Show HN: Startizer – Startup Incubation System (MVP v2 Made in Access)

[Ace__]

Hello.

I have been working on this longer than it takes for some to get from idea to exit, so maybe I am the last person who should have been working on this, haha.

Anyway, I started working on a system to guide founders from idea to launch and early traction. The first MVP was made in Excel (took around 4 years), covering the whole shebang (and some other bits). I shared part of it Jan 2019, crickets, but it was not unexpected.

I then started working on MVP v2, this time in Access, finished October / November 2019. It does not feature all the steps, but rather, only the first few covering:

1. Idea Breakdown 2. Problem Research 3. Market Audit 1 4. Audience Disposition 5. Audience Outreach 6. Audience Interviews 7. Interview Results 8. Signals (ICP and Persona Generation)

Currently, I am working with a few founders, working on bottom of the funnel content for Startizer, and continuing targeted outreach one to one.

Once in a while, I will also be posting in more public places to see the response, get feedback, see what I can improve in Startizer and indeed any blind-spots I might have. Much to learn... always much to learn really.

So, anyway, please do check it out, comments, feedback, would be much appreciated. To finally reiterate, it's made in MS Access which makes it PC only: https://startizer.com/

Cheers, Ace.

[rebataur]

This is awesome !

We have been working on something similar in this space on Product Management ( From Brainstorming, Idea Validation to Execution, and we got our early MVP built ( check out the video here https://twitter.com/rebataur/status/1234462816834183169 )

Would you be open for some consulting, let me know

[Ace__]

Hello Rebataur. I appreciate you checking it out and the comment, thank you. I checked out the video at the link you shared (Penny Lane). Yep, Product Management, looks clean and focused. I am open to having a chat about consulting certainly. Would you like me to contact you, or vice versa?

Cheers, Ace.

[dmerenda]

Have been following this project for a while. Impressed with the thoroughness of the creator, the thoughtfulness he put into the final product, and how much "under the hood" analysis went into the Excel version that led up to this release. Kudos, Ace, on getting this out to market, in any form.

[Ace__]

Hello Dmerenda.

What can I say mate, other than thank you. Hmm, no I can actually say more, haha. You've been there and done it so many times, worked with so many, that I am genuinely getting what I believe to be, is an emotion, haha.

Seriously now, thank for your kind words, and sharing your time with me and the feedback at the drop of a hat. Much respect mate. Ace.

[kirubakaran]

Great work! It really shows how much care and effort you've put in to this. Thank you for sharing it here.

[Ace__]

Hello Kirubakaran. I very much appreciate you taking the time to check it out, your comment, and for noting that yeah, it looks like what it is, made in Access but, considerable care and effort has gone into it.

Thank you mate. Ace.

[quickthrower2]

Thanks. I'd love to use it, but it is not working on my system. When I click "Enable Content" in Access, the main form then just disappears.

I'd suggest packing this up as an installer, if you can.

[Ace__]

Hello Quickthrower. Hmm, very strange. When you click on Enable Content, the main form will disappear. Ok, noted.

Try closing it and opening it again, what happens?

If it still doesn't work, I will send over the unlocked version so you can also have a laugh at my poor naming convention, abysmal table names, and VBA programming with the type of loops not seen since Groundhog Day.

[phil_rcketchart]

Looks promising and very useful to guide people in the startup's journey. Seems like you will help them to avoid classic mistakes. Good luck man

[Ace__]

Hello Phil. Thank you for checking it out, your comment, and the good luck wish. Long way to go, so I'll take all the good luck wishes I can get. Cheers mate, Ace.

[harrisreynolds]

Ace - Nice work man. I am working on a "no-code" platform (Webase [1]) that is basically an online version of Access.

If you are open to it would be interesting to make an online version of this in Webase to make it more accessible. I am happy to do the work if you want to collaborate some.

Either way congrats on shipping this!

[1] https://www.webase.com

[Ace__]

Hello Harris.

Thanks mate, much appreciated. I am certainly open to exploring what my possible next steps could be. I will check out Webase, and continue the conversation with you.

