MVPs force founders to (1) talk to customers and (2) actually ship something.
Most early-stage founders I meet are working in a vacuum. They have ideas, but no way to validate those ideas against reality. Mostly, they're just wasting time on half-baked visions of world domination. The game doesn't start until you ask a customer for money.
It's a bit like whitewater kayaking: You can float around all day looking at the rapids, but eventually you've got to let the current suck you downstream towards the waves and rocks.
Now, maybe in Scoble's world, the rules are different. He sees so many startups that anything less than perfection on the first try is a failure. But this suggests that Scoble's market is getting saturated—perhaps we already have enough mobile/social/local apps for tech bloggers?
Maybe it's time to listen to patio11, and find markets where any solution at all will make users climb across their desks with a checkbook in hand.
It takes an awful lot of work to be the sixth most impressive thing Scoble (or the New York Times, or Techcrunch, or $PICK_A_GATEKEEPER) will see this week. It takes much, much less work to offer a better user experience than a) an Excel spreadsheet sent over email, b) having your office manager act as the endpoint to a REST API, or c) doing anything involving actual paper. These are frequently the competition in underserved markets.
There's a million fun, valuable, important problems to solve out there which you go grow old and die without ever reading about on a Valley blog.
Isn't Scoble famous for being the guy who essentially took Microsoft, then facing uncertain times because of lack of direction, and suggest that one of their top priorities be to embrace employee blogging at all levels? It's the early 2000s and in the midst of unprecedented competition on all fronts -- everything from the iPod, to the LAMP stack (and its brethren), to Google -- he managed to convince Microsoft to get their employees to take what was essentially their 20% time and apply it not to a concerted defensive product response. But instead, he convinced them that their best strategy was to blog about wtf they were working on with Longhorn instead of, you know, preparing some voice recognition demos that actually didn't screw up because of an echo in the auditorium and threaten to kill (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1123221217782777472).
Bravo, the guy is really convincing. But he's a marketer and his opinions should be sandboxed as such. He's right, the bar is really really really damn high now. But he has hasn't a clue on what it takes to get your chin up above the bar. I see a fat guy at a chin up bar and see somebody who, if they ate healthier and did some exercise, could do ten chin-ups easily. He sees a fat guy who shouldn't even bother to try.
Couldn't agree more. What many people fail to realize is that MVP is not about succeeding. It is about failing!
If most startups fail, and your idea is most likely to fail, the best way to find something that works is to fail, pivot, and fail again, until you get something people want.
The MVP entices this fail/pivot loop to happen as fast as possible.
And Scobble is right! If you are still on the failing phase, you shouldn't be seeking attention. Failing silently makes the whole experience less traumatic. And then we can move on to refraiming fail fast to learn fast.
Tons of useless advice from a guy who never delivered a product himself -- excuse my harsh words. Scoble was/is/stays a blogger, always blogging while having a safe job. He never raised, never started a real venture or done an exit. This guy hasn't got the vaguest idea of what it is to quit your job, start a venture and take high risks. Never experienced how the lowest points of a startup-life full of despair can feel. His words are counter-productive, destroy motivation and are just wrong in many regards (e.g. MVP, etc.).
Because he spends a lot of time looking at new products and technologies. He really tries them out. He does fantastic interviews with founders, often asking quite good questions about the products.
He's built a huge network of people who consider him a credible source for new product recommendations. Getting featured by him can be huge for an early stage product.
Just because someone is a blogger, it doesn't make their advice useless.
Programming is not the only valuable thing in the world. Learn to respect other professions. You're not going to make it without them.
That's a logical fallacy. Someone who has never been a stock broker in their life can still validly point out that a stock broker sucks when the broker squanders everything that person had on a foolish speculative investment regardless of how much blood, sweat, and tears the broker went through in losing their money.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how tough the journey is if the product you put out at the end of the process sucks. I don't think it takes an entrepreneur to call out various "me too" social/mobile/local clones for being derivative and void of innovation. The world is a harsh place and effort has never been rewarded; all that matters is results.
Not going to discuss what he had to say, just the logic of your statement. Because those who can teach well, teach well. There's a reason why many superstar athletes turn out to be horrible coaches, but many non-superstars turn out to be amazing coaches. I imagine the same isn't impossible in the startup world. If one is a good teacher, why not listen to him, whether or not he's had personal success?
most successful vcs never done any startups themselves yet very good at picking winners. he has nice taste and energy in trying out new things and blogging about them.
Scoble is telling you what he wants to see before you show it to him and hope he writes about it, but that's literally miles away from where a startup first gets off the ground.
