Continued from: Start-up Series (Part I): What we do for the start-up entrepreneurs that hire us

Last time, we talked a bit about what we do for entrepreneurs that come to us with an idea for a consumer web or mobile start-up. Today, we’ll quickly go through the process we use to get to BETA.

First, it’s important to remember that there are usually two challenges that most startups face when they start building their BETA.

1. Somewhat blurred product vision
2. Limited capital

Having blurred product vision is pretty common. This comes in many shapes and forms. For instance, we often see a fairly decent vision, but a long list of features. Parts of the product may have been worked out, but other key parts, such as the user experience is full of holes. This is OK. It is often the reason why entrepreneurs come to us in the first place.

Having limited capital is a given. Sometimes though, there are also limited resources available as an entrepreneur may not have the time available to put 100% into the startup and often is not familiar with the large work load that comes with starting something from ground up. This is where our process comes in handy.

The basic steps are:

1. Entrepreneur provides all documents to Fabric for review
2. Q&A session with entire team – including product leads, design, experience, marketing, and tech
3. Fabric will produce a high-level estimate (Scope of Work)
4. Entrepreneur Funds Project
5. Definition: Detailed definition is developed for the first release of the product
6. User Experience Design: Wireframes and Functional Specifications
7. UI Design: Making it look great!
8. AJAX (or Flash is you are crazy)
9. Development: Database and Programming
10. Hooking to 3rd parties (most web startups are full of API hooks)
11. Admin Tools and such
12. Deliver website or application on Staging Server
13. Testing & QA
14. Deliver Alpha or BETA website/app to Production Server
15. Deployment: Tell everyone you know about your amazing product!

This is the quick and dirty work flow. In some cases, we have to work hard on concept development while other times it's more a matter of focusing on key user experience challenges. There are two rules we always follow:

Keep it simple and focus on the one thing you have to get right for users

Get your BETA up fast!

Once the BETA is up, we start working on the Product / Market fit, which is really just all about user feedback loops and product iterations. In our experience, this is really the hard part, but it's also the fun part. There's nothing as exciting as getting real people to give you feedback on your invention!

Next time, we’ll look at what kind of documentation we are looking for when we start working with you (hint: it’s not your business plan).

Start-up Series (Part III): Where is your business plan?

We get a lot of questions about this, so we thought we should just do a quick summary of what we’ve done and what we’re interested in doing for you entrepreneurs out there.
First, we’re just really passionate about start-ups because we enjoy the process and we love to see new underdogs challenge the big boys. Some of the people on our teams have done their own start-ups in the past including the fun task of raising capital from investors. Some would say we’ve learned the hard way. You can take advantage of all that learning so you don’t make the same mistakes we made. (Good right?)

We are mostly focused on consumer web start-ups because that’s what we know. For instance, right now, we’re working with three consumer web start-ups in BETA. Through our agency business, we’ve learned how to work with big brands and we understand how small start-ups can become valuable to potential acquirers or partners – such as big media or publishing.
Our Product Group has years of experience developing actual web products and this experience has made our team a perfect partner for two different scenarios:

1. The entrepreneur is technical, but needs help with product, user experience, and design
2. The entrepreneur lacks the product or technical team to build the BETA version of her dream

In most cases, we come in to build the Alpha – or first release (BETA) version of a web or mobile product. Fabric’s Product Group adds what is needed to the mix and usually delivers a complete product. During our process, we work with the Entrepreneur from the initial concept stage, through experience design and development and into Alpha or BETA. Once the first release is out, we often help entrepreneurs get to their first 1,000 or 10,000 users.

Next, we’ll go through our process in more detail and we’ll tell you what we look for when we consider new projects:

Start-up Series (Part II): BETA Build Process

Start-up Series (Part III): Where is your business plan?

Oh, we admit it, we've done our fair share of this:

• Writing big proposals
• Work on fancy presentations
• Waste time in meetings and pitches
• Propose big plans (outdated tomorrow)
• Taking clients for a “social media” ride
• Pitch complex ideas that won't work in real life

Now, we're on a mission to stop the non-sense.

Will you join us?

For the past few years, we've worked with several startups. Most of our work has been from idea/concept stage. Our team is passionate about this work. We love working with entrepreneurs. We love the energy of it.

So, what kind of startups are we looking for?

