Kendall's "Internet startup checklist":

1. Idea:

  1. Would YOU write a check for your idea?
  2. Don't spill your candy in the lobby.
  3. Is your idea refining or revolutionizing?

2. Funding:

  1. Are your financials realistic if nothing goes right?
  2. Could you see your investors with a 10X, 20X return in 3 years?
  3. Do you have back-up plans b,c,d before quitting your day job?
  4. Do you have a great answer for the most cynical of investors?

3. team:

  1. Can you build your idea or will it take a team of pros?
  2. Is a specific person on your team essential or can he/she be replaced?
  3. Dont give up the farm to recruit talent.
  4. Hire brave & passionate smart people.

4. Product:

  1. Does your product SOLVE a problem?
  2. Beware of feature creep! Customers & prospects add features, not developers.
  3. Stay focused on money earning features, not cool ones.

5. Marketing:

  1. Is it costly (time/resources) to get branded in your target market?
  2. Make a goal of closing a core group of customers the first year. (traction)
  3. Adjust marketing resources to get traction (don't need much).
  4. Be sure to test your "seo / ad-words / ad-sense" properly before banking on them
  5. Nothing is better than "boots on the street." Start knocking on doors.

6. Customer:

  1. How many "loss leaders" do you have?
  2. Does your idea help your customer or is it just a "nice to have"?
  3. Make each customer feel like they are the only customer you have.
  4. Can your customers be up-sold? Do they have peers they could refer?


July 1, 2011 Would you write a check?

Building your ideas into a sell-able product or service always takes a bit of discernment. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself FIRST, would I personally spend my money on this? Or better yet, who and how many people would line up to buy my product? Is my product worth something to somebody?

Photo: [flickr]

bus

If you have to tweak your idea to be more “check worthy”, go for it. Once you feel your idea is pretty good and some folks would buy it, try and find who your customer would be (target audience). From an advertising model to a product or a service, do a bare minimum presentation (power point or flash) and send it around. Don’t talk about everything your idea does, just focus on the message of “solving THE particular problem.” If your idea is easily stolen, you might want to get an NDA in place before spilling your candy to strangers.

So lets say you have a good idea. You didn’t have to spend REAL money (tons of cash that you count on or you had to raise.) You have a nice color presentation in your hand. Now its time to do the 3425 revisions ;) The way you do revisions is quite simple really. Get as cynical as you can, find the most smart cynical people you can, and blow holes in your idea. “What is wrong with my idea?” – you ask (yourself / others). Find out all the negative reasons why it wouldn’t work but most importantly ask WHY. “Why don’t you like this and that about my idea?” This will you help you revise your idea and take you to the funding phase where you are prepared for potential investors to laugh at the fact you care more about features than financials.

Stuff you can do for free: Tips.

  • 01 Interview family, friends, and bored people (you don’t know with no emotional attachment) with the MOST important question “Would you write a check for this?” (If your conversation doesn’t require an NDA)
  • 02 Get cynical! Go find some Debbie Downers to brainstorm with. Ensure them the world is ending as to fire up their cynical engines. Ask them “What is wrong with the world?” and “What is wrong with my idea?”
  • 03Click on the red tag above, “remove before flight” for more info, but most of all be certain your product is customer driven, not inventor/developer driven.

Want to comment? Comments: 2

Posted by Kendall in Tangible Business Models


2 comments so far

  1. Is that why you always came to me with your ideas?

    January 19th, 2009

  2. I’d write a check for your ideas…if I had any money!

    All your ideas are brilliant!

    January 19th, 2009

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