Having a huge vision is great, but can be paralyzing. David walks people through how to deliver something quickly, while holding on to a big vision.

1. minimal product
Maximal Vision

2. You’re a visionary.

3. “Once EVERYONE uses my
product, it’ll be awesome!”

4. Metcalfe’s Law
Value = num_participants2
Proportional to # of connections

5. Metcalfe’s Law
Value = num_participants2
Reed’s Law
Value = 2num_participants
Proportional to # of subgroups!

6. Exponentials are very flat at the start.
i.e. your new social network is completely useless.

7. Sites Needing Critical Mass
Social Networks (Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn)
User-Content Sites (Wikipedia, Wikihow, YouTube)
Volume Licensees (Pandora, Netflix)

8. Marketplaces are Worse!
Classifieds (Craigslist)
Dating Sites (Match.com, OKCupid)
Forums (AVSforum)
Q&A Sites (Quora, Yahoo Answers)

9. But People Will Love Me!
Is most of the value your...
(non-existent) community?
(uselessly flashy) interface?
(unnecessarily obscure) technology?
...or worst: is most of the value your idea?

10. People Don’t Care About You.

11. People Don’t Care About You.

12. Goal: Solve Real Problems.
Address the problem in the person’s own words.
Present a solution that clearly solves the problem.
Make it as simple as possible.

13. Real Story: IM Smarter
“Revolutionary, patent-pending SOCKS5 proxy to transparently
enhance all four major instant messaging protocols, including
OSCAR (AIM+ICQ), MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger!”
....*crickets*

14. Real Story: PBwiki => PBworks
“Wikis are great!” => early adopters @ $50/yr
“This helps me manage my agency’s RFIs.” => $50,000/yr

15. Corollary: Avoid Waste
Don’t build until you need to: “steal” tools as needed.
Validate the need: ideally sell before you build.
Avoid solving scaling issues until you’re blocked on them.

16. Exercise: Hilariously Simple

18. No Code?
Craigslist v1: just a mailing list.
Yahoo v1: static HTML directory.
Could your startup get off the group with a mailing list?
e.g. Social Travel Network?
Start with Excel, Google Docs, SurveyMonkey, Facebook...

19. Reskin a Library?
Meebo = libpurple (Gaim)
Mint = Yodlee
YouTube = Flash Media Encoder

20. What if my Code Sucks?
Napster = Shawn Fanning’s first Windows program.
LiveJournal = started as a CGI script.

21. Shouldn’t I Wait to Launch?
You’re probably building the wrong thing.
You need to start the clock on becoming a world expert!
Over-engineering a launch can kill a company.
e.g. There.com, Duke Nukem Forever
Launches are over-rated!

22. IN “STEALTH” >6 MONTHS?
You’re doing it wrong.

23. GO SELL!