#LaunchRecipe


Learn from founder stories, playbooks & lessons.
By Founders, for Founders
Learn > Launch > Pay it Forward


🔍


🧁 #TLDRbites

  • Rahul Vohra describes the quantitative and systematic approach to finding and growing Product/Market fit
  • The process is centered around Sean Ellis’s PMF score as a leading indicator of Product/Market fit

🚀 Rahul’s #LaunchRecipe

  1. Get your PMF score: ask users “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product?” and measure the percent who answer “very disappointed”
  2. High expectation customers: analyze the feedback of the “very disappointed” survey respondents to discover what they love about your product.
  3. Convert on-the-fence users: analyze the feedback of “somewhat disappointed” survey respondents.
  4. Inform your product roadmap: double down on what users already love and also address what’s holding back your on-the-fence users.
  5. Repeat: repeat the process until you reach Product-Market Fit

🧁 #TLDRbites

  • To be a successful creator you don’t need millions of dollars or customers.
  • 1,000 true fans is an alternative path to success other than stardom.
  • If you keep the full $100 of each true fan, then you need only 1,000 of them to earn $100,000 per year.
  • A thousand customers is a whole lot more feasible to aim for than a million fans.
  • You want to focus on the super fans because the enthusiasm of true fans can increase the patronage of regular fans.

🚀 Kevin’s simple #LaunchRecipe

  1. Create Value: First, you have to create enough [value] each year that you can earn, on average, $100 profit from each true fan.
  2. Direct: You must have a direct relationship with your fans. That is, they must pay you directly.

🥩 #LaunchPrep

  • What’s your target $? How much can you earn from each true fan? This will tell you how many true fans you want to aim for.
  • Cultivating a thousand true fans is time consuming, nerve racking, and not for everyone. Does it make sense for you to outsource fan management to someone else?

🧁 #TLDRbites

  • Built AND launched app in 24 hours
  • Resourceful and frugal while building: "using what I already know to build what I need"
  • Launched WITHOUT an email list, pre-launch, spamming FB groups...aka "lazy marketing"
  • LAUNCH RESULTS: Product Hunt #1 Product of the Day, 1,172 upvotes, featured on Lifehacker
  • "Build something people would want to use repeatedly"
  • "Make your product so INSANELY easy to use"

🚀 Zoe's #LaunchRecipe

  1. Starting Point: "I usually start off by identifying my personal problem"
  2. Start with the end in mind: "A landing page that explains what the app does in one sentence"
  3. Not a Designer? No problem! Find tools like Elementor, a Wordpress plugin to “drag-and-drop” anything
  4. Don't delay, just start with what you know: "I have to be 'technically frugal' about using what I already know to build what I need"
  5. Just do it: "I didn’t spend months building the audience before I 'feel' ready to hit the launch button. In fact, I launched my app to the public right after I deployed on Heroku."
  6. Optimize Product Hunt listing: headline & description, use stunning graphics
  7. Keep selling: "Post-launch matters more than your initial launch on Product Hunt. So don’t feel disappointed if you don’t get featured. Focus on the ongoing marketing & sales effort."

🥩 #LaunchPrep for Your Project

  • Describe your app in one sentence
  • How can you trim the fat so you can launch a prototype in 24 hours?
  • Do NOT under-estimate tools that can help you quickly launch a prototype
  • What step can you take today that will propel you forward?

🧁 #TLDRbites

  • You need three things to create a successful startup: (i) good people, (ii) make something customers actually want, (iii) spend as little money as possible
  • Find good people by working on your own projects
  • How do you figure out what customers want? Watch them.
  • The most important way to not spend money is by not hiring people.
  • More people are the right sort of person to start a startup than realize it. 


🚀 Paul’s #LaunchRecipe

  1. Idea generation: Look at something people are trying to do, and figure out how to do it in a way that doesn't suck
  2. Good people: Good people can fix bad ideas, but good ideas can't save bad people. Don't force things; just work on stuff you like with people you like.
  3. Launch quickly: Get a version 1 out as soon as you can. The only way to make something customers want is to get a prototype in front of them and refine it based on their reactions.
  4. That was easy: Make your product easy to use. Stephen Hawking's editor told him that every equation he included in his book would cut sales in half.
  5. Be cheap: For most startups the model should be grad student, not law firm. Aim for cool and cheap, not expensive and impressive.
  6. In summary: Build something users love, and spend less than you make. How hard is that? ;)

🧁 #TLDRbites

  • “Build it and they will come” is a myth
  • Marketing can help make a good product great–it will never make a bad product good
  • Great products & companies need a competitive distribution advantage
  • Very often, 80% of the growth will come from a relatively small number of channels
  • Marketers must avoid the trap of getting hooked on paid marketing: it’s expensive, easily replicated and less defensible
  • Very often the right words to describe your product will come directly from your customers, so listen closely
  • Talking to customers is essential and you should chat with at least one customer every week

🧁 #TLDRbites

  • A realistic first idea might not be as creative as an abstract second one.
  • People value concreteness too much and abstractness too little in their initial ideas.
  • We’re probably all killing a lot of our best ideas early in the creative process without knowing it.

🥩 #LaunchPrep for Your Project

  • If you’re under time pressure, it may make sense to opt for initial ideas that are more concrete, as those will reach their potential fastest.
  • If you have time, ask why ideas may be promising before selecting which to pursue.