Onyx Labs & OLPD Framework

We’ve been a little quiet for the last couple of weeks and sorry about that. The momentum around our products/startups are growing incredibly fast. And the faster it’s growing, the more we get the question “what exactly you guys do?”. But before we can answer that, we need to answer “why should we need -yet another- startup studio?”.?Hopefully, this will be an interesting read.

Onyx Labs (OL) is a startup studio focused on B2B/B2C SaaS initiatives. In OL, the primary goal is to try out different business ideas very effectively (in terms of time and other resources). Below diagram gives an overall idea on stages and parties which are involved in our own business model (Yes, it is a common confusion point since our portfolio startups have their own models and furthermore OL itself is another startup as well).

We have five pillars:

• Startups: In this context, it defines the necessary and sufficient founding team. In consensus with the initial team, the size of the team may be expanded (with internal/external sourcing) in the long run, but the founding team remains same by default.
• EIRs (Entrepreneur In Residence): The primary responsible person that executes the process. Their goal is to deliver the venture with skin in the game whether they are the part of founding team or not.
• Advisors: Subject matter experts from OL's network.
• Capital: Pre-seed investment for the initiative.
• Partners: Organizations that provide facilities that are required or catalytic to build the venture (e.g. AWS credits).

The idea is dead simple and far from being novel, there are tons of startup accelerators apply similar/same model. On the other hand, we have key differentiators. First, we provide engineering support for the initiatives. In the early phases of the process, we assess the gaps and in case of lack of engineering roles, OL fulfills them directly (until the end of MVP release). The scope varies drastically but due to the OL's precise focus (B2C/B2B SaaS), even "CTO as-a-service" model is possible (fractionally providing support across all the initiatives within the portfolio). Secondly, we actively contribute the product management activities. We have a well-defined framework (OLPD - OL Product Development Framework) for the production and screening the process is only possible when it is used strictly (it may be possible for other parties but it is not possible/feasible for us considering switching costs). Screening is the key to decide on the health of the investment and possible pivots.

Let's give a high-level overview of this OLPD framework. We have three stages (in accordance with the OL business model given above) and ten steps:

1. Build a Foundation: Describe the problem & solution in detail (e.g. business canvas, problem & solution documents). The goal is create a solid foundation for the product.
2. Find the Customers: Decide the main target audience (a stake-holder of the problem document written in the previous step). Define the persona(s) and prepare a reach-out plan (very specific segments should make up your target audience, be precise).
3. Talk to Customers: Go get data... Execute the reach-out plan. At the end of this step, an early version of product roadmap should be finalized.
4. Build the MVP: Develop it swiftly by using captured insight in the previous steps. Chances are, it is not a clean/elegant solution (yet it is the most prominent candidate to be based on while developing final product). Thus, a technical debt document is also expected at that stage (just capture it, no need to plan on payment now).
5. Create a Story: Nice, our MVP is working... It is time to focus our energy on marketing. You would have proceeded to that stage without even having a landing page but it is no more the case... Find an interesting story, sell the problem (e.g. landing pages, newsletters, BIP - Build in Public).
6. Set the Pricing: Introduce a value-based pricing strategy (e.g. freemium, per-user, tiered).
7. Build the Product: Transform the MVP into a full-fledged product (now it is time to pay your technical debt, at least partially). Unlike MVP building step, you should spend substantial effort for non-functional features (e.g. maintainability, observability) here.
8. Find 10 Customers: Self evident, but remember the difference between users and customers, we are into finding customers here.
9. Develop a Sales Funnel: It is the very first step that we can comment on whether the business idea is working or not. This sales funnel is the key source of information for monitoring the initiative's health.
10. Fill the Funnel: Apply growth marketing practices and fill the funnel. Pirate (AARRRR) metrics are the main indicators from now on.

Currently we have two initiatives (startups) in our portfolio (with a constant phase difference which makes it more manageable with our existing resources). We work with partners to enable proper operation and growth. Furthermore, we continuously develop the products and the business with the goal of enriching our ecosystem with our experience.

We don't have specific terms/programs to apply and constantly seek talents as the rest of the tech industry. Above all, we are curious and want to find out better ways continuously. Please get in contact if you think we can collaborate by any means to deliver the next big thing as a tech venture...