Cheers mate, and thank you. Ace.

[eberyvody]

this is a rad concept, thanks for sharing. sad that i can't play with it on my mac. from the screenshots, it definitely needs some design love, but it’s an interesting concept that really resonates with me.

i know it's too early, but do you have thoughts on monetizing it? i wonder if you could do something like pioneer [0] and broker funding rounds for the really promising ones — looks like you have some background there.

i’m working on designing something that is a bit like this, but for guiding the product building part [1]. it kind of papers over this idea validation step via a “wisdom of the crowd” voting system. do you see startizer only being focused on the initial idea validation part, or do you want teams to continue using it to iterate and build over time?

[0]: https://pioneer.app/

[1]: https://www.co-op-os.com/

[Ace__]

Hello eberyvody.

Mate, I appreciate you checking it out, thank you very much.

Oh, it definitely needs some design love, haha, holding hands very high up to that one. It is still concept stage for me, MVP v2.

MVP v1 (took 4 years, which I made in Excel), my private version covered from initial idea to early traction:

Phase 1 1. Idea Breakdown 2. Problem Research 3. Market Audit 1 4. Audience Disposition 5. Audience Outreach

Phase 2 6. Audience Interviews 7. Interview Results 8. Eco-Player Input 9. Signals (ICP and Persona Generation)

Phase 3 10. Draft Solution v1 11. Value Propositions + Culture Fit 12. Initial Solution + Visionary Solution 13. Initial Solution v1 14. Vision

Phase 4 15. Market Audit 2 16. Competition Audit 2 17. Market Opportunity 2 18. Minimum Viable Solution Formulation 19. MVP Proposition + User Stories

Phase 5 20. Solution Roadmap and MVP & v1 to MVP Harmonization 21. Business Model Auto Generate + Update 1 22. Market Demand Validation 23. MVP Specs, Users Stories, UX/UI 24. Prototype + Validation

Phase 6 25. Investor Criteria Interest Out-Reach 26. Legal & Regulatory Preliminary Assessment 27. Risk Assessment 28. MVP Production 29. MVP Closed Testing & Update

Phase 7 30. Rough Brand Positioning + Initial Marketing 31. Competition Audit 3 32. Content Audit 1 33. Keyword Audit 1 34. MVP Incremental Launch

Phase 8 35. Funnel Proposition (Bottom Up) 36. Early Traction 37. Problem – Solution Fit

MVP v2, no I won't be monetizing it. This is purely to get some brand awareness, as I am a nobody. And to increase the small group of people I work with so I can continue to learn, and then work on MVP v3, which will be the web app version.

Yeah I had a look at Pioneer a while back. I like what they are doing, but honestly I don't have time, my focus is purely on learning, thinking, and working. As for brokering funding rounds for the promising, I thought about that a while back, but that is an off-shoot from the primary objective of Startizer, aiding founders, incubating minds, sharpening analytical skills, promoting a sense of self-belief but not self-delusion.

Certainly I would like to connect with you, continue our conversation if that is ok with you?

Cheers, Ace.

[dade_]

Signup process went well, and I had no problem opening the files. Formatting of the screens are a bit off and I needed to zoom out, but no immediate issues. The amusing sample data makes it worth the effort alone. Ever consider making a startup sim game?

[Ace__]

Hello Dade.

Thank you for letting me know how things progressed. Yes that formatting, I could get it to sit properly on a 1920 x 1080, when zoomed out. But Access does responsive, like I do serious dummy data, haha.

As for the sample data itself, I have serious data, but that is rather with startups I work with, or them doing one (or few) at some point.

But the dummy data that is in there, my favourites are the emails, man I needed to get that off my chest, haha.

Mate, thank you, very much.

Ace.

Edit: Sheesh, sorry your question, startup sim game, if I can continue to get things off my chest, count me in.

