Starting a Startup: Where to Start

As a team of mobile application developers our expertise is building applications. We work with a mixture of SMBs, enterprises, and entrepreneurs looking to leverage mobile technology. When we work with businesses, they approach us with a list of well-defined product requirements based off of their existing customer’s needs and a known market. This makes development relatively straightforward. When we are approached by entrepreneurs we routinely experience the following issues:

• Entrepreneurs lack a validated understanding of their product
• Entrepreneurs lack a validated understanding of their customers
• Entrepreneurs lack a validated understanding of their market
• Entrepreneurs lack capital to begin development

Below are a few relevant terms and resources for people venturing into the world of mobile application development that hopefully provide direction for the issues outlined above.

What is Lean Startup?

Lean Startup is a methodology pioneered by Eric Ries for creating and managing startups. Lean Startup can be thought of as blend of lean manufacturing, Agile software development, and Customer Development. These three pillars help deliver a new or improved product that solves a real problem to a market of people. One key element of the Lean Startup methodology is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Focusing on the minimum set of features necessary to allow your customer’s to achieve their desired result keeps the list of product requirements and development costs from ballooning. Without Lean Startup’s scientific approach many entrepreneurs rely on their initial assumptions and the product development timetable to prepare for first customer ship.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is a process originating from Japan that aims to improve quality, eliminate waste, reduce time, and improve flow summarized succinctly by The Toyota Way in 2001. The principles derived from lean manufacturing have been applauded by and applied to many organizations across industries. Lean is the continuous process of improving processes. Like manufacturing, mobile application development is an assembly line; in the startup world capital and time are the raw resources. Without the right approach, startups often burn through precious capital by running in circles.

What is Agile Software Development?

Agile Development is a software development methodology that uses an iterative approach rather than the traditional waterfall approach. The waterfall methodology is sensible when product requirements, end users, and goals are well established. Startups exist in nebulous territory; constantly discovering new information about their customer’s and their market. Successfully navigating through uncertainty demands flexible, self-organizing, and cross-functional teams that can adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.

What is Customer Development?

Customer Development is a process pioneered by Steve Blank that begins before and runs parallel to product development. Blank recognized that time and again startups failed because they used product development methodologies to plan marketing, sales, and business development activities before truly understanding their customers. Blank emphasizes continuous validation of the founder’s vision by testing assumptions about the product, customer, problem, distribution method, demand creation, market type, and competition.

Extreme uncertainty is familiar to startups. Having a vision does not guarantee that you will receive funding. Having capital does not guarantee that customers will buy the product when it is launched. Finding customers is sustainable growth. What is Steve’s advice? Get out of the office! Test hypotheses, listen to your customers, and take those findings to build a better product.