Re:Show HN: Startup Bakery – MVP as a service
by senko on Monday March 13, 2017 @09:00AM
(#13857380)
Hey HN!
Startup Bakery is an attempt to turn into the services I've already been doing (helping clients build their MVP) into a repeatable process and package as a process.
Where this differs from plain outsourcing is that we're putting focus on customer and product discover first, figure out what to build, and only then approach the development. This may be no-brainer for HN, but a surprising amount of my clients have come in with concrete grand visions and assumptions about user base and needed "just" to implement the code, and in every case, the startup failed miserably.
So this is somewhere between a startup bootcamp, and an outsource offering, trying to combine the lean/discovery knowhow/mentorship focus from typical startup events, and the actual operational knowledge to execute.
Re:Show HN: Startup Bakery – MVP as a service
by senko on Friday March 17, 2017 @05:46PM
(#13898260)
Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, that's actually the idea. If we & the client think at any point that it's not worth pursuing it, we stop the process (hence the "under $10,000", not "exactly $10,000").
I absolutely feel that the initial part (taking apart the idea, probing it, trying to see if it makes sense, trying to prove it via experiments/testing/user interviews) brings more value than the implementation part.
If we spend, say $2,000 out of the whole budget proving that, say, the market isn't there, we've just saved $8,000 to the client which they can use for other ideas (or to modify/pivot the original one).
Re:Show HN: Startup Bakery – MVP as a service
by senko on Friday March 17, 2017 @05:48PM
(#13898273)
I thought about having it as a separate service, but I believe there are a lot of consultancies that do that (basically, everyone peddling Lean Startup), but are often ignored (client goes through the motions, but then does a 180 when it's time to implement things).
By guiding them on every step of the way, we ensure that they keep the discipline and the focus. (That's the idea, at least).
Startup Bakery is an attempt to turn into the services I've already been doing (helping clients build their MVP) into a repeatable process and package as a process.
Where this differs from plain outsourcing is that we're putting focus on customer and product discover first, figure out what to build, and only then approach the development. This may be no-brainer for HN, but a surprising amount of my clients have come in with concrete grand visions and assumptions about user base and needed "just" to implement the code, and in every case, the startup failed miserably.
So this is somewhere between a startup bootcamp, and an outsource offering, trying to combine the lean/discovery knowhow/mentorship focus from typical startup events, and the actual operational knowledge to execute.
Would love to hear your thoughts about this :)
If you and the client find out that there probably isn't a business before building an MVP then what?
Yeah, that's actually the idea. If we & the client think at any point that it's not worth pursuing it, we stop the process (hence the "under $10,000", not "exactly $10,000").
I absolutely feel that the initial part (taking apart the idea, probing it, trying to see if it makes sense, trying to prove it via experiments/testing/user interviews) brings more value than the implementation part.
If we spend, say $2,000 out of the whole budget proving that, say, the market isn't there, we've just saved $8,000 to the client which they can use for other ideas (or to modify/pivot the original one).
By guiding them on every step of the way, we ensure that they keep the discipline and the focus. (That's the idea, at least).
Thanks for the feedback!