These tools are shaping the startup world
Stamplay, Webflow, Zapier. If these sound familiar it is likely that you are dabbling with some of the most exciting new tools in the web landscape.
Partially exciting because of their simplicity and potential. There are so many other tools to be excited about on an even deeper level whether that's new development frameworks, the rise of the platform as a service model and accessible machine learning systems.
The freedom of knowledge (internet) and access to tools (cost of software/hardware) has meant almost anyone can now be a creator. That concept holds true from web development all the way to videography and music.
One concept that has definitely revolutionised innovation in technology is the "lean methodology". The approach to build "minimum viable products" has meant that ideas can be validated and grown with fewer resources.
It should come at no surprise then that the tools to help create these MVPs are also evolving.
It should all start with Leanstack -
When it comes to planning your startup/product it's easy to go straight to the fun stuff; how it looks, what's it called, who's doing the logo? But the focus should be on the user and the problem. You have limited resources so your aim is to solve the problem in a logical, cost-effective way. Insert the Lean Canvas - 1 page business model approach. This approach lets you focus on identifying the problems and how you're solving them.
So you have some initial feedback and thoughts and now it's time to prototype and try launch your vision. The tools you chose could be the difference between success and failure.
Invest too much too early and you might've just wasted valuable resources. On the other hand if you build something that can't scale you might also lose out. What to do?
It's a difficult one, a common trend is to leverage affordable / free platforms that are making design and development more accessible.
Introducing...Webflow
First on my list of useful tools is Webflow, a visual website builder that goes one step further by implementing it's own content management system. The reason I mention it is because we developed our first prototype on the product. I wanted to make sure the whole team can see and feel certain innovation ideas that we would discuss as "long-term projects".
But there was always an issue of time available to build our concepts and the communication barrier between commercial and tech to express the idea in a way that is effective.
Boundaries always existed between commercial and design/dev because in essence we're not speaking the same language. Our core tools are very different. Commercial may have the vision and market understanding but tech has the ability to execute. These worlds are slowly colliding and they have to...
Tools like Webflow allow that barrier to be broken down to some extent because it lets anyone build a website that uses blog style data structures. For example you could build a blog, a portfolio or even a gallery of products with associated brand profile pages etc.
Once you can abstract the basics of what it lets you do you can develop quite a few things or even just use it to visually show how your idea will look and work.
I have experience with code but not to any truly skilled extent, it's just a fun thing to explore over time. In just one weekend I was able to create a functional prototype filled with content that was shown to clients, partners and developers within days.
It helped the design/dev team understand the idea better than any process we've previously used. Within 2 weeks we had reasonable feedback to pursue the project further. "Commercial" has the vision and understanding, these tools could be game-changing, but it's just the start...
There are numerous other systems that you can prototype with, Webflow suited my initial requirements because it worked like a blog. We needed something that showed clients tons of content rather than beautiful dashboards but didn't want to settle for mockups.
And that brings me to... Zapier
Zapier is one of those tools that once you crack you'll wonder how you lived without it. It allows you to easily connect to the apps you use, automate tasks and get more from integrations on the web. Very similar to IFTT. It has a marketplace of hundreds of apps and "zaps" that could be fundamental to your project, including Google Sheets all the way to Salesforce.
For example, if someone fills in a form from a selected partner you can create a "Zap" that feeds that data to a Google Sheet. The list goes on and on and the number of startups leveraging this platform is growing everyday. It's not just startups though, even the US Government uses it to speed things up when hiring interns.
These connections speed up the development of what is known as "business logic" in computer programming. What could usually have taken days/weeks now is a few clicks.
Zapier is speeding up the process of connecting the internet, allowing more apps to be built that leverage others platforms services. These kind of efficiencies will only lead to more innovation as processes are automated.
Another standout example is Stamplay which will have a major impact on the way apps are built. If companies train their designers to learn these tools they could be unstoppable, reducing the size of required teams drastically.
Can't forget... Blockspring
Hopefully you can envision the benefits of integration and automation tools such as Zapier that connect you to the rest of the web easily. Blockspring is a notable mention because it similarly allows you to leverage data from the web quicker. A growing list of partners on the platform mean you can connect to and utilise data from multiple sources, whether that's Facebook all the way to Bing! The primary use case for us is to feed into our Google Sheets where we monitor and combine data from multiple sources.
When it comes to new apps or websites a big issue always comes down to content & the lack of it. Which in essence is just data. Tools like Blockspring allow data collection and manipulation in ways that can speed things up a lot.
And the Future Innovation on the Web Award goes to... Bubble
I only came across Bubble a few days ago but they inspired me to write this article after testing the platform. They have created a visual programming service that lets you create functional web applications without code. They've setup numerous integrations with other services through an API approach.
This means you can easily create a Facebook login system or even develop a payment system for your multi-user marketplace. It's aimed at giving beginners the tool to create working apps that have all the key components of design and development solved.
It's pretty exciting stuff but at these early stages still some drawbacks. For example, it may not be great for scale with the lack of responsive design. It also requires skilled designers to arguably "downgrade" their approach. But it is a prototype. Scale vs validation?
Bubble is an added layer where users create the interface using a Photoshop-esque style approach and thus no reusable code they can export. It works for some, not for others. In prototype stages maybe a sacrifice worth making?
Either way, this is very exciting because soon the integration of all these tools will mean it becomes much easier to develop and test web and mobile applications. This lowers the barriers of entry and in turn will result in more innovation across the web.
There will always be a need for developers and designers, there is no doubt about that. But, the rise of these tools gives teams a potential edge that lets them test & launch ideas much quicker without having to expense costly resources and time.
These tools are reducing the cost of development and if commercial teams are not aware of them they could be paying more than they need to on outsourcing costs or adopting wrong approach.
For this new method to thrive it requires both sides (commercial and tech) to learn new skills and understand different viewpoints. Internally, we're trying to train everyone to understand how they can express their vision through these platforms. Let's do fewer 50 page powerpoints and develop more lean canvases and prototypes.
As someone who needs to manage commercial aims whilst maintaining a long-term vision it could be very difficult if I don't have an understanding on how technology amongst many other things is changing our field. These tools are just scratching the surface but hopefully give you an insight into the process of how startups go from idea to market quicker.
What are we building?
KRPT is a creative movement. Our mission has always been to grow and support the scenes we love. It always felt like some brands we're not resonating with our culture and taking advantage of it. So we started building a network; musicians, labels, blogs, videographers. Creative people that we believed in! We then started collaborating with brands; our aim was clear!
But over time managing this growing network and the opportunities we had access to was difficult. Email and powerpoint was not sufficient.
We always knew our long-term vision was rooted in technology but identifying the key routes took some time.
- The Marketplace: we launched a prototype that connected brands to influencers and opportunities in our network. Our initial aim was to automate the search and communication process, handled by efficient tools mentioned above. We then started evolving this process to create a more efficient marketplace that connected brands to exclusive talent and opportunities in our scenes.
What's next?
We're in the process of testing with brands, agencies and partners from our network. The aim is to build a new system that helps brands grow and support culture by partnering with the right talent early. We're working with some of the best advisors in music and advertising and raising our first round last month will help develop our vision further.
If you're a brand or agency interested in our private beta send us a message at [email protected]