Before even talking to Scoble, a startup should have come up with the idea, have built a first version, launched as early as possible (but only after what you have is better/more useful than what is currently out there), found a core group of users that sticks around and uses the product, and iterated based on their feedback.
The fact is, this is likely to take at least a year, if not more. And only after you think you've achieved product-market fit should you be going after the press "big guns".
Don't take Scoble's post as advice on how to get a startup off the ground -- take it as advice on how far along you should be before you pitch him.
No please do take this as advice on how to get a startup off the ground. There's more here than "Scoble wants polished startups."
What he's saying is that many products are similar to other efforts with additional features. That's not going to cut it. Page Rank wasn't a little bit better than existing search engines. It wasn't Yahoo but with feature x,y,z; it was a completely new approach to vetting results. I won't switch for a few features. I don't care if you're better; I care if you're solidly different.
Show us the insight! Show us the corner turned. Show us why this rocket has escape velocity when all others fell back to earth. Stop trying to simply make money and start trying to significantly innovate.
Don't try if you look less sexy than XYZ is NOT the way to go. Every startup has different dynamics. For some design is core for others timing might be.
Scoble is a tech blogger he hardly knows anything of startups. Oh wait, he never had one! There are just too many moving parts to declare why a startup failed, Scoble is the last person I'd ask what those parts are.
Shipping stays at top. No matter what. Even if startup fails, learning is priceless.
Scoble is the TMZ of the tech industry. I view him largely in the same sense as paparazzi. He has a video camera and a bunch of followers, but little in the way of substance.
His past proclamations, i.e. Google Gears will kill MS Office, Google Chrome OS has already won, put him on very shaky ground with me from a credibility standpoint. That said, I don't discount all future comments from the guy.
In this post, he does offer up some sound advice: clear use case, compelling product -- but really, if you're in the business this shouldn't be news to you anyway.
Unfortunately, one is forced to look past the short-sighted, the mis-aligned or the presumptive to find any take-away value. Focus on a use-case, but make sure the app works for everybody? Magical applications are those where people make comments right away? Without Facebook or Twitter integration, your app is lame? The narrow-minded-ness of these comments simply reflect Robert's lack of scope on the world.
The fact that he's arriving at these conclusions now shows more about his thought process than anything else.
If it doesn't do something with both Facebook and Twitter (with Google+ to come) then you are gonna look lame.
Am I the only person who feels slightly bored that about 50% of startups I hear about are basically all about sharing links on social networking websites?
Well I agree. There are billions of bucks to be made in the domains of enterprise and industrial applications, and social network integration is not really a business case there - maybe just a potential security issue.
Since when did start-up become synonymous with consumer application start-up?
Scoble isn't telling you how to create a successful startup. He's telling you how to create something that he'll use and in turn hype and recommend. If that's what you want, then listen to his advice. Otherwise, just forget it.
That's one of the biggest issues with "experts": those that appear "successful" are just the ones that can get the most media.
I'm not suggesting you ignore the media, but put it into perspective: The guys actually creating things don't have time to be writing about creating things on Google+.
I'm not sure what you mean about Gruber, he doesn't really do advocacy like that. Sure he thinks the iPhone is really great and all, but I don't see him telling people to develop for it. They already are, he doesn't need to.
I love how he has 7 key pieces of advice for startups to follow if they don't want to fail, and there is not a single mention of revenue, let alone profit, whatsoever.
But don't forget to integrate with Twitter or you'll look like a dummy!
I am assuming Scoble is a famous guy. As he expects quality from wannabe entreprenours, I would then expect quality in his analysis, which I don't think (allow me to give a honest opinion) is true.
He forgets totally about the business sector. A crappy looking app with some errors would still be years of light ahead of consolidating a P&L from 30 different excel files sent from 30 different parts of the world.
Don't know, maybe people are focusing too much on the same thing.
"...the market is very crowded now for certain kinds of apps. Especially location-based and social network ones. So, if you're gonna pitch me something it better provide magic. Angels better sing when I open your app up. Otherwise, why should I use your app instead of Instagram, Foodspotting, Foursquare, Yelp, or my new ones, Batch, SocialCam, or Oink?"
So yes, he's not concentrating on the business sector. On the other hand, the very first piece of advice he gives would rule your hypothetical application in in:
1. Have at least one very clear, and cool, use case. I.E. have something you can show someone else that makes them say "oh, my, that's freaking useful."
I don't know a single app(?) whose names he mentioned in this article. I simply can not connect these new product/startup names with what they're supposed to be doing for me.
