Technical Debt

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Technical Debt: Every Startup Needs to Know When to Cut its Losses

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Technical Debt: Every Startup Needs to Know When to Cut its Losses

We’ve mentioned before that we took the concept of “hidden debt,” or debtbergs, that is the main premise for our book, The Titanic Effect, from the idea of technical debt – work is done that has to later be re-done because it has too many internal flaws. We see these same expeditious decisions being made, not just in product design, but also in choices about who to hire, which investors to seek out, and what marketing activities to undertake. We want to share our own story of technical debt with the development of our audiobook.

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The Promise and Perils of the Startup Pivot

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The Promise and Perils of the Startup Pivot

With the “lean startup,” a generation of entrepreneurs have become enamored with “the pivot.” For those unfamiliar with these terms, the lean startup is an approach to launching a startup by creating a product as quickly as possible and putting it in customers’ hands to get feedback. Once customers have the product, the focus moves to experimentation to get the product right over time. This approach is contrasted to incessant planning and completing a giant business plan before launch - or even talking to a customer. Pivoting is how startups redirect their product and/or target customer through experimentation.

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Startups Need to Monitor Customer Usage Metrics

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Startups Need to Monitor Customer Usage Metrics

We were recently asked how to validate that an MVP  (Minimally Viable Product) is working. When we say “validate an MVP,” what we mean is to have some proof that you have a product the market wants, that product has been acceptably configured, and it’s now time to start figuring out how to scale sales. If you want to connect this post to The Titanic Effect book, we are looking at the First Customer stage in Chapter 5 – The Technical Ocean.  One approach you can use is to do market research on the MVP. This takes the MVP from internal to external testing. There are two main ways to do this market research:

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What are the Pros and Cons of Startup Crowdfunding?

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What are the Pros and Cons of Startup Crowdfunding?

This week we got an update email from a Kickstarter project we backed in December 2016 – yes, three years and we are still waiting for the rewards. It was update #37 and here is what it said: “Until the last few weeks, we thought we were more likely than not to make product xyz (we blinded the product to protect its owner).  This is no longer the case.  There’s still a small chance we can do it, but we are less confident about that now.” So we thought we ought to address the pros and cons of crowdfunding campaigns…

Smart Startups Plan for Product Improvement and Evolution

Smart Startups Plan for Product Improvement and Evolution

It’s so exciting! You have a few customers or users and your product is off the ground! A startup finally gets momentum. Customers are increasing in number. It’s hard not to relax, have a beer, and bask in the glory of a newly released product. However, this is only the beginning. 

So many startups that make it through the early, treacherous waters of launch end up foundering at the discipline required to operate continuously. More and more of the venture’s activity migrates out of the direct sight lines of the founding team. During this stage of a company, it’s important to keep the hunger and enthusiasm that was there at the beginning. Easing up now could diminish all of the hard work put in. 

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For Startups at the Scaling Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

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For Startups at the Scaling Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

In our last blogpost, we discussed the biggest debtbergs in the Growth stage. This blogpost is focused on the Scaling stage. The startup is selling something. It is moving to a growing venture in terms of products, customers, and employees. It may have the opportunity to get more significant funding through angel groups, and perhaps even A-round funding with venture capital investors. Significant investments in product development and support, marketing, and sales may follow. It likely now has a board of directors as well as one or more advisory boards. It is trying to accomplish extraordinary growth, or become a “Gazelle” (check the glossary in the book to find out more). Scaling requires moving from experiments to having known processes to escalate sales. Once again, the biggest challenges change across our Oceans of debtbergs…

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For Startups at the Launch and Growth Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

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For Startups at the Launch and Growth Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

In our last blogpost, we discussed the biggest debtbergs in the MVP stage. This blogpost is focused on the Growth stage. The startup is selling something and has moved from one to a number of paying customers. Hopefully by now, there is a team in place and an advisory board. It may even be seeking some type of outside funding. At this stage, the startup is balancing making progress in the Human, Marketing, and Technical Oceans simultaneously. So, the biggest debtbergs now include…

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For Startups at the MVP Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

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For Startups at the MVP Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

In our last blogpost, we discussed the biggest debtbergs in the Pre-Revenue stage. This blogpost is focused on the MVP stage. As a reminder, at this stage a startup has begun building its management team, is developing an MVP (Minimally Viable Product), and is engaging with customers for proof of concept. But, it probably is self-funded or has friends and family for financial support. Now, the biggest debtbergs to avoid have changed from the Pre-Revenue stage…

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For Startups at the Pre-Revenue Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

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For Startups at the Pre-Revenue Stage - What are the Biggest Icebergs?

Our goal in The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups is to help startups steer around hidden debts, or debtbergs, on their path to success. These debtbergs arise because there are decisions startups have to make where the best possible path is uncertain. And, the consequences of these choices are like icebergs in that they are only partially visible. In the book, we detail 33 different debtbergs a startup might encounter, across the four Oceans of Human, Marketing, Technical and Strategy choices. As we’ve started using these materials with different audiences, we’ve recognized that the biggest, most dangerous debtbergs vary based on the stage of the startup. So, this blogpost and the next three detail the biggest debtbergs to manage at each stage of a startup. Check out the biggest debtbergs at the Pre-Revenue stage…

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It Takes a Village…or at Least a First Podcast!

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Well actually, it takes a venture ecosystem to help startups flourish. Our academic research  explores venture ecosystems and how founders can create positive momentum, even when they don’t have a lot of financial resources. The reality is that founders must rely on the help of many others in the venture community to get feedback