The Center for Entrepreneurship at SPJIMR conducts the Start Your Business Program ( http://syb.spjimr.org) for aspiring/budding entrepreneurs. I was honored to have been invited as Guest Faculty to cover 'startup challenges'. It was a fruitful discussion since the students (most of them professionals with considerable experience) preferred a debate-based session over a presentation-based lecture.

2. What causes success?
Team?
Product?
Market?
Suitability
Optimum Execution
Effectiveness / Experience
Ease of Use & Speed
Rich with Features
Extensible & Polished
Number of customers and
growth rate of users for
the product

3. Benefits?
Execution of product design in simpler, cleaner way.
Bigger the market, easier to narrow down on user-
centric attributes on which to compete.
Don’t just find a market.
Find a great market.
Do your customers recommend you to their friends?
Do your customers care if your company dies tomorrow?
How to measure?

4. In a great market, a market with lots
of real potential customers,
the market pulls product out of the startup.
The only thing that matters is getting to
product/market fit.

5. Product-Market Fit
What is Product-Market fit?
Being in a good market with a product that can satisfy the market.
When people sell for you.
Value Hypothesis
Identifying that compelling hypothesis is finding a product-market fit.
Factors include Product, Pricing and Business models.
It is everyone’s job.
Process
Keep evolving. Keep listening. Delegate the process to all ends of the
supply/production/delivery chain.

7. External Validation
Is it solving a real problem?
Is there a bigger game involved?
Will your solution be used continually by the audience?
Usage frequency?
How and when will you make money?
Is it enough?
Customer acquisition strategy?
Cost of acquisition? Lifetime Value?
How will you trump the competition?
No price war, right? Right?

9. Internal Validation
What is the key motivating factor behind starting up?
Is your family convinced?
Financial obligations that you’re risking?
Are competencies being identified?
What is the hardest part of starting up, for you? Why?
Is optimism hard wired into you? It better be.
What do you see yourself doing in the next 20 years?
Is the vision aligned?

11. Tell a Good Story
Branding translates into everyday behavior, emails, texts, conversations.
Branding gets you the best (or rather, relevant) talent out there.
Logo and Colors matter.
Online Presence matters.
Value of effective communication is highly underestimated.
Perceptions is Everything
Branding keeps you human.
Use it to your advantage.

13. People
Givers Gain
Build honest relationships
Offer playgrounds to some, racetracks to others.
Build a customer centric business
Build an employee centric business
Two sets of customers: paying and non paying
A person who cares is a way better cleaner
than a professional who doesn’t.

14. Minimum
Viable
Product
Ears to the ground
Go rabid with feedback
Perceptions matter. Build
and position based on
those.
Why?
Startup throws mini
storms. Nipping them in
the bud helps avoid bigger
storms.
How?
Pivot
Why?
Taking the neon light EXIT
when the highway seems
to be going on without a
clear indication.
How?
Analyze feedback from stakeholders
Do what you feel is best.
The middle path. Have faith.
Focus on Product/Market fit.

15. When you find a product-market fit,
you better not lose it.
People.
Cash.
Optimism.
Compliance.
Growth.

16. Courtesy:
@EricJorgenson
@BeninJLM
Marc Andreesen
Jack Dorsey
Fred Wilson

17. @sushrutmunje