Working Backwards In the fine grained services approach that we use at Amazon, services do not only represent a software structure but also the organizational structure. The services have a strong ownership model, which combined with the small team size is intended to make it very easy to innovate. In some sense you can see these services as small startups within the walls of a bigger company. The product definition process works backwards in the following way: we start by writing the documents we'll need at launch (the press release and the faq) and then work towards documents that are closer to the implementation. The Working Backwards product definition process is all about is fleshing out the concept and achieving clarity of thought about what we will ultimately go off and build. Start by writing the Press Release. Once we have gone through the process of creating the press release, faq, mockups, and user manuals, it is amazing how much clearer it is what you are planning to build.
Resources for Growth Hacking A week after release, Growth Hacker Marketing is not only a #1 business bestseller on Amazon, but I ended up writing a lot of articles in support of the book. I also did a fair amount of interviews and videos (some of which are still on their way). Before I go any further, I wanted to everyone for their support and say that I hope you’ve enjoyed the book. Anyway, I thought I would collect them all the articles in one spot for people who wanted to read them or who are looking to get started with growth hacking. What Is Growth Hacking?
Keynotopia: User Interface Design Libraries for Keynote, PowerPoint and OpenOffice Anthropology of Mid-Sized Startups Guest post by Kevin Simler, who works at Palantir, observes the startup scene, and writes at Melting Asphalt, about… well, go see for yourself. In their natural habitats, social species organize into characteristic groups. Gazelles form herds, wolves form packs, and ants form colonies. Humans, in the same way, form tribes. Of course, we’re pretty far removed from our natural habitat these days. Humans also form kingdoms, nations, states, and civilizations, but those units of organizations aren’t as fundamental to our psychology. So let’s see what happens when we treat startups as tribes. To do that, we’ll need to use the methods of anthropology rather than business analysis. Startups as tribes is a useful shift in perspective, I think, because we typically think about startups with a more technical mindset. I’m writing about the world of startups because that’s where I’ve been doing amateur ethnography for the past 7 years. Startups in culture space Startups have low power-distances.
What is growth hacking? Just when you think you can know everything there is to know about digital marketing, someone slaps you in the face with a new phrase. During my first year at Econsultancy I’ve been making a point of writing beginner’s guides to any new terms or phrases I find particularly baffling, or that I might suspect other people may find baffling too. Today I’ll be looking at growth hacking. Of course the phrase ‘growth hacking’ isn’t actually that new. Let’s check Google Trends for the term. July 2012 saw the beginning of the rise of growth hacking. So why explore it now? Which then led to the following mini debate… Growth hacking or just good marketing? And then when we’re done we can spend some time figuring out what ‘fwiw’ means. Definitions of growth hacking I feel immediately resistant to any term that uses the word hacking, as the connotations rarely seem positive. First let's take a look at a few different sources for a definition before resorting to Wikipedia. And that’s what shakes things up.
Digital Products Retailer: Affiliate Program & Sell Online - ClickBank Want to Know How VC’s Calculate Valuation Differently from Founders? Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. It was accept the terms or go into bankruptcy so we took the money. But the truth is that I didn’t really understand just how screwed I was until years later when I finally understood every term in a term sheet and more importantly I understood how each term could actually be used to screw me. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist. I don’t feel that as a VC sneaking in nefarious terms into a term sheet that the entrepreneur doesn’t understand is a good way to build a long-term relationship nor to build a long-term reputation but this does happen and more frequently than we all would like. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently. I turned them down.
Growth Hacking 101 Howdy, Munchkins! This is exciting as exciting can be, because after 8 months of developing our website (well, it could have taken us a week but our clients meant more to us) we finally get to sit down and start sharing our knowledge with the world. So, you may have noticed that Ranky isn’t your ordinary munchkin, the one you can find in every mud hut or a cave near you. Ranky is a Growth-Hacking munchkin, and so we feel the responsibility to elaborate a bit on just what the f*ck that is. Growth Hacking’s Historical Big-Bang I have known this story for 10 years, but only when the blogosphere started yapping about it, did it hit me: This is the first online Growth-Hacking incident, and it’s freaking awesome. Back in 1996, a couple of employees in a Technology firm developed a small web-based emailing platform, to keep the bosses from monitoring their private messages. What happened then, you ask? Fun Fact: One of the Co-Founders was Indian-American. No Wrongs, No Rights, Just GROWTH A. B. C.
How do you issue the right number of shares/options to an employee or an advisor? | the drawingboard [dot] me HM Revenue & Customs at Mevagissey Harbour (Photo credit: Cross Duck) Most founders have desire to share their equity with people that helped them along the way, both as a thank you, but also as a motivation tool. However, how to share is always a big question mark for every Founder. The two most frequently asked question is, “How much equity should I assign an advisor?”, which is shortly followed by “How do I know when to issue shares to new employees and how much do I give them?”. So, let’s take step back and look at why we are doing this in the first place. Motivating employees and or advisors is a key part of having a productive workforce. Therefore, the word ‘fairness’ is what’s important here.. how do you define the fairness culture in your startup? Let’s start with advisors: Advisors need to commit some time to your company to ‘earn’ their equity. Then, define a time period for this relationship before you review it for extension. Pricing strike prices is a bit of a pain.
Les critères d’investissement d’un Business Angel engagé Cette semaine, j’ai décidé de vous parler de mon process de sélection de projets, en fait surtout d’équipes, dans lesquelles j’investis. Au début de mon expérience de business angel, comme dans le recrutement de collaborateurs (trices) chez Juste à temps d’ailleurs, je fonctionnais surtout à l’affectif. Et, à force de désillusions, je me suis remis en cause, moi aussi. Schématiquement, j’ai évolué vers : - La priorité accordée à l’équipe (versus les marchés) dans mes choix. - La mise en place d’une grille de sélection avec des critères objectifs : je vous laisse la consulter ci-dessous : Laissez-moi revenir sur quelques critères : – Je peux apporter des compétences : comme j’aime bien mouiller la chemise aux côtés des équipes, il convient que je leur sois complémentaire. - J’ai un patron(ne) en face de moi : une boite sans patron, ça le fait pas. - L’entrepreneur(se) sait se remettre en cause : c’est surement mon critère essentiel. Deux précisions importantes : Cordialement. Patrick