1. Tales from
the Startup
Karri Saarinen, April 19, 2010
New Practice, Turku

2. http://bit.ly/tfts-turku
Slides + Links

3. 1 The Process
case: Flowdock
2 The Start
case: ArcticStartup
3 Before The Start
What to do?

4. ?
Who is this dude?

5. 6
developer
years designer
of web stuff
entrepreneur

6. Now
Product Manager / Product / Customer /
Co-founder Business Developer

7. Now
...And I study Business Management
at University of Vaasa
Product Manager / Product / Customer /
Co-founder Business Developer

8. Introduction;
What is a
Startup?

9. startup:
1. a new organization
or business venture

10. Really,
a startup:
Rather recent
Product business
High growth potential
High risk / reward

11. Chapter 1;
The
Process
case: Flowdock

12. Belief;
1 You need a great idea
to start a business

13. “There are two types of startup ideas: those
that grow organically out of your own life,
and those that you decide, from afar, are
going to be necessary to some class of
users other than you.”
- Paul Graham

14. The first idea of
Flowdock:
Time tracking software
for the enterprise

15. Fortunately we didn’t
go there. Instead...

18. Flowdock,
The best group
messenger
http://flowdock.com

19. Ideas change, it’s ok.
People & execution are
more important.

20. Belief;
2 You need to do a
business plan

21. We didn’t write a
business plan.
We contacted people.

22. Planning is useful but no plan
survives the first customer.
Business Plan:
Executive
Summary
+
There are no facts Financials
inside the building. sheet
+
Go outside! Business Model Powerpoint
Canvas Deck

23. Belief;
3 You need to know a lot
about your business

24. For a startup
everything is unknown.
Just deal with it

25. Product =
Problem + Solution
unknown unknown startup
known known established
company

26. Traditional method:
How Products Are Made
Concept / Product Alpha / Beta Launch /
Idea Development Test Ship

27. Traditional method:
How Products Are Made
Concept / Product Alpha / Beta Launch /
Idea Development Test Ship
Where are the customers?

28. How To Deal Better
With The Unknown
Problem
(What your product will solve)

29. Steve Blank

30. Customer Development

31. Customer Development
Customers Customers Customers

32. Customer Discovery:
State your hypotheses
Test “Problem”
Test “Product”
Verify: Iterate or Exit

33. How To Deal Better
With The Unknown
Solution
(How you solve the problem)

34. We practice
Agile / Scrum
2 weeks
Plan Do Release
Hypotheses Daily 15min Have something
Insights meetings that works
User stories
Iterate

35. Problem + Solution

36. Traditional Product Development:
The Waterfall
Requirements
Specification
Problem: known Design
Solution: known Implementation
Verification
Maintenance

37. Lean Startup Product Development
Customer Development
Hypotheses Problem: unknown Data
Experiments Feedback
Solution: unknown
Insights Insights
Plan Do Release
Iterate

38. Chapter 2;
The Start
case: ArcticStartup

39. 2007
Started a blog about startups
& growth entrepreneurship in
the Northern Europe

40. 2007-2009
4 guys
No journalist background
No business model
No money
Working on nights & weekends

41. What there was:
People
Passion
Opportunity

42. 2010
2 guys employed full-time
Well known brand
Profitable
Advertising, Events, Consulting,
Product

43. What Do You Need?
People.
It’s easier with co-founders.
Find something you’re passionate
about. Mostly forget money.
Start something.
Figure it out as you go.

44. People.
Choosing a co-founder is more
like choosing a wife / husband.
It’s nice to have complimentary
skills but the relationship is more
important.

45. Start.
Start something or join a startup.
As a student you have advantages:
Spare time, low costs of living,
minimal commitments and no-one
cares if you fail

46. Mark Zuckerberg didn’t try to
start a company when he wrote
the first version of Facebook.
Apple was just a project when
Steve Wozniak started
working on the first model.

47. Chapter 3;
Before
The Start
What to do?

48. Meet with founders / go to events
ArcticEvenings (Nordics)
www.arcticstartup.com/arctic-evenings
More Nordic events: www.arcticindex.com/events
Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Helsinki)
www.aaltoes.com
BoostTurku (Turku)
www.boostturku.com
Open Coffee (World-wide)
Google: open coffee
Local events, industry conferences

49. Finland probably is not the
forerunner about in anything.
(And anyway, it’s useless to lie in self-excellence)
Follow and learn from others
outside your friends, school,
country, industry...

50. Talent, skill or taste has nothing to
do with nationality, heritage,
history or anything.
It’s an individual or an
organizational attribute.
You can act like Apple even you
can’t be Apple.

51. “The quality of any collaborative
creative endeavor tends to
approach the level of taste of
whoever is in charge.”
- John Gruber

52. Taste is crucial for
makers & directors.
Taste is not a matter of an opinion,
but a sense of sophistication.
People who make new things need to
practice taste and recognize beauty
when they see it.

53. Taste comes from appreciation
from the things you make.
When you appreciate things you will always try to
further your skills, taste and protect the best.
It’s not about being a snob, but rather developing
a sense of what’s great and still be able to enjoy
simple things.

54. Read Online
ArcticStartup
www.arcticstartup.com
Hacker News
news.ycombinator.com
Mixergy (Video interviews with founders)
www.mixergy.com
Paul Graham Essays
www.paulgraham.com

55. Read Books
Crush it! The Monk and The Art of
The Riddle The Start

56. Remember,
Advice =
Limited Life Experiences +
Over-generalization
- Paul Bucheit

57. Thanks.
email: karri@karrisaarinen.com
http://twitter.com/karrisaarinen
slides: http://bit.ly/tfts-turku
http://flowdock.com /
http://www.arcticstartup.com