Des Traynor speaking at Launch Incubator and on This Week in Startups. There is an infinite amount of advice for startups, but if I had to boil it down to just 10 essentials, these are the most crucial principles every founder needs to understand from an early stage.

1. 10 CORE PRINCIPLES
FOR STARTING UP
@destraynor

2. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

3. You need a vision

4. Without a vision
you’ll flip flop frequently
because you’re not set on
what the future looks like

5. An opinion about
what the future
looks like
The technological
trends you want to
bet on
+ +
What makes a vision…
An idea of change
you want to make
in the world

6. Commerce
Rise in “on demand” impulse
purchases
Real time wins everything
Same day local delivery next
big thing
Rise in subscription services
for commerce
Messaging
SMS is dead
Email is displaced by Slack
New opportunities in
public/private, text/video,
permanent/ephemeral,
1:1/group, personal/group
Customer expectations
shifting as a result of above
Marketing
Shift towards personal &
personalized
Closed loop ROI now vital
Metrics driven
Advertise to start
engagement, not to convert
Clicks & opens dying
What does your future look like?

7. What technological trends
should you bet on?

8. Apple Watch?

9. Smart homes?

10. Wearables?

11. Costs
Time
to compute
to store
to access
The cost to compute, to
store and to access data
is dropping drastically

12. Messaging platforms

14. What change do you want to make?

15. Why do you exist
other than to make money?

16. Missions have
nothing to do with
goals or targets

17. They’re not about being #1,
top #10 or “leading provider.”
They should be a change that
you’re fighting for, such as…

18. to make internet business personal

19. to increase the GDP of the internet

20. to build the best way for people anywhere in the world to shop for groceries

21. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread design viral
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

22. You need to run a
good private beta

23. these things are hard
β

24. It’s easy to put a bad beta page live

25. A small list of “target users” beats
a big list of non-customers

26. Be deliberate about how you grow sign-ups
Give away a free Apple Watch and you’ll grow a sign-up list
of people who want Apple Watches.

27. Photography. Reimagined.
R2
you@address.com
📷
A vague pitch gets you a wide range of users…

28. …which gets you a wide range of feedback…
I need to collaborate
with my director
I want to sell my
photos in 1 click
I’d love to export straight
to Instagram
Better filters pls!

29. Joe Soap
PROMOTE
COLLABORATE
MESSAGE
ECOMMERCE
CALENDAR
FILTERS
PROFILES
FAVES
FAVES
R2 Dashboard
…which gets you a wide range of features…

30. 😞
Joe Soap
PROMOTE
COLLABORATE
MESSAGE
ECOMMERCE
CALENDAR
FILTERS
PROFILES
FAVES
FAVES
R2 Dashboard
…which gets you a bloated mess.

31. ProductQuality
Time
“Good enough to use”
Don’t rely on users to tell you when to launch

32. You’ll never feel “ready”

33. Here’s the new application. It’s got one
window.You drag your video into the
window.Then you click the button that
says “burn.”
That’s it.
That’s what we’re gonna make.

34. Ready?
The show doesn’t go on because it’s
ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30 on a
Saturday night.

35. Exit by feature set or by deadline,
but above all, exit.

36. Beta periods are lossy

37. You’d never, ever,
design a sign-up flow
to work like this…
…yet this is how your
beta works.

38. Enthusiasm fades
quickly no matter
what

39. WTF is SnapCycle?

40. You’re best off keeping quiet while in beta

41. 1. First impressions count
2. The press only cover new material
3. The less you say, the more people listen
Why?

