In 2011 I started my first company with two friends, 600 applications and 2M downloads later we got acquired by lastminute.com group. This is the speech I wanted to attend 4 years ago before starting the company: real and hard challenges to run a business that needs coding to deliver value. The "lean startup" is the driver I will use to present all the lessons learnt, that I am going to link with software decisions, tools and architectures. The 3 months accelerator program we did in San Francisco with Mind The Bridge inspired another part of the presentation about context and people.

1. A FULL STARTUP JOURNEY
from a technical point of view
Better Software 2015 - Michele Orsi (@micheleorsi)
1

2. 2
No need of funding
The “reality”
Not in selling mood
The good and the bad
Why this presentation

3. Map2app overview
What
platform for creating
mobile travel apps
Who
3 co-founders with
different
backgrounds
Where
Bologna and San
Francisco
How
first paying
customer + FFF +
2 investments
When
started 2011,
acquired in 2015
3

4. Met with co-founders 2008, march
Moved abroad2009, july
4
Started company
First payed project
Once upon a time ..
2011, January
2011, June

5. 5
The startup engine

6. 6
Knowledge
in the domain
Experience
but not too much
New market
emerging in popularity
An “obsession”
in all discussions
The idea

7. 7
STARTER
FREE
Revenue sharing
iOs app
Android app
Fixed app price
map2app logo
Professional
$500+
Full revenue
First business model
iOs app
Android app
Free or payed app
White label

8. 8
FAIL
’C’ Attitude
Content
Opportunity
Problem vs
solution
Revenuesharing
Customer
lifetime value
Support
.. and the first “storm”

9. 9
Market niche
Early adopters
Big projects
Startup network
.. with a little umbrella ..

10. 10
Analytics, but ..Ready to scale, but ..
Working, but .. User stories done, but ..
Technical frustration

11. 11
Design for validation
focus on market fit
Long term vision
money will arrive
Find “secret sauce”
do not rely on ads
Be a small company
focus on saving time
Some lessons learnt

12. 12
The difficult part is in the
visibility (of the “good” part)
The bad times (beginning of 2012 for us)

13. 13
Won Mind the Bridge
first seed funding: 50k
late 2012: the BIG opportunity
Incubation period
me as biz “front-man”

14. 14
San Francisco
the context
Accelerator
advisors, entrepreneur, events
The lean startup
Get out of the building!
B2B solution
subscription
Pitch elevator
found the “value proposition”
New investments
50k (instead of 300k)
Silicon Valley accelerator

15. 15
Data driven
decision
Insight & KPI
drive features
Move fast
and (do not) break things
Good enough
code for validation
The iterative new process

16. 16
Availability
eager to help
Difficulties
raising money
High competition
top universities and startups
US centric
lack of knowledge
Tight network of
recommendations
american track record
Outsider
.. together with SV disillusion

17. 17
European market
was the biggest one
America Europe Asia / Other
30%
60%
10%
Italy, the return

18. 18
The incubator
no events or advisors
Funds
stick with Italy
Our growth
20% per month
B2B growth
with big publishers
Trade fair
travel specific
Champions
are resellers
The Italian package

19. 19
new, smart and more efficient
Travel promotion
better experience for tourists
Curated content
app creation
Fast and cheap
600 apps and 2M downloads
Distribution channel
Map2app: our real values ..

20. 20
.. and the acquisition
“how many 'no' are you able to say?”

21. 21
THANK YOU!
https://ch.linkedin.com/in/micheleorsi
@micheleorsi
KEEP IN TOUCH:
.. AND APPLY (WE ARE HIRING):
http://careers.lastminutegroup.com
https://github.com/micheleorsi