5.0 Framework: How can a disruptive startup be developed better during its early stages
In synthesizing the primary research and data derived from interviews within the professional industry, I’ve challenged myself to come up with a framework that gives an overview of the essential elements of how a disruptive startup can be developed during its early stages.
Fixed strategies for solving this problem are not useful in this case, because research demonstrates that disruptive startup development is highly dependent on unpredictable variables such as human character, the presence of a strong commitment on part of the individuals involved to find solutions to the all challenges that are inevitably part of the journey, and the relevant leadership skills that are not always easy to identify much less encapsulate into a general formula.
Interviewing industry experts about their real experience and reading stories about disruptors like Steve Jobs (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Tony Hsieh (Zappos), Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk (Airbnb), and others has led me to the metaphoric analogy of connection between a Startup and a Customer with a human relations base on the following principles:
— listen and understand your customer
— be honest in your intention
— make people trust you
— be a Giver
Building strong relationships with customers raises the chance to disrupt the market.
This framework in Figure 15 visualizes the elements and processes involved in a disruptor’s mindset and value-system to create an innovative idea and deliver it to the target customers to satisfy their fundamental needs.
I found “Value Proposition Canvas” by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur a suitable practical guide which helps to explain the problem by offering the following reasons:
- the core of Value Proposition Canvas is the fit that a value proposition has for addressing important jobs, alleviating extreme pains, and creating essential gains that customers care about.
- this guide was published in 2014 and therefore also contains such recent ‘best practices’ as Lean methodology, Blue Ocean strategy, Design Thinking methods.
Since any relationship process is based on a steady and consistent, if not constant, cooperation between two sides, in this case, between Startup and Customer, we find that this necessary element contains the following interaction exchange from each Side:
- Customer gives data about his behavior, his work, the pains and gains he has experienced, and provides constant feedback on a Startup’s value proposition through testing and using a product.
- Startup gets data through speaking and observing a Customer, understands his needs and creates a relevant value by visualizing and improving it with tests.
The better the cooperation, the better the outcome.
In order to create a value that would not only fit customers’ fundamental needs, but also present an innovative vision with a disruptive potential, I investigated a general ‘nature’ among disruptors and whether or not research would yield an understanding of what similar and different values disruptors could be found to use in their process of creating.
As result of my efforts — and following the first iteration plus getting feedback from industry experts, I was able to narrow my focus down to three main factors:
- Discovery
- Courage to innovate
- Agile
1. Discovery
Discovery skills are the most important part of an Innovator’s DNA, because it deals with getting data from outside by using behavioral skills, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting, then synthesizing and triggering associational skills which combine different patterns and coming up with an innovative idea. I also added empathy as a trigger towards discovering the environment and better understanding a customer by putting yourself in his shoes.
“Creativity is connecting things. - Steve Jobs, founder and CEO, Apple Inc.
Cognitive associational thinking — ability to make surprising connections across areas of knowledge, industries through developing discovery skills: questioning, observing, networking, experimenting and empathy.
Questioning
Questions challenge the status quo, for example “if I tried this, what would happen?” to understand why these things work in this way and how they might be changed or disrupted. These questions provoke new insights, connections, possibilities and directions. Asking the most pertinent questions lead to the most valuable answers.
Observing
A careful scrutiny of the world — customers, products, services, companies, technologies. It helps to gain insights and develop ideas for new ways of doing things.
Networking
A conversation with someone who can alert you to an important piece of knowledge or opportunity. Searching for new ideas by talking to people who may offer a radically different view of things. Networking is also good for testing ideas and prototypes.
Experimenting
Trying out new experiences and piloting new ideas. Visiting new places, trying new things, seeking new information, experimenting to learn new techniques. The more diverse the experience in different areas and practices, the better the outcome.
Empathy
Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes is literally to live through a customers’ journey and to find the frustrations he has experienced as signs of disruption. It differs from observing, because a disruptor feels the customer’s pain and looks at the problem through the customers eyes. This is how the main disruptive startups were launched — from some personal problem the disruptor wanted to solve.
