RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: Entrepreneurship: Validation Precedes the Money

John Richards - Photo from UVU Press Release

This class is called: Entrepreneurship: Validation Precedes the Money and the speaker was John Richards, CEO of Startup Ignition.

This is part of the class overview: "Are you launching your startup correctly? Many entrepreneurs with a great idea for the family history/genealogy industry are still practicing entrepreneurship the old-fashioned way, which is coming up with an idea, raising money, building a product, and then finding no one wants the product."

Here are some of my takeaways from this session:

The old model was planning and product based:

• Business Plan
• Product Development Model
• Gather Money
• Staff Divisional Roles

The new model is learning and customer based:

• Rapid Cycles
• Frugality
• Experimentation
• Identify
• Validate
• Iterate
• Looping Scientific Method

We are seeing a metamorphosis of entrepreneurship due to: economy, internet capabilities, internet sub-culture, dramatically lower startup costs, and the sophistication of all players.

Recommended books that every entrepreneur needs to read:

Alexander Osterwalder, Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, 9780470876411

Steve Blank, The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, 9780984999309

Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, 9780307887894

Nathan R. Furr, Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation, 9780983723608

A startup exists to search for an unknown but viable business model, not to develop a known product.

Customer development has to be the first priority.

Check out this software: https://www.compass.co/

The #1 cause of startup failure is premature scaling.

Customer Development captures how startups should iterate and pivot to a viable business model. Listen to customers for what they really need and identify their #1 problem that needs to be fixed.
Get customers first ... then build product.

Don't do business plans for startups. Instead utilize a business model.

What is a business model?

• Create, Delivers, and Captures Value
• Dynamic
• Model ... then Plan
• Facts are with Real Customers

Business Model Canvas http://www.alexandercowan.com/business-model-canvas-templates/

• Customer Segments
• Value Propositions
• Channels
• Customer Relationships
• Revenue Streams
• Key Activities
• Key Resources
• Key Partnerships
• Cost Structure

Check out Startup Ignition for 13-week Boot Camp info.

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I love this kind of class. It applies to anyone with creative ideas.

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