attractive players. If they choose a partner, they need them to be modern in digital terms and share the same values as Boksnok. It is of high importance to only partner with brands that are aligned with Boksnok since a strong brand and good reputation is crucial on the specific targeted market.
• Have in mind that it may be possible to add elements to the app. Functions should serve to involve both readers without disturbing the simple design and functionality of the app.

Boksnok will soon release their product. If you know any parents that are into digital solutions for their kids, you should check it out: http://boksnok.se/ It will be available on Appstore and Google play.

 

Hi guys,

Hope your weekend was good and that studying for the final exams in all your other courses is going well!

A couple of days ago I stumbled over a interesting tweet, labeled #140pitchen. This is something the tele market company Telenor initiated to “clean” the Swedish internet for the best entrepreneurial ideas. The campaign makes you, in 140 characters or less, pitch your business idea to three Swedish angel investors (Magnus Winberg, founder of Pricerunner, Susanna Falkengren, known from Draknästet and Karolina Räntfors, founder of Tic) by using the hashtag, and then the angels respond to your idea.

The angels had control over Telenor’s twitter account (the campaign is over now unfortunately..) and if they thought the idea was interesting they asked you to send a email to describe the idea further.

I thought the campaign was really cool but it got me thinking, is this all just a marketing trick from Telenor or what do they want to get from the campaign?  Also is 140 characters enough to describe an idea?

I think so. In a intervju one of the angels (Magnus Winberg) said that “it dosen’t have to be a complete idea, rather to capture my, and the other angel’s interest, by pinpointing a specific problem”. This is something we have talked about a lot in the course and it is nice to hear it from a real angel investor as well. In this way you don’t have time to present a business modell or describe your competitors like we did in our elevator pitch, but maybe it’s enough? Also this might be the new way to introduce your idea to investors (not using twitter necessarily). Because how often do you meet with a investor in person? Maybe you have to send something (email or post on linkedin) in written form and make it short enough so the person receiving it dosen’t throw it away.

I scrolled thru the tweets and got surprised to se responses from Telenor’s account (from the angels) on virtually every tweet! Some of the ideas got the respons “I don’t understand” while other got the respons “very interesting, please send me an email and describe more” (witch must be pretty cool to receive from a angel investor!).

The best tweet i read was simply, “UBER for tattoos”, without further explanation:) That tweet got the respons “now you got me interested! Email me an describe more”.

So, what do you guys think, will there come any businesses from this campaign or is it just a market trick and is this the new way to introduce your ideas to investors?

All the best!

/ Emil

PS: Since the campaign is over (and it was in Swedish) I didn’t post a link but you can search on the hashtag #140pitchen if you want do read som of the ideas and responses.

Hi there, hope the final exam went well and that everyone had a good weekend. I’m directing my feedback to the course evaluation, right now I just wanted to do a quick shout-out to anyone interested in learning more about how to do an elevator pitch. If so, you should really order tickets (they are free of charge) in the link below, since SUP46 is hosting another exiting event this week. There will be eight innovative Swedish startups attending, and they all have to convince a qualified jury to pick them, in only 90 seconds.

Since a big part of this course have been linked with delivering an idea/product in a convincing and selling way, I think that it could be very interesting to see if any of these skills will be practiced by the contenders.

Following every single elevator pitch, there will also be a  short Q&A where the entrepreneurs will be answering questions from the judges.

/Isac

http://www.eventbrite.fr/e/handson-startup-tour-2015-stockholm-registration-18629123209?aff=erellivorg

Through the course I’ve had contact with some startups to help them in their phase of development.

We’ve reached the end of the course and I want to take time to sum up the work. First startup up is Mentimeter who we have shared office with during september. By trying their product I’ve summarized some main points to consider. I’ve both commented on internal and external factors.

Mentimeter sells an app service to companies and other organisations that holds event where they want to interact with the audience through Mentimeter’s app. Visitors can respond on questions during the event and the hosters get direct feedback and data. When I last met them they announced that they will take part of the 500 startups in the U.S. which means they will get mentoring and help during four months and the possibility to pitch their results for large investors in the end of the period. They will be there for four months next spring so all the luck and congratulations to the great success!

http://500.co/startups/

Strengths to highlight: I found the functionality of the app of really high quality with focus on being user-friendly. In comparison with competitors on the market I’ve investigated other options and come to find their design and simplicity of the application far more understandable and responsive. This is of great importance in the targeted user setting. At events I find it very important to quickly understand the app and how to interact easily.

Opportunities to exploit: This also makes it scalable since the concept needs to be easy to understand quick in case of a big and changing audience during events. In order to protect this unique value proposition I would suggest them to think through how they brand the functionality in the app.  By being the first on the market to offer this packaging they can make sure to establish a large installed base. Maybe they can look over their customer channels and what partners they could have a potential collaboration with to reach more customers  in the targeted forums.

Weaknesses to consider: Price strategy contra cost structure. The price is differentiated across different levels of usage. The fees are low but it may be a barrier of increasing usage if the only reason for going up in price is level of usage. Customers may stick with a lower usage just to avoid fees. I would recommend them to investigate if the incitaments of paying for the app is enough of they could greater greater gaps in offering of different price levels. Also this should be weighted against the cost associated with each product variation so each offer has margins enough to cover fixed costs.

Challenges to approach: Online approval from customers and company design is two points regarding the actual product I see as challenging and in need of consideration for further growth. The app needs to be easy to connect to and respond in when entering events of different kinds. They therefore  should look into how people connect to the app. Today you need to approve the connection to the application when joining the event. It is easy to reject this and this can damage the quality of the app results and the overall value. My second point is the design since companies at bigger event may want to insert their own colors and logos in the app. This needs to be weighed with the reputation and branding of having their own look to the app. A customized color-scheme is a possibility but can also be damaging to the long term branding.

In the end I want to give them positive feedback since I experience that they have a close relation between their programming skills and customer relations. This is something I think they needs to conserve in order to tackle these challenges and exploit the great opportunities they possess.

All the best luck to Mentimeter! I’m sure they will have great success the coming year. Check out their webpage and use their app if you will host any events in the future!

Check out https://www.mentimeter.com/

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