Interesting enough you could ask every individual in an organization which is the most important quality and you’ll get 3 different answers.  CEO will say team, engineer is betting on the product, while the sales team is toting the size of the market.

Marc sides with the sales team on this one — As he puts it, “In a great market — a market with lots of real potential customers — the market pulls the product out of the startup.”  I tend to agree.  A company that doesn’t adapt the product to the market will be a company left with a 0 user base product.

Here’s another way Marc puts it: The #1 company-killer is lack of market.
(Andy Rachleff - Rachleff’s Law of Startup Success)

• When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins.
• When a lousy team meets a great market, market wins.
• When a great team meets a great market, something special happens.

And it’s just not lack of market — more importantly it is lack of product/market fit.  That is being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.   Simply put product/market fit is “making things people want”

To be more successful the product will not just satisfy but grow the market that contains it.

Key indicators that this product/market fit is happening:

• User base growing through viral channels — product is so good that people are sharing
• Usage is growing — users find value by spending more time with your product
• Partnerships are become easier — other brands see product value aligning their brand with yours
• Mainstream media is starting to notice
• Your brand is becoming a verb (I googled it, can you skype me, did you mapmyrun it?)

Just as it can happen it can also undo itself.  Unmaintained growth can lead to reduction in product quality which then starts having an adverse affect on the market which then deteriorates the product/market fit relationship.

I’m hoping the next post will start to dive into metrics around measuring the success of the product/market fit in a fashion that will help identify ways to keep the balance strong through our next growth period.

* 71% researching market needs
* 51% preparing business case
* 18% perform win/loss analysis (down historically)
* 82% monitoring dev projects
* 80% writing reqs
* 54% writing specs
* 44% writing promotional copy
* 41% approving promotional materials
* 9% working with press/analysts (down)
* 49% training sales or going on sales calls

http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?entry=3357547806

Here’s a great start — a little dated (1996) but true to this day

http://benhorowitz.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/good-product-manager.pdf

They’re running an interesting contest to increase their visibility on Twitter and on the web.

Let’s see how they do:
Web 2.0 Online Press Release Distribution

We launched Monday.  By Tuesday we had over 45,000 requests for free samples. Yikes.

So there’s a bunch of stuff to glean from this and hopefully I’ll be able to keep this blog up to date with our actions over the next 4 months but today I’m going to focus on Reputation Management.

Reputation Management

One of the cautions of running a viral campaign is that it can go negative very quickly – think wild fire.  With a set number of samples to give away and the disporportionate response (showing a very high degree of brand interest), we need to make sure to not only fulfill the existing sample giveaway, but manage and track expectations so that the remainder of requestors attribute a positive value with their request and the brand in general.

So… day 4 into the campaign we’ve decided to implement some reputation tracking using filtrbox (www.filterbox.com). 

First question: Which keywords? “Febreze SPORT” is obvious as it’s a new brand name so we can measure the frequency of chatter.  But what about tracking specific negative qualities or the negative reputation of the brand being discussed? I’m not a reputation expert but I figured I’d share with you some tidbits I found online.  All I wanted was a simple guide of setting up keywords to watch for negative feedback.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the links I searched through went to SEO bloggers / companies promoting brand reputation services.  Not suprising.  So then I decided to search for “monitor brand” and nothing.

Negative Brand Reputation Keywords

{Your Brand Here} + {keyword}

keywords could be: scam, bad, horrible, spam, worst, negative, useless, fake, trick, shit

So far nothing so this is very positive for us and our client!

Here’s their Current Course List:
(courtesy of http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/index.htm)

