Launching a Tech Startup

Getting Started

• Coming up with a startup idea usually starts with solving a problem. 
• Best startups tend to be something that the Founders themselves want and can build themselves. 
• One of the advantages of choosing a problem you have yourself is that it ensures the problem really exists. Second of all, it makes it makes it a lot easier for you to develop empathy for your Users. 
• Another important aspect is how much do Users need your product? It's better to have a few people who absolutely need your product than having a lot of people who might want your product. 
• Having a well-defined problem that real people have is vital for coming up with a killer startup idea. This requires research, planning, and finding potential stakeholders. 
• Try to avoid redundant ideas, i.e. things that have already been done before. 

The Pitch

• The pitch is one of the most important aspects of your startup. No matter how great your ideas, if you can't convey it, you don't have any capital, if you can't inspire people, and you don't already have a team already working for you, then your startup (idea) is useless. 
• But wait... What if you can make a product that doesn't require much capital. And you don't need a team but could do it by yourself? Well, if you can't convey your idea to customers, then you're not going to have any customers. And if you don't have any customers, then your startup is useless. So it is essential to perfect your pitch. 

7 Questions that you should answer as clearly as possible: 

1. What does your product / company do? Try sending your pitch to a friend and ask them to re-explain it back to you in their own words. 
2. How big is the market? Investors care about R.O.I. Don't make your target market too wide or too narrow. Make it correct. 
3. What's your progress? 
4. What's your unique insight? What's your competitive advantage? 
5. What's your business model? What's your plan for monetisation? 
6. Who's on your team? 
7. What do you want? 

Build A Startup MVP

• MVP = Minimum Viable Product. A rough version of your idea that takes a minimum amount of effort, but that's still good enough that User's can get a taste of the full product. 
• The biggest problem that startups run into is creating something that nobody wants to buy. This wastes years of work and money. 
• Build -> Measure -> Learn -> Repeat
• The reason you want to build a MVP is because it lets you learn what your customers like and don't like as quickly as possible. 
• 90% of startups fail because they have no clue what their customers want. 
• An MVP could even be a video / proof of concept that you present to guage interest. 
• MVP validates if there is demand. 

Dealing With Competition and Marketing

• Being first is extremely important in Marketing (aka first mover advantage). 
• Once a perception is made by a person, it's really hard to change their minds. So if you are not first, then try to think of a sub-category that you can thrive on and be first out (i.e. what Instagram was to Facebook) for your target market / users. 

Reference

• Episode 01-05 of Joma Tech's YouTube Web Series "Startup" (7 Episodes).