Ismail Shuaau’s Post

Startups have a magical ability to turn blunders into genius moves. Imagine launching a product so ahead of its time that not even your team gets it—classic mistake, right? Wrong! That’s just a "pivot" waiting to happen. Like when ProgComm's B2B commerce tool for sales tracking ended up being more popular as a performance management dashboard. No problem, just pivot! Suddenly, you’re not the team behind a failed sales tracker but the visionaries behind the hottest performance management tool. Next time your startup makes a colossal mistake, remember, you're one pivot away from being hailed as a genius! 🚀✨ When to Pivot: 1. Market Feedback: If users love something different about your product. 2. Stagnant Growth: When growth stalls despite your best efforts. 3. Competition: Competitors outpace you in your current direction. 4. New Opportunities: Spotting a more lucrative or viable market. Share your mistakes turning genius moves with us! #StartupLife #Pivot #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #ProgComm #Progcap

Most startups are familiar with the concept of a lean startup concept called an MVP: Minimal Viable Product. An #MVP has just enough core features to effectively deploy the product and no more and is used to gain feedback from customers to validate the value proposition. However there are two other 3 letter acronyms which are also important as part of the lean philosophy but don't get attention: NVP and SMD. #NVP stands for Need-to-have Value Proposition and is the smallest amount of value you have to deliver in order to get to a need-to-have product (rather than just a nice-to-have product) for some market niche/customer segment. #SMD stands for Smallest Market Dominance and is the smallest market niche that you can identify where you can establish market dominance. While an NVP will ensure revenue, it is market dominance that ensures margins and hence profitability. As a startup your goal is to establish market dominance in some market niche as soon as possible (hence an SMD) with a need-to-have product. From this beachhead market (https://lnkd.in/eAiwSieE) you then expand to other market niches. Or to put it in 3 letter acronyms: you identify a potential SMD and build an MVP to validate your NVP.

🚀 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐬 When it comes to measuring the success of early-stage startups, the landscape looks markedly different from that of more mature businesses. At the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, the focus is often less on traditional numeric metrics and more on qualitative insights that truly gauge customer enthusiasm and product-market fit. 📊 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: In early stages, it's essential to understand not just what your potential customers are doing, but why they are doing it. Metrics here tend to be more about learning and less about scaling. For instance: 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬: In-depth conversations can reveal why customers are excited about your product, providing insights that numbers alone can't. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬: Quick and iterative feedback helps refine the product based on actual user needs and experiences. Observational Studies: Watching how users interact with your product in a natural setting can yield unexpected insights. 🔍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚: This focus on qualitative data helps early-stage startups pivot and iterate with purpose. It's about capturing the heart of customer behavior—what motivates them, what concerns them, and what delights them. 🌟 𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬, we emphasize the importance of these early interactions. Our approach helps entrepreneurs set up effective feedback mechanisms and learn to interpret them in a way that guides substantial, data-driven decisions without losing sight of the human element that is so crucial at this stage. 💬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭: How do you measure success in the early stages of your startup? Do you find qualitative metrics more insightful than quantitative ones during initial growth phases? Share your experiences and let's discuss the best practices for capturing and leveraging early-stage insights. Join the conversation below and let’s explore how we can better support our ventures from the ground up! #StartupMetrics #Entrepreneurship #StartupCoaching #QualitativeData #Innovation

By definition, success in any new market requires local market knowledge. While many startups arrive here with brilliant ideas, they aren’t necessarily marketers. Even when they do come with marketing experience or infrastructure, the product features and benefits deemed crucial in their home country might not carry the same impact here. To meet the needs of Haltech clients, our content strategists developed a structured, adaptable framework to accelerate go-to-market strategies for international startups. The results? “The program goal is to speed the commercialization of these startups. We found with earlier cohorts that advisors were bogged down with messaging and minutiae. By partnering with Content Innovo, we now have the tools and structure to scale participants faster, knowing we will have a cohesive content and marketing plan that can be applied throughout the Accelerator+ program.” --- Perla Lopez, Program Director, Haltech Read how we did it: https://lnkd.in/gEYK2yqd #innovation #startups #entrepreneurship #gotomarket #contentmarketing #marketing #strategy #businessgrowth

Do you know the number one reason startups fail? It is having 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝! According to a study by 𝐂𝐁 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 42% of startups surveyed cited this as the leading cause of failure. This means they built something nobody wanted, needed, or was willing to pay for. 💸 This is a huge waste of time, money, and resources. So, how can you avoid this pitfall and validate your market need before launching your product? ➡ 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 - Don’t just assume that you know what they want or need. Ask them about their problems, frustrations, goals, and desires. Listen to their feedback and learn from their insights. 🗣️ ➡𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 (𝐌𝐕𝐏) - Don’t try to build a perfect product with all the features, bells, and whistles. Instead, focus on the core value proposition of your product and test it with real users. Iterate and improve based on their reactions and behaviors. 🛠️ ➡𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 - Don’t rely on your gut feelings or opinions. Use data and metrics to track and analyze your product performance and user behavior. Use surveys, interviews, analytics, and experiments to validate your hypotheses and learn from your results. 📊 Following these steps can increase your chances of building a product that solves a real problem for a large and growing market. 🙌 You can also learn from the examples of some startups that failed due to no market need, such as: ➡𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: A drone company that pivoted several times but couldn’t find the right business model. ➡𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐫: A food delivery service that offered pre-measured ingredients and recipes but didn’t have enough demand or differentiation. ➡𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐕𝐮𝐞: A conference networking platform that lacked product-market fit and user engagement. #startups #entrepreneurship #product #market #validation #failure #learning #growth  