[MrGregZen]

I dug in recently and saw a lot of potential, as you know very close to part of what startupheroics.com is working on as well, with our upcoming startup academy, UpStar. I look forward to seeing the progress! Kudos and good luck

[Ace__]

Hello Greg. Yes, both of us are working in more or less the same area, so I'll continue to take what I can from you, haha. Joking mate. Cheers mate, Ace.

[heliasvieira]

Beautiful stuff. I'm helping a lot of startup founders with the development of their MVPs and I wish they'd use Startizer to avoid typical mistakes and solidify their idea before moving forward.

Thanks for sharing this, Ace.

[Ace__]

Hello HeliasVieira. Your wish is granted. As it is such a great wish, you still have 3 left, this one's on the house, haha.

We should have a chat. No should, need, must, haha.

Thank you for checking Startizer out, and your comment. Cheers, Ace.

[dkjagadeesh]

For starters, who'd want to be in the startup-ecosystem, you'd find it useful. Personally knowing Ace, he is a value add-on to any of the niches you work with as he provides great insights and help.

[Ace__]

Hello DK, nice to see you here. Yeah occasionally something half decent comes out of my mouth, haha. Cheers mate.

[yanbo]

I absolutely agree. Every discussion I had with him was a treasure of knowledge.

[97-109-107]

The messaging on your website seems to be very software-focused, the value proposition is about the platform itself, not the value/pain-killer you seem to provide through it.

[Ace__]

Hello mate, thank you for checking the site out.

There will be continued improvement of VP and UVP, so the sharing of your data points is appreciated, thank you.

The places where the site has been shared, ie HN and one other place, they have early adopters, who are problem aware, they don't need me to be another one who starts selling in the shallow style with no comprehension of where are these benefits coming from. They know the pain, and and from the feedback from ones I targeted and reached out one-to-one it was appreciated that I am attempting to go deeper.

If you would like to assess more of the problem clarification and value delivery, then I recommend perusing the page https://startizer.com/the-problems-with-startup-material/.

Even then though, you took the time to check it out and respond, and for that I thank you.

Cheers, Ace.

[AmroEmara]

This is really great Ace, I will definitely check out the link above, thank you.

Kind regards, Amro

[Ace__]

Hello Amro, thanks for checking it out whenever you do, and the comment, much appreciated. Cheers, Ace.

[Immortal_781]

Hello Ace,

I appreciate all this great work done so far.

Thanks a lot for the great help and support on SaaS businesses.

Cheers, Orkhan co-founder of nextsale.io

[Ace__]

Hello Orkhan. Nice to see you here. You are very welcome pertaining to the little help I provided, you are the one doing the real work, so onwards and upwards mate.

Cheers, Ace.

[chrisMyzel]

I'm missing the.CTA - afzer reading desktop based I want to click download and try it out

[dchuk]

Meta question: have you used this tool to validate the tool itself?

[Ace__]

Hello Dchuk. I can't say I knew, but I did believe someone would ask this question, and even answered it on the About Me page.

"Are you using Startizer on itself, on yourself? Yes, some sort of Ouroboros tribute."

Valid question. I have used MVP v1 on Startizer, as that covered everything from idea to launch and early traction. MVP v2 doesn't cover all the steps as that would take too long, but even so, I used it cos v1 was in Excel, but v2 had a database behind it which meant it was closer to how I and a few think it should be. Still, long way to go, but slowly step by step, keep learning, keep using it, keep getting feedback.

I also use it with startups I work with. Some founders are also using it. And after today, touch-wood, hopefully some more are, but I will contact them anyway, and see how I can help them (and myself in the process) further.

[arejaytee]

No download or email received after signing up here

[Ace__]

Hello AreJaytee. Sorry about that. I was unable to ascertain your email address. From your profile, checked other places, to no avail, couldn't find one for you.

So, please use this direct link to download it: https://startizer.com/download-startizer-mvp-v2/

Let me know when you have downloaded it please. Obviously I didn't want to present a direct download link, haha, but got to do what ya got to do.

Cheers, Ace.

[DocuAir]

Thanks for sharing this, Ace!

[Ace__]

Hello DocuAir, no worries, you are welcome. Cheers, Ace.