How to talk to developers for your first prototype. Talk for Columbus Startup Week #cmhstartupweek Guts of the talk center around dev vs client mindsets, perspectives, criticals, and mental models on how to approach dev from a stable relationship building perspective that gets you and your developer a win.

1. MORNING CREEPS!
lets talk dev with Dan Rockwell

2. How to speak to
developers, get protos
and trip out on
traction goodness…

3. BEFORE THE GIG
DEV MINDSET
Get job
Know what we’re doing
Do good work
Keep dev team happy / sane
Put assets in play
Get paid for expertise
Make clients successful
Be useful
Leverage client win for future wins

4. DUDE, MVP!
MVP Minimum Viable Product
MBE Minimum Bullshit Endured
MEV Maximum Endurance Vehicle
MCL Minimum Cash Lost
WHS Whole Hog Syndrome
SSRFC So Simple but Ridiculously F_cking Complicated

5. “stage? the stage where i need
something done… “
Ok, what stage are you in?

6. early
strong gut
ready to piss cash
talked to some ppl
ppl say i need a proto
took someones money need to make it now
kinda know
STAGE 1

7. better gut
some validation
panic
gonna miss my window
pivoting i think
sued my first two devs
dude this will rock
STAGE 2

8. need to redo what the others did
pivot 2 -3
adding everything time
making $ need to make more
second startup during first startup syndrome
urgent and on fire
dude!
STAGE 3

9. waiter architect merlin makerbot
riddler cash bed drill sergeant ash
How a Developer Sees You
How you see a Developer

10. CLIENT MINDSET
Have idea, make it, NOW, don’t pay that much
Have idea, make it NOW, but make it this way
Have idea, make it, NOW, but ya know like this but not that
Have idea, and i want it made by someone special
Redo idea, make no more mistakes
I have no idea who to trust
WTF am i doing

11. How much will it cost?
Yelp meets Foursquare for mobile.

12. How much will it cost?
How many experiences are you making?
Yelp meets Foursquare for mobile.
database
gps, cached fault tolerance
where ya get the data?
user gen or you getting data, and where again?
designs, or we gotta design?
goal, user flows?
criticals (all = suck)
timeline, by when
what are you not telling me
what we’re not discussing really (brand, validation, pitch prep, letterhead…)
backend splash onboarder
iOS drd
APIS
social shares
weird stuff

13. Design?
- reference
- essential guts
- wireframes
- goal
Stage?
- Early?
- Traction time?
- Steady As She Goes?
- Jersey Shore Season 3?
Time?
- Timeline?
- Goal?
- $?
Mindset?
- Calm?
- Rushed?
- Experimental?
- Enterprise!
- Rocketship!
Budget?
- Equity Dance?
- CASH!
- Burn to save!
- Its coming…
REQUIREMENTS

14. Value of Knowing What you Want
Sanity in your assumption position. (devs don't care about validation)
!
Protect your cash.
!
Transparency isn't a weakness, its power.
!
Absence of knowing means the price goes up.
!
dev or design, paid hustler, chainsaw,
you better have trees to cut

15. GIG PENDING
DEV MINDSET
Can we build this? (fault analysis)
!
timeline to iteration 1
!
what assets to put in play
!
how can we be assured that designs proposed
on 80% on target
!
creep trajectory, gut on client insanity matrix

16. CREEP KILLS
you WILL creep on every developer you meet
factor the job, factor the creep
ways to avoid creep - KNOW, respect, simple, ASK
we plead for transparency to sniff out creep factors
creep kills more than you think
morale, quality, mana, expectations, alignment, future
you call it creep, to me its just design changes
in scope = planned anticipated, out of scope = creep
YOU DEV

17. DO’s
Don’t ask the dev if your
idea is any good.
Don’t ask the dev to take
equity in lieu of cash.
Your homework on the
dev- past work, client ref,
testimonials.
A fault analysis on your
own idea.
Ask dev what can make
this project rock!!
Ask dev what can make
this project suck!!
Don’t build beyond your
gut/assumptions- WHS
will eat your checkbook
DON’Ts

18. waiter architect merlin makerbot
riddler cash bed drill sergeant ash
How a Developer Sees You
How you see a Developer

19. Questions?