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/