A short look on one of many prospering start ups in Stockholm…

As many of you, I have been in contact with start ups in many ways, in lectures, as a user or just as a spectator in general. But this autumn I have been in very close contact with a pretty interesting start up project as one of my closest friends has got the responsibility to run the whole project himself. This has meant that I have been having to hear about all of the problems and challenges he is facing and also the thrills of his many possibilities, even though we have been hanging out under the circumstances where talk about work/school is very far away. Needless to say, he is living and breathing his project and all of his friends and family have to put up with it…

As they are in the early stage of the process seeking funding at the moment I wont present the name of the app/idea/company, but the service they provide is local news in an application for iPhone/android (The name can be exposed when they have approached investors). They have already developed an available application to be able to measure the performance on a small test market to show investors some useful KPI to be able to move the business forward. The organisation consists of 4 software developers and my managing friend, and the founder has invested enough money to cover all of the expenses for 6 months, wherefore the funding stage is very crucial.

My impression of the application itself is very good since the interface is user friendly, easy on eyes and easy to use. The problems I see is more related to the whole concept due to the fact that there are certain things that obviously are not decided yet. Therefore I will present some things that I really think can help them improve their KPIs.

1. The target group seems very wide according to the content. A great target group can lead to many users but a low click rate.
2. No clear borders in the map function (where the user can choose location for the news)
3. The lay out of the advertisement does not match the application. The confidence in the product will be higher if the general impression is more complete, which could lead to more loyal “users”
4. The revenue streams will mainly consist of advertisement between the news which could lower the value for the users and poison the experience…
5. The name of the application is not related to the idea, content nor provided value.
6. No marketing research have been made, wherefore the company should initiate such a thing before deciding which KPIs to choose

Since I have gotten a lot of insider information about their business I have had much more insight than the general customer of their services, but I think that my points are important to consider before continuing to investors. It will certainly be exciting to see where this start up ends or takes off, and hopefully I can tell you a bit more about the company in detail in a couple of weeks!