🤔 Are you too focused on perfection, or are you prioritizing experimentation? 🚀 “Perfection is the enemy of progress” - a phrase we’ve all heard before. But in the fast-paced world of startups, it’s never been truer. Precision can often hinder innovation, and here’s why: 💡 Precision leads to stagnation: Focusing too much on getting everything perfect can limit your ability to experiment and think outside the box. In startups, innovation is key, and it’s often more important to move quickly and learn as you go than to get everything just right. 💡 Time is of the essence: In startups, time is a precious commodity. You don’t have the luxury of spending months or even years perfecting a product or service or even a report/dashboard. Instead, you need to move quickly and iterate as you go. 💡 Customer insights are king: In the startup world, understanding your customers intimately is everything. Directional insights, such as the feedback you get from a small group of customers, can often be more valuable than precise insights that take longer to gather. 💡 Faster insights lead to faster growth: In startups, growth is the name of the game. The faster you can iterate and improve your product or service, the faster you can grow your customer base and increase revenue. So, what can startups do to prioritize directional insights and unlock the potential for innovation? 👉🏼 Focus on shipping: Prioritizing shipping allows you to learn, innovate, and grow faster. 👉🏼 Iterate and experiment: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and try new things. Learn from your failures and use that knowledge to improve your product or service. 👉🏼 Understand your customers: Talk to them, listen to their feedback, and use that feedback to make informed decisions about your product or service. While precision and attention to detail are important, startups need to prioritize directional insights that can be obtained quickly and allow for rapid experimentation and growth. #StartupMindset #Innovation #DirectionalInsights #CustomerInsights #FastPaced #IterateAndGrow #UnlockPotential #MarketingOperations #RevenueOperations

Most people think startups choose channels, but the opposite is usually true. The way a startup monetizes defines what channels might allow them to acquire customers efficiently. Enter the CAC/ARPU ladder. A startup's Annual Revenue Per Customer (ARPU) designates which "rung" they sit on. Channels on rungs above them are too expensive for their business model to support, and channels below usually have too much friction for the cost they charge. Using this tool should help you cut a ton of options from your experiment list and focus on the ones your business model can support. A few caveats: Startups often move up the ladder over time, or create multiple products that sit of different rungs. Startups on higher rungs often combine their sales channels with marketing channels on lower rungs too. P.S. This is an alternative take on Brian Balfour's foundational work on "Channel-Model Fit" framework, and is a work in progress. --- ↗️↗️↗️ Want to find Product-Channel Fit? Sign up for my free email course. Link in my Linkedin Featured section

What are the top reasons for startup failures? According to CB Insights, among the top reasons are: 🎯 Ran out of cash/failed to raise new capital: investors weren’t interested because they did their homework. 🎯No market need: A lack of market fit means that the product or service being offered does not meet the needs or wants of the target market. 🎯Got out-competed: Your competitors did their homework and do a better job of meeting the needs of the market/customers. 🎯Pricing/cost issues: To meet customer needs, value shines and price becomes less of an issue. Also, you’ve got to do the research to understand what the market will bear, what customers will pay for your product. 🎯Product mistimed: Again, you didn’t do your homework. Now isn’t the time, or you’re too late. 🎯Poor product: Your product doesn’t solve problems for anyone. It doesn’t solve problems for anyone; instead, it creates problems and more work. Find products for customers, not customer for products. #customerexperience #productdesign #startup #innovation #research #marketresearch #customerunderstanding https://lnkd.in/gcCg5NQD

🏷️ Mastering Pricing Strategies in Startups In the article "Pricing Pitfalls: Setting the Right Price for Your Product/Service," I discuss crucial strategies for early-stage digital startups to set effective pricing. Key insights include: 1) Cost Understanding: Ensure your pricing covers all costs and supports sustainable growth. 2) Customer Value Perception: Research and understand what value your target market perceives in your product or service. 3) Competitive Analysis: Analyze competitor pricing to position your offering strategically in the market. 4) Flexible Experimentation: Test different pricing models to find the most effective one for your startup. 5) Psychological Pricing: Use techniques like price anchoring to enhance the perceived value of your offerings. 6) Added Value: Focus on additional services or experiences that can justify your price point. 7) Clear Communication: Be transparent about your pricing to build trust with your customers. Pricing is a pivotal component of your startup’s strategy. A well-thought-out pricing approach can attract customers and lay a foundation for success. https://lnkd.in/dduXBaTb #PricingStrategy #StartupGrowth #BusinessDevelopment #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? Most failed startups first created service/product as a result of technological innovation and then 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 it to fit customers needs. 🤦♂️ It is obvious that the process was the REVERSE of the correct procedure. Solution = Ideation Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. In startup ecosphere, this process is known as ideation. What is correct ideation chronology then? 1. Identify customer needs. 2. Isolate needs which are not met by other competitors. (Or less competition) 3. Start working on a solution at an idea stage. 4. Apply latest technology to solve the problem. 5. Marketing. (The journey from firm to customer's house). #collinsenosh #ideation #startupstrategy #marketingstrategy