15.010 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions Fall 2004
  15.011 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions Fall 2004
  15.012 Applied Macro- and International Economics Spring 2002
  15.014 Applied Macro- and International Economics Spring 2004
  15.020 Competition in Telecommunications Fall 2003
  15.021J Real Estate Economics Spring 2004
  15.023J Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Policy Spring 2004
  15.023J Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Policy Spring 2007
  15.024 Applied Economics for Managers Summer 2004
  15.040 Game Theory for Managers Spring 2004
  15.057 Systems Optimization Spring 2003
 15.060 Data, Models, and Decisions Fall 2007
  15.062 Data Mining Spring 2003
  15.063 Communicating With Data Summer 2003
  15.066J System Optimization and Analysis for Manufacturing Summer 2003
  15.067 Competitive Decision-Making and Negotiation Spring 2003
  15.070 Advanced Stochastic Processes Fall 2005
  15.072J Queues: Theory and Applications Spring 2006
  15.073J Logistical and Transportation Planning Methods Fall 2004
  15.073J Logistical and Transportation Planning Methods Fall 2006
  15.081J Introduction to Mathematical Programming Fall 2002
  15.082J Network Optimization Spring 2003
  15.083J Integer Program Combination Optimization Fall 2004
  15.084J Nonlinear Programming Spring 2004
  15.084J Nonlinear Programming Spring 2003
  15.085J Fundamentals of Probability Fall 2005
  15.093 Optimization Methods (SMA 5213) Fall 2004
  15.094J Systems Optimization: Models and Computation (SMA 5223) Spring 2004
  15.098 Special Seminar in Applied Probability and Stochastic Processes Spring 2006
  15.099 Readings in Optimization Fall 2003
  15.136J Principles and Practice of Drug Development Fall 2005
 15.220 Global Strategy and Organization Spring 2008
  15.223 Global Markets, National Policies, and the Competitive Advantages of Firms Fall 2007
  15.224 Global Markets, National Politics and the Competitive Advantage of Firms Spring 2003
 15.225 Economy and Business in Modern China and India Spring 2008
  15.269 Literature, Ethics and Authority Fall 2005
  15.269B Literature, Ethics and Authority Fall 2002
  15.280 Communication for Managers Fall 2002
  15.281 Advanced Managerial Communication Spring 2004
  15.289 Communication Skills for Academics Spring 2002
  15.301 Managerial Psychology Fall 2006
  15.301 Managerial Psychology Laboratory Fall 2004
  15.301 Managerial Psychology Laboratory Spring 2003
  15.310 Managerial Psychology Laboratory Spring 2003
  15.310 Managerial Psychology Fall 2006
  15.310 Managerial Psychology Laboratory Fall 2004
  15.311 Organizational Processes Fall 2003
  15.316 Building and Leading Effective Teams Summer 2005
  15.322 Leading Organizations II Fall 2003
  15.328 Team Project Fall 2003
  15.341 Individuals, Groups, and Organizations Fall 2006
  15.342J Organizations and Environments Fall 2004
  15.343 Managing Transformations in Work, Organizations, and Society Spring 2002
  15.347 Doctoral Seminar in Research Methods I Fall 2004
  15.348 Doctoral Seminar in Research Methods II Spring 2004
 15.351 Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Spring 2008
  15.351 Managing the Innovation Process Fall 2002
  15.352 Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends Spring 2005
  15.356 How to Develop “Breakthrough” Products and Services Spring 2004
  15.358 The Software Business Fall 2005
 15.369 Corporate Entrepreneurship: Strategies for Technology-Based New Business Development Fall 2007
  15.389 Global Entrepreneurship Lab Fall 2007
  15.391 Early Stage Capital Fall 2003
  15.394 Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization Spring 2003
  15.402 Finance Theory II Spring 2003
  15.414 Financial Management Summer 2003
  15.426J Real Estate Finance and Investment Fall 2006
  15.427J Real Estate Capital Markets Spring 2007
  15.428J Advanced Topics in Real Estate Finance Spring 2007
  15.431 Entrepreneurial Finance Spring 2002
  15.433 Investments Spring 2003
  15.501 Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting Spring 2004
  15.511 Financial Accounting Summer 2004
  15.514 Financial and Managerial Accounting Summer 2003
  15.515 Financial Accounting Fall 2003
  15.516 Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting Spring 2004
  15.518 Taxes and Business Strategy Fall 2002
  15.521 Management Accounting and Control Spring 2003
  15.535 Business Analysis Using Financial Statements Spring 2003
  15.561 Information Technology Essentials Spring 2005
  15.564 Information Technology I Spring 2003
  15.565J Integrating eSystems & Global Information Systems Spring 2002
  15.566 Information Technology as an Integrating Force in Manufacturing Spring 2003
 15.571 Generating Business Value from Information Technology Spring 2007
  15.575 Research Seminar in IT and Organizations: Economic Perspectives Spring 2004
  15.578J Integrating eSystems & Global Information Systems Spring 2002
  15.598 IT and Business Transformation Spring 2003
  15.616 Innovative Businesses and Breakthrough Technologies – The Legal Issues Fall 2004
  15.617 The Law of Corporate Finance and Financial Markets Spring 2004
  15.628 Patents, Copyrights, and the Law of Intellectual Property Spring 2003
  15.649 The Law of Mergers and Acquisitions Spring 2003
  15.660 Strategic HR Management Spring 2003
  15.665B Power and Negotiation Fall 2002
  15.667 Negotiation and Conflict Management Spring 2001
 15.676 Work, Employment, and Industrial Relations Theory Spring 2008
  15.677J Urban Labor Markets and Employment Policy Spring 2005
  15.678J Political Economy I: Theories of the State and the Economy Fall 2005
  15.760A Operations Management Spring 2002
  15.760B Introduction to Operations Management Spring 2004
  15.761 Operations Management Summer 2002
  15.762J Supply Chain Planning (SMA 6305) Spring 2005
  15.763J Manufacturing System and Supply Chain Design Spring 2005
  15.764 The Theory of Operations Management Spring 2004
  15.769 Operations Strategy Spring 2003
  15.769 Operations Strategy Fall 2005
  15.770J Logistics Systems Fall 2006
  15.778 Management of Supply Networks for Products and Services Summer 2004
  15.783J Product Design and Development Spring 2006
  15.792J Proseminar in Manufacturing Fall 2005
  15.795 Seminar in Operations Management Fall 2002
  15.810 Introduction to Marketing Spring 2005
  15.810 Marketing Management Fall 2004
  15.812 Marketing Management Fall 2002
  15.818 Pricing Spring 2005
  15.821 Listening to the Customer Fall 2002
  15.822 Strategic Marketing Measurement Fall 2002
  15.834 Marketing Strategy Spring 2003
  15.835 Entrepreneurial Marketing Spring 2002
  15.840 Special Seminar in Marketing: Marketing Management Spring 2004
  15.871 System Dynamics for Business Policy Fall 2003
  15.874 System Dynamics for Business Policy Fall 2003
  15.875 Applications of System Dynamics Spring 2004
  15.902 Strategic Management I Fall 2006
  15.904 Strategic Management II Fall 2005
  15.905 Technology Strategy Spring 2007
  15.912 Technology Strategy Spring 2005
  15.928 Strategic Management and Consulting Proseminar: Theoretical Foundations Spring 2003
 15.963 Advanced Strategy Spring 2008
 15.963 Management Accounting and Control Spring 2007
  15.963 Organizations as Enacted Systems: Learning, Knowing and Change Fall 2002
  15.965 Ethical Practice: Professionalism, Social Responsibility, and the Purpose of the Corporation Spring 2007
  15.967 Managing and Volunteering In the Non-Profit Sector Spring 2005
  15.968 The Sociology of Strategy Spring 2005
  15.969 Dynamic Leadership: Using Improvisation in Business Fall 2004
  15.970 Digital Anthropology Spring 2003
  15.971 Developmental Entrepreneurship Fall 2003
  15.974 Leadership Lab Spring 2003
  15.974 Practical Leadership Fall 2004
  15.975 Special Seminar in Management The Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans January (IAP) 2005
  15.978 Leadership Tools and Teams: A Product Development Lab Spring 2007
  15.980J Organizing for Innovative Product Development Spring 2007
 15.988 System Dynamics Self Study Fall 1998
  15.990 Architecture and Communication in Organizations Fall 2003
  15.996 Cross-Cultural Leadership Fall 2004
  15.997 Advanced Corporate Risk Management

