Customer Stories #1 — Bnext
Bnext is a Madrid-based startup that aims at creating a marketplace for financial services, simple to use and available to everyone (Don’t worry if you have absolutely no idea what does it actually mean, this is not the point of this article!). The point is, we met them in their early-stage when they were desperately looking for investors and some money that would make it possible for them to survive, and eventually to grow. They had an idea, good team, and technological skills. Guess what? It was not even close to enough to get successful in the scary and merciless startup ecoystem.
If you think about it, how can you get an investment if your corporate image is, not even bad, but almost non-existent? How can you get an investment with THIS:
They were developing a product that technologically was all okay. But how can the world understand that it is a good idea, if you cannot show it properly? Here comes the simple, but disruptive message from our side: Please, invest in your design BEFORE you invest in developing the complete technological product. (Let us guess, you are developing an app?)
As much as you don’t want to hear it, people judge the book by its cover, and investors judge the company by the impression it makes on the first glance (when the first glance is not good enough, you’re not getting a second, promised).
We got to work with Bnext and our only objective was to create a visually appealing, professional, and sexy image of their brand. Sounds difficult, since what we are selling is a financial marketplace (whatever it means), but not impossible. We started by digging the roots: Bnext needed a new logo, new corporate identity, new pitch deck, and a whole new visual strength. They were smart enough to grab the idea that this will be the key for their further development. So, instead of getting one more fancy feature for your app, sit down and look at how it actually looks like.
Of course, without the actual technological product, it wouldn’t work. But, the other way round, only the product was not enough to work by itself either. Our input helped to make the brand attractive and interesting, so that people actually felt like researching in depth which were the actual functionalities and the mission.
Bnext had a good team and strong tech expertise but these two things, as important as they are, are not enough to actually sell the product. It means, you’re good, but you’re bankrupt. We don’t want you to be bankrupt.
We helped them to design a new, brilliant pitch deck featuring their new corporate image and making everything looks simple, elegant and delicious. If you judge the book by its cover, we made the cover pretty much glamorous. Without changing anything about its actual content. This deck was used in their application to the Plug&Play accelerator and guess what? They got in. What they sold was mostly a mockup of an app, but a beautiful mockup. It resulted to be much more efficient than developing a fully-fledged product upfront.
Let us get to actual examples: pink credit card — you might like pink or don’t like pink, but it is original. New logo. New app design. Landing page where you can see that we have heard about UX before.
Here we touch again upon our favourite topic: the difference between MVP and MAP. What Bnext needed in order to make the critical step forward was an MAP. (Curious? Read more about MAPs here.)
So before getting all about tech, and agility, and fancy features, it is really crucial to invest in the visuals. We re-created their corporate image, executive summary, logo and landing page. They invested in the design and they managed to take the leap.
Especially for startups in an early stage, there is no other way to capture attention being just a tiny particle in a wild crowd of competing entrepreneurs. If there is nothing outstanding about your image — no wonder that poor investors, overwhelmed by information overflow from each side, don’t actually call you.
Thanks to our help they were able to get the money they needed and incorporate an internal design team. So they don’t need us anymore. That’s great. That’s a happy ending. Thank you Bnext for trusting in our expertise, for letting us work and grow by your side.
What we learned together with Bnext is that investing in the design is crucial in order to be successful with a technological product. This is the key message. If you got it, and if you want to understand what is it that Bnext actually do (apart from being smart enough to invest in their design), here is their website: www.bnext.es
Think about the importance of the first impression, because as ancient as this rule is, it is always true. And let us know, when you have thought about it, what is it that you are thinking.
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Akimad is founded by Mika and Dam, a duo of dynamic entrepreneurs with complementary skills and personalities. We believe in realistic innovation. We want to share our experience and support young founders in creating an agile process of idea validation and product development. Say hello! www.akimad.com
Written by Daria Krauzo.
