NWEN/Founder Institute Ideation Bootcamp Seattle. David Bluhm

1. Research…Insight

2. Currently Researching for….
Qazzow If, In-Market Proxies?
CopsForHire.com Else, Analogous Models?
Michelangelo Else, Extrapolate?
Flowboard Else, Cloud?
End. OOL

3. Three Big Lies…
(related to research)
“Our projections are conservative.”
REALITY: NEVER - Divide by 3 and add a Year
“(Insert big name research firm here) says our market will be $65 billion by 2012.”
REALITY: By the time research firms are accurate, it’s already happened….and crowded!
“All we have to do is get 1% of the market.”
REALITY: 1% is both hard and also uninteresting at the same time.

4. 2025 150M
2010
Android < 2 years 2009
2009 7 years 2008
iPod
2001
1997
14 years
1994
CellPhone
1975 1983
22 years
1966
1965
VCR
1972
38 years
1925 89 years
Television
1928 Net3: The speed required to
recognize, react to and capture a
market opportunity has accelerated
Telephone
1875 1876

5. What to research?
1.
1
1 A research methodology
2.
2
2 TAM/SAM/FAS
3.
3
3 A full understanding of the problem
4.
4
4 Your sharp market entry point
5.
5
5 The best market entry strategy
6.
6
6 The 100% solution to the problem
7.
7
7 Competition – your unfair advantage
8.
8
8 1st customer

6. A Methodology
Blue Ocean Strategy
Harvard Planning Model / S.W.O.T.
Crossing the Chasm

7. 3
3
eliminate
Strong, independent Realtor control
raise
brokers
Regional MLS power
Process (hassle) of Realtor access
reduce
create
getting information
Realtor services
platform
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy

8. 3
3
eliminate
Realtor control Market transparency
raise
MLS control Buyer (consumer)
control
Process (hassle) to Consumer access
reduce
create
information by
Consumer services
consumer
platform
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy

9. S.W.O.T.
3
3
INTERNAL
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
• Team/Experience • Team/Experience
• Technology • Technology
• Channels • Channels
• Models • Models
• •
NEGATIVE
Time to Market Lead Competitive Vulnerability
POSITIVE
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
• New Complimentary Markets • Economy
• New Technologies • New Technologies
• New Channels/Models • New Channels/Models
• Trends/Shifts/Disruptions • Trends/Shifts/Disruptions
• Competitive Weaknesses • Competitive Strengths
• IP/Gov. Regulations/Privacy • IP/Gov. Regulations/Privacy
EXTERNAL

10. Bowling Pin Metaphor
3
3
Barney
Barney
Dolls?
Dolls?
Kindle?
Kindle? Xbox?
Xbox?
Amazon Microsoft
eRetail eRetail
eRetail Enterprise Games and
Home Consumer Consumers
Toys Computing Entertainment
Improvement Electronics
eRetail eRetail Desktop PCs Desktop PCs
Videos Music Accessories Applications
eRetail Desktop PCs
Books O.S.
Source: Chasm Group

11. Total Available Market
3
3
All market segments and
geographies,
Serviceable The market segments and
geographies your initial product
Available can address
Market
First Addressed The one segment and
application that your product
Segment will 100% address
S1 The adjacent market
A1 segments, applications and
geographies you could
S2 S1 potentially addressed
A1 A2
S3 S2 S1
A1 A2 A3

12. Ask the next question…
3
3

13. Ask the next question….
3
3

14. Actual >>> Forecast
3
3
2011 2012 2013 2014

15. Top 10 Needs of Humanity?
3
3
• Energy
• Food
• Water
• Environment • Video Games
• Poverty • Customer Retention Software
Curiously • MP3 Players
• Terrorism/War Missing? • Internet Security
• Education • Bigger TV Screens
• • Crocs
Democracy
• Sneakers with blinking lights
• Disease • Viagra
• Population Control • Lady Gaga

16. Ask the next question…
3
3
Why will they buy?
How will they buy?
How much will they pay?
Why will they buy again?
When will they buy again?
How much will they
continue to pay?

17. Competition Research
7
7
• Companies competing in a related product/market
• Companies using related technologies
• Companies already targeting your prime market
segment but with unrelated products
• Companies from other geographical areas and with
similar products
• New start-up companies organized by former
employees and/or managers of existing companies

18. 1st Customer = Your Initial Investor
8
• Who is investing in your space?
• Why are they investing in your space?
• What are their biases? Concerns? Beliefs?
• Who has just failed to invest in your space?
• Which partner is most enthusiastic?
• What messaging are they buying?
• “Social TV” vs “Adnausium – delivering scalable
advertising solutions to integrated demand side
platforms”

19. What is ? 8
“Yahoo is aglobal series of Web experiences across a variety of
devices that gives people what they want. In content it
A IL
connects advertisers to an audience that is global in scope.
Yahoo is all about delivering experiences to individuals that
F
make them engage with each other. Folks anchor on: are you a
search company? A content company? A communications
company? We would like to engage with people on the things
that matter most to them.”
- Chief Product Officer Blake Irving

20. What is again? 10
10
LE
“Listen, Yahoo is a great company that is very, very strong in content for its users,
B
uses amazing technology to serve up what increasingly we think is going to be
U
the web of one. For instance, on our today module in the front page, every five
minutes we have 32,000 different variations of that module. So you don’t even
O IL
know what I’m seeing—in fact, we serve a million different front-page modules a
D A
day and that’s just through content optimization. And that’s just the beginning…
F
Customized because we know the things you’re interested in. Maybe you don’t
like light entertainment; maybe you like a certain sports team, etc., etc. And our
d
click-through rate went up twice. So the point is, people come to us to find out
n !
what is going on with the world in a very nice, quick fashion to do their
A D
communications, email, messenger, check-in on their teens. We all know about
E
Yahoo finance. It’s a place where you can just get it together. It’s collated for you,
IR
it’s all the things as you’re moving, you can even get your social information
there. Everybody moves through many websites in a day, Yahoo is one they
F always stop at”
- Carol Bartz, CEO in a follow up effort to Irving’s attempt above

21. it’s not about genius
most brilliant execution wins

22. the only bad information…
…is information that you do not have.

23. Research will not
prevent setbacks

24. Charge!
David Bluhm
david@z2live.com
@z2david