I’m going to try to work on this myself but I’ve also entertained the idea of getting a group of likeminded entreprenuers to meet once a week to do reviews, discuss topics, etc.   This should be fun!

“Give your service away for free, possibly ad supported but maybe not, acquire a lot of customers very efficiently through word of mouth, referral networks, organic search marketing, etc., then offer premium priced value added services or an enhanced version of your service to your customer base.”

This is the crux of Fred Wilson’s Freemium Business Model — the question that follows is not only a) how to price your value added services and b) what value added services to add, but we’ve found that c) is the most difficult of them all: how to communicate the value of the premium added service to the user.

Typically about a1-2% conversion rate is seen for most websites / services that follow this Free/Premium Membership model.  Flikr Pro has about 10% conversion while Ning has about 5%.

There are a couple things that we’ve been experimenting with: 1) “reminding” our users that Premium Membership exists, 2) offering incentives and discounts to convert users, 3) adding more paid-for features that are included for free when a user is a Premium User, 4) converting existing free features over to premium-only, and 5) improving the existing paid-for feature set.

I personally don’t think (1) is a good way to go — I think that by making the features powerful enough to generate their own viral market whorl then (1) shouldn’t be needed. (2) seems to work but in a very limited way — think 2-for-1 Membership incentives for the Holidays, etc.   (1) and (2) are worth nothing if the value-proposition isn’t there.

Take (1) for example — if sending an email to a userbase of 500k generates 100 signups but 1,000 user deletions and 50,000 opt-outs.  Is that a good measure?

(3), (4), and (5) all have to do with adding value.  (4) is dangerous as it can upset a fragile user balance and cause user migration.  So I guess what I need to do is focus on (3) and (5).  I also think it’s important for us to start defining clear use-case funnels and start tracking metrics per each feature set.  It’s going to be a monumental task but needed for us to really understand our conversion base…

Ok, so technically when you go to a bar to meet a bunch of internet professionals and you see a private room full of people with a big ‘NET’ sign, you assume that they are one and the same… however they are not!

The evening wasn’t a complete bust — I met some amazing people and learned about a side of technology I didn’t really understand much of.  According to their website, “Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of leaders who use business to improve the world.”  They’ve been primarily a student organization and are starting to create professional chapters.  It seems to be an exciting time to get involved…

Being in the health & fitness space I definitely think my company is making a good social impact — how could we not? We promote healthy lifestyles. We promote activity.  We promote riding your bike to work!

It’ll be interesting to see how this chapter grows and what positive impact it can make in the local business community here in Denver and in Colorado.

Check them out:

http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1

Refresh Denver: next time!

I’m a serial entrepreneur and am currently the co-founder of an early stage health and fitness company that provides online tools and services to promote the active lifestyle.  Our flagship site is MapMyRun.com, which I started in May of 2005.

I’ve been reading a lot about the dire straights this economy is in and especially how that relates to the current world that us startup / early stage company management teams find ourselves in.  You’re starting to see a ton of startups go under because in my mind, rather than try to get creative with revenue sources or ways to slash spending, it’s easier to blame lack of investors. (ok, well this is generalization based on business model)

I’m going to try to use this blog as a way I can explore my own thoughts in the matter and hopefully be able to share my experiences with the community out there that is experiencing the same problems.  What I first recommend is explore the term Freemium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium_business_model