Our expertise area is consumer web and mobile. We've built social networking sites, transaction/commerce applications, and self-help products.

Today, we're looking for big ideas from passionate entrepreneurs. For instance, we're frustrated by the inefficiencies in every day life. We look at food, waste, energy, transportation, and the endless data silos - left over by legacy systems - just making our daily life a pain. We focus on startups that go after problems we understand.

For instance, right now, we are working on a smart dating product (sort of the anti-eHarmony), a useful recommendation site for parents with young kids, and a crowd-sourced fashion site. All cool stuff!

We also like simple B2B stuff, like what Basecamp did for project management and collaboration. Game changer. Simple. Solved a lot of problems for millions of people. Complex? Not really. Hard to execute? Yes, but mostly because it required dedication and focus on user problems.

We like simple ideas. Solve one problem. Keep it focused.

In short, we want to build kickass products that solve real problems we understand and care about.

Feel as if you should call us? Do it. Ask for Erlend.

We got a ton of questions on how we work with start-ups so let's just break it down into some highlights:

• We do work from FFF/seed-stage and have done Alpha builds for as little as $50,000.
• We typically put three high-level people on one project for a few weeks, so having a real budget can be quite useful.
• Everyone in our Product Group will focus on end-user experience. The product should solve a real problem for a specific set of users.
• We don't over strategize. We get stuff done. We start moving as quickly as we can and we move forward. That does not mean we do not think. We just value forward motion over planning and diddling with assumptions.
• We push to get to market - fast. Together, we focus on getting your v1 out to figure out how much BS you have in your business plan. Most assumptions are wrong. Financial models are just models. We want to get to real data - fast.
• We are not in the magic business. The first iteration of your product will not work. That's why we don't blow your budget on one build. So, if you do any planning at all, plan to get more money after v1. You'll need it.

When we meet you for the first time… this is what we care about:

• Your team
• Passion and personality
• Your understanding of your customer, market, and industry
• Sales experience
• How much you have done already

We don't care about

• Your 50 page business plan (if you have one like that, just don't tell us)
• Financial models
• Your “first mover advantage” (again, don't tell us)

We don't hold on to you. We want to let you go. We just want to give you wings. Then go. If you get to that stage, we're happy! Now, call us today. Free advice guaranteed.

When more than 5 people ask for it, you got to give in… here's the Fabric Capabilities overview. Are we amazing or what?

You think about the future? Can you see it?

• The tablets are here. iPad is just the beginning.
• My 18 month old son is using a touch screen every day.
• Social networks are not going away. They will grow.
• It's true: The Semantic Web will change everything.
• The Cloud is real and powerful. Where is your data?
• Think your industry is different from music and publishing?
• Are you really thinking for a living? I hope so.
• Do you like to do what you did yesterday? You will loose.
• Don't like the 30 second spot? You can make it go away.
• I will choose my advertisements. I pull the information I want.
• Change is not optional. Commuting is. Ask for change. Today.

Last week, I went to Seattle to see our client Lovin' Scoopful (get the ice cream – it’s amazing!) I travel with some frequency, but I’m all over the place on choosing my hotels. I tend to randomly choose the hotel that seems decent. No more of that.

I had a superb experience staying at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle. Everything was perfect. From the time I walked in to the time I left, I felt that these people, this Hotel, and this Brand really got everything right. It was a new feeling as I’ve grown accustomed to varying degrees of quality at hotels all over the US.

It was all details. From the friendly service and the champagne when I checked in to the quality of the room and finishes in the bath room. Nothing was left to chance. Every detail was worked out. You could just feel the passion that went into the Brand.

I’ve told four people about this hotel in less than one week. I’ll put a review on Yelp and I’ll book it again next time I’m in town. How much did I pay? Not enough.

This is what a brand is all about. The passion. The detail. The love. You know it when you experience it. What is your brand about?

When we wake up every morning, we drink coffee… and then we get on with it. We develop products - web products mostly.  We love this! In fact, we've found this type of work so challenging and rewarding that we created a Product Development Group within Fabric Interactive. Next to our Social Media Marketing Group, it is our main focus area at Fabric.