42. Read more on the blog:
How to run a successful beta in 7 steps

43. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

44. You need world
class onboarding

45. “We’re dogfooding”

46. Signing up for your app is the one
thing every user is guaranteed to do.

47. Most product owners only
sign up for their app once.

48. mysql> CREATE USER 'monty'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'some_pass';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'monty'@'localhost'
-> WITH GRANT OPTION;
mysql> CREATE USER 'monty'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'some_pass';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'monty'@'%'
-> WITH GRANT OPTION;
mysql> CREATE USER 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'admin_pass';
mysql> GRANT RELOAD,PROCESS ON *.* TO 'admin'@'localhost';
mysql> CREATE USER 'dummy'@'localhost';
And when they signed up, it probably looked like this

49. 1. Your tour is out of date
2. Your docs are out of date
3. Your welcome email is out of date
4. Your video is out of date
The risks…

50. Real dogfooding means
opening a new tin every day.
Never stop signing up
for your product.

51. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

52. You need to know
who your real
competitors are

53. When do flowers compete with chocolates?

54. When does Twitter compete with games?

55. What really competes with TripAdvisor?

57. Email is a ferocious competitor

58. Understanding competitors lets you
understand switching behaviour

59. Read more on the blog:
Understanding direct and indirect competition

60. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

61. You need to
understand the
four forces

62. existing
solution
new
solution
You want to maximize the top forces and minimize the bottom ones
The 4 forces influencing a customer switch
Reasons to switch
Reasons to stay
Problems with Current Product Attraction of New Product
Existing Habits & Allegiances Anxiety & Uncertainty of Change

63. This campaign did just that

64. This is why switching
is hard and your
product needs to be
~10x better

65. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

66. You need to consider
how your product
will spread

67. Model:“And then we’ll make
it go viral, and stuff”

68. Note:Button does not exist in real life.

69. Virality must be built into your product, not bolted on.

70. A simple way to picture how your product can go viral
Your app
User arrives at site Logs in Uses product
Does something
worth sharing
Shares
Social network
Appears in
social network
Seen by friends Friends click link

71. Measure your product’s k-factor
(viral growth rate)
k a b c d
(k > 1 for viral)
% of users who
publish one share
per visit
share events per
user per visit
users referred from
social networks for
each share event
% of “c” that
are authenticated
users
= ✕ ✕ ✕

72. To improve your virality, focus on the 3 green ratios
Publishing
Daily
Authenticated
Users
Daily
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Unique Users
MUU to MAU
MAU to DAU
DAU to pDAU

73. This is all about sign-ins – these 3 techniques will help…
MUU to MAU
Improving MUU to MAU
Let your users
sign-in any way
they want
(Facebook,Twitter,
etc)
Keep your users
signed in for as long
as you think wise
Promote social
sign-in above your
own login system,
default to whatever
network they
arrived from

74. MAU to DAU
Improving MAU to DAU
This is all about giving your users reasons to return.
The habit forming work we saw earlier helps here.
Have lots of triggers
(push notifications,
emails, etc) to
alert users who
aren’t on site
Solve the cost
benefit analysis of
actions (e.g. make it
easy to do things
that give reward)
Make sure users’
actions can affect
each other (to cause
them to return)

75. Improving DAU to pDAU
For every action a
customer takes you
should ask:
“Is there a good story
here, such that we can
automatically share it on
their behalf via a social
network?”
DAU to pDAU
• Spotify:listens, faves, playlists
• Pinterest:pins, likes
• Nike:runs, starts, stops, cheers
• Foursquare:check-ins, badges, comments, tips
• TripAdvisor:reviews, likes, locations
• Yelp:reviews, comments, check-ins
This is all about lightweight shareable actions.

76. LinkedIn Recommendations are long,
thoughtful pieces.You have to literally ask
for them, as they’re not easy to do
One click
endorsements are
framed perfectly.
“Does Brian have
these skills”,YES!
Boom, 5 actions for
one click.
That triggers an alert
to Brian who logs in
and is, himself, hit
with a lot of
questions about
other people and
their skills
Improving DAU to pDAU
This is all about lightweight shareable actions.
DAU to pDAU

77. This is what virality is.
Publishing
Daily
Authenticated
Users
Daily
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Authenticated Users
Monthly
Unique Users
MUU to MAU
MAU to DAU
DAU to pDAU

78. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

79. You need to
understand
marketplaces

80. Product
Large, subsidized
userbase
Smaller, profitable
customer base

81. More users makes the
product better, attracting
more people
Increased competition
makes network less
attractive to advertisers
More advertisers repels
more users
More users attracts more
advertisers
CROSS-SIDE
SAME-SIDE
CROSS-SIDE
SAME-SIDE
Understand same-side and cross-side network effects

82. The role of price in a two-sided marketDemand
Price
Demand
Price$0.01
penny gap
In theory In practice

83. Identify and avoid winner-takes-all markets
Is there a large
cost to either
side for using
>1 product?
Are there
strong positive
network
effects?
Is there room for
differentiation
by specific
features? !
Market will evolve to
winner-takes-all
Yes Yes No

84. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

85. You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

87. ALL
OF THE TIME
MOST
OF THE TIME
SOME
OF THE TIME
VERY LITTLE
OF THE TIME
FEW
OF THE PEOPLE
SOME
OF THE PEOPLE
MOST
OF THE PEOPLE
ALL
OF THE PEOPLE
Track Time
SMS Alert
Enter Milestones
Search for Files
Search for People
Use Calendar
Import ICS
Set up Time Tracker
Post Message/Reply
Create Project
Add/Complete Tasks
View Dash
Schedule Meeting
Add Team/Company
Archive Project
Change Permissions
Account Settings
Edit Project
Merge Projects

88. ALL
OF THE TIME
MOST
OF THE TIME
SOME
OF THE TIME
VERY LITTLE
OF THE TIME
FEW
OF THE PEOPLE
SOME
OF THE PEOPLE
MOST
OF THE PEOPLE
ALL
OF THE PEOPLE
!
!
!
! !

89. When a good org is mature,
there’s not a lot of work here.
This is the core of our strategy.
It’s hard work.
It’s meaningful work.
It works.
We need to stay way out of here.

90. 4 types of work in your roadmap
Improving a feature:( customer satisfaction)
Getting more people to use it:( % adoption)
Getting people to use it more:( frequency)
A new feature to support a new workflow:( customers/revenue)

91. Howoften
How many use the feature
Always
Often
Rarely
Never
None Few Most
Increase
frequency
How can we
trigger more
usage?
All

92. Howoften
How many use the feature
Always
Often
Rarely
Never
None Few Most All
Increase
adoption
What’s stopping
people from using us?

93. Read more on the blog:
Where do product roadmaps come from?

94. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

95. You need to focus
on new feature
engagement

96. New features usually flop

97. In a recent customer survey,
we asked users what
features they wanted from
the new version of Microsoft
Office. More than 90 percent
asked for features that were
already available in office…
“
“

98. Sell what the feature let’s the user do, not what it is

99. Userinterest
Message impact
WHAT
IT IS
WHAT
IT DOES
WHAT
you CAN
DO now
Capability
beats
ingredients

100. Announce it when and where they’re likely to use it

101. Have a plan for how next week’s customers hear about this week’s launch

102. Follow up with users and non-users to learn what worked/didn’t work

103. You need a vision
You need to run a
good beta
You need world
class onboarding
You need to know
who your real
competitors are
You need to know
understand the
four forces
You need to consider
how your product will
spread
You need to focus
on new feature
engagement
You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
You need to
understand
marketplaces
You need to focus
your roadmap on
impact

104. You need to
constantly revisit
assumptions

105. Startups move ridiculously fast

106. Time

107. Time

108. Time

109. Time

110. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30Roadmap
To do feature
File uploader
Collaborative sharing
Invoice tool
Reports tool
Live chat
Time

111. Knowledge
Time

112. When you get new information,
you change your opinion.
Always act on that change.

113. If you knew then what you know now, would you still have…
built that feature?
chosen that architecture?
shipped that integration?
designed that screen?

114. Sharing everything we know
about growing a startup
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