Will Marlow - Filed under 'Startup'

January 23, 2010

Hasn't That Been Done Before?

When you get ready to do a new business venture of almost any kind, you should expect a lot of people to ask, "Isn't somebody already doing that?"

The answer is: I hope so. If no one is doing it, or planning it, or offering a different version of it, there is likely no developed market for your business. Competitors add legitimacy to your plans. They help "soften" the market by reaching out to customers. They also commit themselves financially to a specific way of doing things, and they create huge costs for themselves if they ever need to quickly change directions. They help prove or disprove the viability of risky plans, and they pay the full cost for their mistakes.

The presence of competition isn't a reason to avoid a new business venture. The whole point of a new venture is to offer customers a compelling reason to hire you, instead of the other options.

Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity to help his clients reposition their fundraising to benefit from Web2.0 technology and marketing techniques. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

Filed under // Business Startup Startups new venture venture capital

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December 30, 2009

Is It a Technology Problem or a Human Problem?

Some people look for technology to solve all their problems, and after they spend a lot of money, they realize that they have the same problems that they had before, and they get upset.

Examples of this include:

People who think oil and coal cause pollution, and who ignore the fact that there are widespread human behaviors that are wasteful regardless of how clean the technology is;
Doctors who prescribe medication to treat patients who might benefit more from simple exercise (this one is more the fault of the patients, in my opinion);
Amateur photographers who buy the latest full-frame, 21-megapixel pro-model camera from Canon, but who wouldn't even read the guidebook for a Nikon D40;
Companies that focus on adding new features or “enhancements” to their software, rather than addressing the core reasons why people aren’t buying or using their software in the first place.

We’re on the verge of the 7th decade since the invention of the computer, and I know it’s heresy for a technologist to point people away from technology. But to solve a problem, you need to know its cause. And if you are honest with yourself about which of your problems can be solved by the latest innovations, then your quality of life will go up.

Will Marlow is the co-creator of AlumniFidelity, which helps schools and nonprofits improve their online fundraising results. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

Filed under // Software Startup Technology

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December 22, 2009

The Most Valuable People to Work With, and the Story of Little Tuppen

The rarest and most valuable people in a startup company are the ones who not only understand their role, but can perform that role, even when things that should happen first, don’t happen first. If you can't find these people, you can still be one of them yourself.

Without these types of people, the first part of a startup would feel like the story of Little Tuppen, whose mother needed water to help her stop coughing, and everyone wanted to help, but they all wanted her to do a different task before they would lift a finger. (The stream told her to see the tree, the tree told her to see the boy, the boy told her to see the cow, the cow told her to see the blacksmith...)

In the earliest days, this may be your feeling when you approach your very first investor, who wants you to have traction, or the very first clients, who want to know who your other clients are, or the VCs, who want to know about the other companies you've built and exited, or the potential partners, who want to work for a startup as long as it's already scaling halfway up the hockey stick.

Your only hope is to be the type of person you're looking for, and be grateful (I am) for all of those great people who find you.

Filed under // Business plan Little Tuppen Seed-stage Startup Startups VC VCs Venture capitalists early-stage investing

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December 7, 2009

Here’s to Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket (re-reading Crossing the Chasm)

Sometimes it’s a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. This is one of the key lessons of the startup bible, Crossing the Chasm, which I’m re-reading right now.

The Chasm is the place where many high-tech startups die. It’s the gap between the early market of innovators (people who are enthusiastic about buying a groundbreaking product that is only 80 percent complete) and the pragmatists (the people who look at a product that is 80 percent complete and say, Where’s the other 20 percent?).

In order to leap across the Chasm, you need to commit to building the “whole product” for at least one target customer. Rather than making the common mistake of building a product that’s got something for all your potential target customers, you need to give just one target customer everything. If you do that, you’ll get your first round of pragmatist customers, who will be your reference base as you seek to get more pragmatist customers. (Don’t forget: there are a lot more pragmatists than there are innovators, so you’ll want your reference base to be full of pragmatists so they can tell their friends.)

I regularly recommend Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm to other people who work at startups. For now, this book, along with the sequel, Inside the Tornado and Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start, stands alone as required reading for entrepreneurs, in my opinion. If anyone has suggestions for books that they would recommend to entrepreneurs, please let me know at will@alumnifidelity.com, or @willmarlow, or in comments below, or let me know when you run into me on the street :)

Filed under // Art of the Start Crossing the Chasm Entrepreneurs Geoffrey Moore Guy Kawasaki High Tech Startup Startups Technology

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