Youpod-Creating our Startup
As part of Startup Lab by AD and PR Lab in Panteion University, we were challenged to come up with a startup idea that would disrupt the Audio and Radio Industry. What’s more, we also had to bring that idea to life, by working on different aspects of our startup and constantly making improvements on it. In order to achieve that we worked closely with a team from Antenna Music and received valuable feedback and advice from them.
After research into the Audio and Radio Industry we decided to focus on podcasts. Our idea is an app and website, called YouPod, in which everyone can share their podcasts, get feedback (reviews & ratings) as well as listen to other people’s podcasts and give them feedback. The app will also offer categorized content and recommended podcasts. Our main innovation is the creation of a friendly community of amateur podcasters.
First, we created our Value Proposition Canvas, in order to recognize what kind of problem we want to solve and what kind of services we want to offer. Organizing our thoughts and filling in the Value Proposition Canvas was very helpful and effective.
Our idea caters to the need of people to upload their podcasts on a platform in which they will not be judged. The reason for that is that our main focus is to encourage podcast creators to share their work and gain valuable advice and recognition, even if they are not professionals. Therefore, our customer segment includes amateur podcast creators and of course audio/podcast lovers in general.
On top of that, YouPod also offers its users the opportunity to discover other podcasters, which could eventually become their business partners and friends, or they could even attract job offers.
With the creation of our Business Model Canvas our idea really started to come together. We put emphasis in potential partners as well as revenue streams.
Pitching Our Startup Idea
We were then asked to present our final product to the Antenna Music Partners. We stuck to our original idea, YouPod.
For our final presentation we wanted to test our idea, so we created an online questionnaire, which aimed to provide us with feedback from potential users. The results were definitely positive. Most of the people that answered our questions were interested in using YouPod and found its services useful.
We also concluded that our main target group would be women and men aged from 18 to 40 years old. When it comes to customer relationships, our goal is to build them on trust, by creating this community based on the feeling of belonging and being accepted.
We also worked on the design of our app & created prototypes for it.
Our main competition includes other podcast apps, such as Stitcher, Podbean etc. Although YouPod continues to be different and innovative.
When it comes to revenue, we decided to apply a Freemium Model. Specifically, the podcasters will be able to use the app for free for one month, but upon completing that month they will have to pay a monthly fee. Other users that only listen to podcasts (and do not post themselves) will be able to use the app for free. On top of that, we also came up with the idea of organizing Webinars, which the users will have to pay for. In the Webinars experienced and professional Podcasters will be giving valuable advice and information on podcasting.
In conclusion, our Startup Lab project has been one of the most challenging things we had to do, while simultaneously being one of the most interesting ones. Through this process, we learnt how to put our ideas into practice and work in order to perfect it and we are more than thankful for this unique opportunity. A big thank you to Mrs. Betty Tsakarestou and the Antenna Music team for making all of this possible.
Our Team-HillADers: Antonella Sofianidou, Angeliki Sakellariou, fay paschali, Τετη Μαδια
