This document summarizes the key differences between a company and a startup. It notes that a company is a formal organization that exchanges products and services for money, while a startup is a temporary organization searching for a viable business model. It then discusses important aspects of defining a business model, including identifying customer pains and developing a valuable product proposition to solve those pains. A major focus is finding early adopters - customers who have the problem and are actively seeking a solution. Engaging early adopters allows startups to test assumptions, build their business model with low costs, and lay the foundation for future scaling.

1. NICOLAS SASSOLI
AlmaCube, B.U. Startup | Startup Incubation Program
nicolas.sassoli@almacube.com
@ Nicolas Sassoli
Road to StartUp Day 2019
1° incontro PDAI

2. Short recap

3. Company VS Startup

4. Company VS Startup

5. Company VS Startup

6. Company VS Startup

7. Company VS Startup

8. Company VS Startup

9. Company VS Startup

10. Company VS Startup

11. Company VS Startup

12. Company VS Startup

13. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money

14. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Divisions

15. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Divisions
Business plans

16. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Divisions
Legal
Business plans

17. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Divisions
Legal
Business plans
Quarter
revenue
goals

18. Marketing
Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Divisions
Legal
Business plans
Quarter
revenue
goals
Policies
Brand
Management
Intelligence

19. Company = organization of people who
exchange products and services with money
Startup = temporary organization of people
searching for a working business model
VS

20. Clearness & Predictability
Vs
Intuitions & Uncertainty

21. No matter how genius you
are.
99% of (innovative) plans
and ideas don’t survive first
contact with customers.

22. Startup = temporary organization of people searching for a working
business model

23. But what is a business model?!
Startup = temporary organization of people searching for a working
business model

24. Business Model = It is how a
company exchange products and
services for money

25. Mature
CompanyGood Business
Model
Business model
under
construction
Founder
Do u finally get the analogy?

26. When I know I’ve created a
good b. model?

27. When I know I’ve created a
good b. model?
When you can attract and satisfy
customers at lower costs than all
the value it attracts from them.

28. When I know I’ve created a
good b. model?
Fuel in
More value out

29. When I know I’ve created a
good b. model?
A good approximation to measure it:
Customer Life Time Value > Customer acquisition Cost

30. When I know I’ve created a
good b. model?
In simple words:
Making something people really want

31. A lot of variabiles to define a business model

32. A lot of variabiles to define a business model
Customer Pains
Funding
Talent Acquisition

33. But they all depend on few of them

34. Making something people want

35. Making something people want
Customer PainsTarget Customers Value proposition

37. The Startup Problem

38. The reason why startup can succeed
Big corporations don’t
care about small niche
markets

40. A 10X solution for a desperate niche

41. A 10X solution for a desperate niche
From every one

42. A 10X solution for a desperate niche
From every one To <<1 % of population

43. Find your Blue ocean

44. Find your Blue lake

45. How to create a performing engine?

46. 1. Define your early adopters

47. Find someone who has the
problem you want to solve as
his main one in life.

48. Here the idea is:
start selling today a provisory solution for desperate
people

49. Here the idea is:
start selling today a provisory solution for desperate
people

50. Lean startup

51. Lean startup
Scale up

52. Lean startup
Scale up Mature Company

53. How to define your early adopters?
1. They have the problem you want to solve
2. They know they have it
3. They are actively searching for an ad-hoc solution

54. What comes next? Early majority
1. They have the problem you want to solve
2. They know they have it
3. They are NOT actively searching for an ad-hoc solution

55. Yes, but there are very few people with flames in their hair..

56. It’s true. It’s a niche.
But wonder about the 0.0001% of world people.
You can work today with up to 7.000 people. If they
could spend 10$/month for their big problem you are
facing today a 1M$ blue ocean market.