I'm reminded of a scene in the now-defunct "Playmakers" TV series. It entails a football player mouthing off to an aide who then bets the player that he can get the ball further down the field than the arrogant player. The player takes the bet and launches the ball a solid distance down the field. The aide waits for a maintenance cart to drive past. He tosses the ball into the back of the cart and watches as it rolls past the player's ball.
The player assumed that winning the game depended on his arm alone when the truth was many things had to align with that arm to win games. The vantage point from the turf isn't the only one.
The player takes the bet and launches the ball a solid distance down the field. The aide waits for a maintenance cart to drive past. He tosses the ball into the back of the cart and watches as it rolls past the player's ball.
There's a similar sequence in the movie "Tin Cup" where two golfers make a bet about who can hit a ball the farthest. One hits his ball actually onto the golf course where lands in some grass, rolls a foot or two and stops. The other guy hits his ball onto the highway where it lands on the asphalt and rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls...
The player assumed that winning the game depended on his arm alone when the truth was many things had to align with that arm to win games. The vantage point from the turf isn't the only one.
Indeed. Having something like that to break one out of one's tunnel vision and preconceived notions can be a powerful thing.
If I were to make an app/product, I hope Scoble is the LAST guy in my target audience. I want moms, corporate CEOs, team leads, fitness trainers, restaurant owners, heck even teachers.. anyone but Scoble.
[+] [-] ekidd|14 years ago|reply
Most early-stage founders I meet are working in a vacuum. They have ideas, but no way to validate those ideas against reality. Mostly, they're just wasting time on half-baked visions of world domination. The game doesn't start until you ask a customer for money.
It's a bit like whitewater kayaking: You can float around all day looking at the rapids, but eventually you've got to let the current suck you downstream towards the waves and rocks.
Now, maybe in Scoble's world, the rules are different. He sees so many startups that anything less than perfection on the first try is a failure. But this suggests that Scoble's market is getting saturated—perhaps we already have enough mobile/social/local apps for tech bloggers?
Maybe it's time to listen to patio11, and find markets where any solution at all will make users climb across their desks with a checkbook in hand.
[+] [-] patio11|14 years ago|reply
There's a million fun, valuable, important problems to solve out there which you go grow old and die without ever reading about on a Valley blog.
[+] [-] 9oliYQjP|14 years ago|reply
Bravo, the guy is really convincing. But he's a marketer and his opinions should be sandboxed as such. He's right, the bar is really really really damn high now. But he has hasn't a clue on what it takes to get your chin up above the bar. I see a fat guy at a chin up bar and see somebody who, if they ate healthier and did some exercise, could do ten chin-ups easily. He sees a fat guy who shouldn't even bother to try.
[+] [-] DanielRibeiro|14 years ago|reply
If most startups fail, and your idea is most likely to fail, the best way to find something that works is to fail, pivot, and fail again, until you get something people want.
The MVP entices this fail/pivot loop to happen as fast as possible.
And Scobble is right! If you are still on the failing phase, you shouldn't be seeking attention. Failing silently makes the whole experience less traumatic. And then we can move on to refraiming fail fast to learn fast.
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] pace|14 years ago|reply
Those who can, do -- those who can't, teach.
Why should we listen to him?
[+] [-] revorad|14 years ago|reply
Because he spends a lot of time looking at new products and technologies. He really tries them out. He does fantastic interviews with founders, often asking quite good questions about the products.
He's built a huge network of people who consider him a credible source for new product recommendations. Getting featured by him can be huge for an early stage product.
Just because someone is a blogger, it doesn't make their advice useless.
Programming is not the only valuable thing in the world. Learn to respect other professions. You're not going to make it without them.
[+] [-] middus|14 years ago|reply
Laughable. The world's best users. How do you qualify for that? By adding Scoble to your Facebook graph?
[+] [-] biot|14 years ago|reply
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how tough the journey is if the product you put out at the end of the process sucks. I don't think it takes an entrepreneur to call out various "me too" social/mobile/local clones for being derivative and void of innovation. The world is a harsh place and effort has never been rewarded; all that matters is results.
[+] [-] PakG1|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] route66|14 years ago|reply
I noticed that people who can't teach what they are doing mostly suck at it.
[+] [-] SriniK|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] drusenko|14 years ago|reply
Before even talking to Scoble, a startup should have come up with the idea, have built a first version, launched as early as possible (but only after what you have is better/more useful than what is currently out there), found a core group of users that sticks around and uses the product, and iterated based on their feedback.
The fact is, this is likely to take at least a year, if not more. And only after you think you've achieved product-market fit should you be going after the press "big guns".
Don't take Scoble's post as advice on how to get a startup off the ground -- take it as advice on how far along you should be before you pitch him.
