If you build it, will they come?

Introduction into Lean Startup methodology and preparing to test your assumptions.

Hi everyone! My name is Michaela Quigley, and I am the founder of Shine the Magazine. Shine is an online publication for teens and young adults with disabilities..

The 2018 EforAll LoLa cohort has just completed the second week of the accelerator. It already seems like time is escaping me and the program is moving quickly. With so many big ideas, starting a business can seem overwhelming. During Thursday’s class, however, I walked away with the comfort of knowing that a startup isn’t solely about what the business is providing and what it helps a user do. A business succeeds when there is a clear “why” and “who.”

Let’s take a step back and take a look at how I came to this realization. Sidd Goyal, the CEO of Nivi, Inc. spoke to the class about the lean startup method. This method aims to focus entrepreneurs so they can launch their business in a shorter period of time. Goyal explained the importance of not only forming hypotheses about the problems a customer is facing and who this “customer” is, but actually testing them. The phrase “If you build it, they will come” is not enough to know that there is value to a business. By talking to people, entrepreneurs can figure out what customers truly need or what problems they face. This may result in changing a product or targeting other people, but that’s okay. After all, it’s about the effect that a product or service provides.

Goyal challenged us to work in small groups and write out our value propositions after we analyzed Nivi’s value proposition. After talking to my group, we realized although we have different services and products, we still face some of the same problems. We aren’t alone.

While writing my value proposition, I also realized that Shine isn’t about the actual magazine. It’s about giving people with disabilities a voice (my “who” and my “why”). The way that I am doing this just happens to be through an online publication. Goyal picked out key parts of each value proposition to focus on and emphasize, which helps to remind entrepreneurs what the point of their business is. While it can be overwhelming to think about the future of a business, remembering the “who” and the “why” can help focus us and drive us to success — in whatever shape that takes for an entrepreneur.