57. So, thanks to Early Adopters you are able to:
• Start revenue with a cheap prototype

58. So, thanks to Early Adopters you are able to:
• Start revenue with a cheap prototype
• Build your business model with low acquisition costs

59. So, thanks to Early Adopters you are able to:
• Start revenue with a cheap prototype
• Build your business model with low acquisition costs
• Build the base for scaling up

60. Think big, start small, move fast.

61. 2. Get to know them

62. 1. Find them
2. Contact them
3. Make interviews
2. Get to know them

63. 2.1 Find them: Linkedin, social direct message, off-
line, cold call, cold mail, hunter.io + mail extractor, ecc.

64. 2.1 Find them: Linkedin, social direct message, off-
line, cold call, cold mail, hunter.io + mail extractor, ecc.
→ Prepare yourself for low success rate!

65. 2.2 Contact them

66. 2.2 Contact them [script example]
Good evening [name of people y],
My name is [your name] and I am part of a team that is developing a
solution to solve [problem x].
At the moment we are in a phase of research and development and to
better address the work we are interacting with [type of person y]. Are you
available for a quick chat at 2 p.m tomorrow or the day after?
Thank you and best regards,
[your name]

67. 2.3 Make interviews

68. Your first goal is to learn.
• Have I understood the problem?
• Who are my early adopters?
• Is my value proposition really valuable?
2.3 Make interviews

69. 1st rule: talk first about the problem, not about your idea

70. 2.3 Make interviews

72. 3. Test your value proposition and then prototype it

73. 3. Test your value proposition and then prototype it
1st prototype: e.g. just words

74. 3. Test your value proposition and then prototype it
1st prototype: e.g. just words
2nd prototype: e.g. something visual

75. 3. Test your value proposition and then prototype it
1st prototype: e.g. just words
2nd prototype: e.g. something visual
3rd prototype: e.g. only manual backhand sw,
assembling something using existing solutions, ecc.

76. 4. Measure it
Do they buy/pre-order?
Do they come back and rebuy?
Do they refer?

77. 5. Iterate the process

78. Optimize for:
→ Learning
→ Cycle time
→ Frequency
5. Iterate the process

79. Summarizing

80. PR
PR
Weebly road to product/market fit

81. PR
PR
PR
Weebly road to product/market fit
After 1 year+ of work

82. COMPANY GROWTH
Time

83. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
COMPANY GROWTH
Time

84. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
COMPANY GROWTH
Time

85. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT → B. PLANNING ETC.
COMPANY GROWTH
Time

86. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT → B. PLANNING ETC.
COMPANY GROWTH
P-M fit
Time

87. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT → B. PLANNING ETC.
COMPANY GROWTH
P-M fit
Time
P-S fit

88. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT → B. PLANNING ETC.
COMPANY GROWTH
P-M fit
Time
P-S fit

89. UNCERTAINTY PREVALENCE PREDICTABILITY PREVALENCE
DEVELOPMENT → LEAN STARTUP, ECC.
CLASSIC MANAGEMENT → B. PLANNING ETC.
COMPANY GROWTH
P-M fit
Lean startup
with early
adopters
Scale with
early
majority
Corporate
management
with late
majority
Corporate management + startup
way corporate innovation
Time
P-S fit

90. Just make something people REALLY want.

91. Some other essentials

92. At your stage you have <3% probability to be succsessfull.

93. Startup is a not liquid investment.
Don’t do it for money, there are better options for that.

94. If you are not passionate about the
problem you are solving, who has the
biggest problem is you.

95. It’s 20x more difficult than you think.
Find the fastest way for build revenues
today.

96. Last thing:

97. Last thing:
This was not a digital marketing lecture ;)

98. NICOLAS SASSOLI
AlmaCube, B.U. Startup | Startup Incubation Program
nicolas.sassoli@almacube.com
@ Nicolas Sassoli
Thanks.
For info mail to startupday@unibo.it

99. NICOLAS SASSOLI
AlmaCube, B.U. Startup | Startup Incubation Program
nicolas.sassoli@almacube.com
@ Nicolas Sassoli
Q&A
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For info mail to startupday@unibo.it