December 21st, 2009
Since our founding we have helped over 20 start-ups at different stages in their development and needless to say we have learned a lot from each of those experiences.
Important: You can find many if not all of essentials I am sharing around the web and in many books.
However the five that I have put together are based on my personal experience as a principal and strategist at The Groop. I can’t claim I am right, but it does genuinely pain me to see fellow entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money to learn these same lessons.
If you are an entrepreneur, before you choose to work with The Groop please read this post. And read the books it recommends.
1. Build Less. Spend Less. Release More.
No matter how many features we have seen a start-up build into their software it has very little bearing on their success. For example in 2004-5 The Groop worked with Entrepreneur Zak Kahn to build TalentBoom. He spend a lot (a lot) of money to build then redesign and rebuild TalentBoom until it had enough features and he felt it was different enough from his competitors and had the right “design.”
Early on I told him to release (launch), release, release what he had so far and start monetizing it. He did not follow my advice.
Today the market leader is still Breakdown services and TalentBoom is still looking to gain traction.
Zak called me recently and let me know “You were right, I should have followed your advice.” More importantly he said that I could share my story with you.
I told him this before I had read Getting Real by 37signals the makers of the successful online project management tool BaseCamp. From Getting Real:
“If you want to build a company that follows, you might as well put down this book now.
So what to do then? The answer is less. Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else. Instead of oneupping, try one-downing. Instead of outdoing, try underdoing.”
From Getting Real
If you have not read the book you should read it now.
Is it the absolute truth in how to do an online start-up? I don’t know, but BaseCamp is an extremely successful subscription service. We use it and pay for it, you might too.
2. Design does not matter.
Yes, I said that. And yes by trade I am a very well trained Graphic Designer who paid a lot of money to attend Art Center College of Design, one of the top design schools in the world. And yes The Groop has designed and built many beautiful websites for great brands over the 9 years of its existence. And yes Apple is an amazing example of how Design (big D) matters.
“So dude, why are you saying such blasphemy?!” you might ask.
First let’s make some important distinctions that will help:
By “Design” I mean visual language such as your logo and what exact color your links are and the style of photography you might use.
By “Does Not Matter” I mean “matters less than the whole” in the context of adoption and monetization. (People using your online product or service and you making money from it.)
So what matters?
The next three principles outline what matters. And to illustrate each point I will use one of the most important client relationships in my 15-year web career. One who happens to be in a business that many might not deem as “sexy”, but that is executing very well. I am talking about the coupon and deal site Savings.com .
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