2. Courage to innovate
Courage to innovate explains why disruptors behave in this way: asking, observing, experimenting, networking and empathizing. First, because they actively desire to change the status quo. Second, they regularly take smart risks to make that change happen.
3. Agile
Since this framework refers to a startup’s critical development period, any lack of speed, focus and the perceptive acumen to learn quickly, might result in the attempt at innovation failing: the ‘answer’ might just arrive too late.
Based on this framework I mapped out the process stages of development, that is, a startup from its very beginning Problem/ Solution fit phase until its validation in Product/Market fit phase. The order is not fixed — it depends on the project.
These contain the following:
Stage 1. Exploring the environment
Stage 2. Creating response
Stage 3. Visualizing
Stage 4. Measuring
Stage 5. Pushing forward
It is important at every stage to ask right questions. Research should be regularly updated.
Stage 1. Exploring environment
Research. Defining a problem
Objectives: to understand the context’s trends, problems and customers’ needs.
Outcome: customers & context map.
Right questions: What would I want being in customers’ place? Is it a problem worth solving (unworkable, unavoidable, urgent, underserved)? How the market could benefit from something new and how the existing industry could be radically different to make it work?
[HOW]
Map out Customer’s Profile
Objectives: to visualize what matters to a customer: jobs, pains, gains.
Outcome: one-page Customer profile with prioritized jobs, pains, gains.
«Why» questions help to get more insights and latent wants.
[HOW]
Stage 2. Creating response
Ideate
Objectives: to uncover all creativity in finding new, different solutions.
Outcome: a number of ideas for a value proposal map.
Right questions: What benefits does an idea offer? How does it look at the world differently? Is it disruptive and how?
[HOW]
Create Value Proposal Map
Objectives: to describe explicitly how products and services create value.
Outcome: a one page map of value creation.
Right questions: Is it focus on unsatisfied jobs, pains and gains, that matter most to customers? Does it target few jobs, pains, gain in extremely good way? Does it address emotional and social jobs?
[HOW]
Evaluate
Objectives: to understand how an idea performs compared to others.
Outcome: value curve, visual comparison.
Right questions: how an idea differentiate from competitors with the value proposition?
[HOW]
Characteristics of great value proposition:
Stage 3. Visualizing
Create Lean Business Canvas
Objectives: to visualize key elements in creating a value for business.
Outcome: a one page canvas with key elements.
It is not necessary to complete all sections, but important to outline priorities.
«Problems and Customer» section drives the rest. Sections 3,4,5 create the basic strategy: where and how to go. It’s important to identify a core KPI and the first revenue stream.
Make a Pitch
Objectives: to create a concise idea description with key elements for customers and potential investors.
Outcome: a one sentence description.
It combines Customer profile and Value Proposition Map
Example:
Prototype
Objectives: to quickly visualize ideas for getting feedback.
Outcome: a tangible visualization of the idea.
Prototyping depends on the project. It can be a sketch, a lego building prototype or low-cost web-service.
Stage 4. Measuring
Objectives: to validate the idea.
Outcome: target audience feedback, validated hypothesis for the next step.
[HOW]
Stage 5. Pushing forward
Objective: to get scale.
Outcome: new perspective for the next step.
Build Network to find opportunities for partnership and investments
Develop a culture to invite the target audience on your journey Build anticipation before general release.
Takeaways
After discussion with the experts I formulated a list of feedback that can be considered for these further steps:
- Disruptive practice as a separate entity is not enough, because a disruptive idea is nothing without implementation. It’s better to show the “business and entrepreneur side of it, i.e. to create a commercial idea that is customer-facing, that people (industry experts) will buy.
- Most disruptive ideas come from a disrupter. Mentioning the person behind the idea is just as important as an idea, a product itself. Research usually starts off with a creator’s own challenges.
- Disruption is not just an A to B journey. it’s the start of the idea process and the exploration of the opportunity. It’s a cyclical nature of disruption with getting response. It’s not just lean.