For the past two years, entrepreneurs, media, agencies, and brands have come to us with napkin ideas, business plans, or complete Product Development Plans for various consumer products or applications. In some cases, we've found that the expectations for what is possible and realistic outpace the budget and experience of the team we're working with. This means that our first job is to close this gap, provide leadership, and to focus the product development process.

I know many of you are thinking about developing your own web product or already have plans for launching a new business or product line based off an application or website. To help you, I want share our experiences with you. From our experience shelf, here are some of the challenges you're likely to encounter as you blaze down the path of product development:

Initial Product (Version 1.0) does not meet audience needs

Relax. It is highly unlikely that your product will connect with your audience right out of the gate. In fact, it may take 12-months to get the traction needed to meet user acquisition requirements needed for your next investor round. The cost of Product Development over 12 months may be significant and most certainly will match your initial investment.

Product does not deliver clear differential value for core audience

Right. Most web products – advertising or subscriber supported – are unable to fix this problem. In our experience, this comes down to a lack of focus. To win today, you need to focus on one specific audience and one particular unmet need. If you try to do too much for too many audiences, you will likely fail. This is universally true for ventures with limited funding. Again and again, we see small fish trying to compete with big well-funded players without laser focus on brand or audience. You must narrow focus. Then, you can execute brilliantly.

Attracting users to a new brand/product

Starting from zero can be very hard and quite costly. For instance, organic growth (from Google natural search index) will be very slow for 12 months for a new domain in a competitive area. Many co-marketing or traffic partners won’t partner until you have traffic and a tested product – so it can be a chicken and egg problem. For many, the only way to gain traction is to buy traffic in the beginning.

For some new ventures, it may be worth acquiring a blog or two (many are for sale) and grow your product from the established acquired audience. Part of your traffic – and product strategy – may be to build a network of sites all with a slightly different value proposition for your audience(s).

Getting people to use your product

Beyond getting users to your site, the main challenge is to get them to use it. For example, acquiring your first 5,000 users can be a major challenge. For instance, gaining momentum is a major issue for most social networking sites and absolutely critical to all reputation based products. There are no short-cuts really. It’s just hard work.

Unknown Brand and User Generated Content model

It can be difficult and costly to build a new brand where User Generated Content (UGC) is part of the model. Beyond the importance of appearance (design) the main challenge is in the actual UGC itself. It is hard to get people to do stuff. Also, from a management standpoint, even with the best of systems, there is cost in maintaining UGC quality and relevancy. The cost of scaling is – naturally – variable in that you’ll need additional human resources in managing increasing user numbers.

Underestimating Competitors Strengths

Competition is usually much stronger than it may seem. The attention of your audience (what did you say?) is limited and you will have to fight hard to win their trust. For instance, there are many well funded competitors targeting the “new parent” market and acquiring new users from this audience may be difficult for a start-up.

Underestimating the in-house resources required to build and grow a web product

Building and growing a web product is a 120% full-time job. We have seen many start-ups trying to do this on 50% of the founder’s time and they have all failed. The truth is that if you launch a venture part-time, you will likely lack the pace and commitment needed to win. “Oh, once I get this going, I will quit my day job.” To which we say, no you won't, because if you were committed you wouldn't be in your day job. To succeed, it is likely that you’ll need several people full-time for 12+ months. Anything less than that makes for a half-effort and will likely lead to frustration and failure. (Most start-ups take 3 years to build and does not make much money for founders until year 2+. Can you handle that?)

Those are some big challenges, right? Well, it doesn't matter to you, because you're going to do it anyway are you not? You are going all the way. You'll make it happen. Yes, you will. If you just focus and put your mind to it. Let's go!

Thinking about your social media strategy? This formula works. Just do it. We can help you if you like.

• Relevant Content. To trigger conversations in natural context, we must produce relevant content and media focused on generating a buzz and conversations
• Simple Engagement. Rapid and scalable interactive engagement requires simplicity (think Facebook “Likes”) – this is a key consumer insight on how people use social media. Keep it simple.
• Focus on Transparency. Awareness entails a kind of relation that supports transparency. People's trust begins on what is said and reputation, so it's detrimental to be as clear and up front as possible with your audience to avoid damaging any credibility.
• Clear Value. To drive conversions, you have to produce promotions and campaigns that deliver clear value to your audiences. This requires consistent focus on key audiences and influencers with a reliable voice – these are allies with the most potential to drive ROI for your brand through social media.