[+] [-] david927|14 years ago|reply
What he's saying is that many products are similar to other efforts with additional features. That's not going to cut it. Page Rank wasn't a little bit better than existing search engines. It wasn't Yahoo but with feature x,y,z; it was a completely new approach to vetting results. I won't switch for a few features. I don't care if you're better; I care if you're solidly different.
Show us the insight! Show us the corner turned. Show us why this rocket has escape velocity when all others fell back to earth. Stop trying to simply make money and start trying to significantly innovate.
[+] [-] kingsidharth|14 years ago|reply
Don't try if you look less sexy than XYZ is NOT the way to go. Every startup has different dynamics. For some design is core for others timing might be.
Scoble is a tech blogger he hardly knows anything of startups. Oh wait, he never had one! There are just too many moving parts to declare why a startup failed, Scoble is the last person I'd ask what those parts are.
Shipping stays at top. No matter what. Even if startup fails, learning is priceless.
[+] [-] jroseattle|14 years ago|reply
His past proclamations, i.e. Google Gears will kill MS Office, Google Chrome OS has already won, put him on very shaky ground with me from a credibility standpoint. That said, I don't discount all future comments from the guy.
In this post, he does offer up some sound advice: clear use case, compelling product -- but really, if you're in the business this shouldn't be news to you anyway.
Unfortunately, one is forced to look past the short-sighted, the mis-aligned or the presumptive to find any take-away value. Focus on a use-case, but make sure the app works for everybody? Magical applications are those where people make comments right away? Without Facebook or Twitter integration, your app is lame? The narrow-minded-ness of these comments simply reflect Robert's lack of scope on the world.
The fact that he's arriving at these conclusions now shows more about his thought process than anything else.
[+] [-] praptak|14 years ago|reply
Take note: ask your friends back at the HQ to pose as enthusiastic users while you're pitching your next app :)
[+] [-] rokhayakebe|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jiggy2011|14 years ago|reply
Am I the only person who feels slightly bored that about 50% of startups I hear about are basically all about sharing links on social networking websites?
[+] [-] YourAnMoran|14 years ago|reply
Since when did start-up become synonymous with consumer application start-up?
[+] [-] mjbellantoni|14 years ago|reply
Am I the only person who feels that social media is a lot of work with little reward?
[+] [-] coderdude|14 years ago|reply
Scoble: Tells you how to create a successful startup -- never even tried
Can we start getting some advice from people who actually do this shit for a living?
[+] [-] adestefan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jeffclark|14 years ago|reply
I'm not suggesting you ignore the media, but put it into perspective: The guys actually creating things don't have time to be writing about creating things on Google+.
[+] [-] danielamitay|14 years ago|reply
Robert isn't telling us what makes a great company, he's telling us what has become a minimum standard.
[+] [-] mikedougherty|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] funkah|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dchuk|14 years ago|reply
But don't forget to integrate with Twitter or you'll look like a dummy!
[+] [-] revorad|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] viandante|14 years ago|reply
He forgets totally about the business sector. A crappy looking app with some errors would still be years of light ahead of consolidating a P&L from 30 different excel files sent from 30 different parts of the world.
Don't know, maybe people are focusing too much on the same thing.
[+] [-] Angostura|14 years ago|reply
"...the market is very crowded now for certain kinds of apps. Especially location-based and social network ones. So, if you're gonna pitch me something it better provide magic. Angels better sing when I open your app up. Otherwise, why should I use your app instead of Instagram, Foodspotting, Foursquare, Yelp, or my new ones, Batch, SocialCam, or Oink?"
So yes, he's not concentrating on the business sector. On the other hand, the very first piece of advice he gives would rule your hypothetical application in in:
1. Have at least one very clear, and cool, use case. I.E. have something you can show someone else that makes them say "oh, my, that's freaking useful."
In fact the first 5 pieces of advice also apply.
[+] [-] tobiasu|14 years ago|reply
Curious if anyone else has this experience.
[+] [-] JulianMiller520|14 years ago|reply
The player assumed that winning the game depended on his arm alone when the truth was many things had to align with that arm to win games. The vantage point from the turf isn't the only one.
[+] [-] mindcrime|14 years ago|reply
There's a similar sequence in the movie "Tin Cup" where two golfers make a bet about who can hit a ball the farthest. One hits his ball actually onto the golf course where lands in some grass, rolls a foot or two and stops. The other guy hits his ball onto the highway where it lands on the asphalt and rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls...
The player assumed that winning the game depended on his arm alone when the truth was many things had to align with that arm to win games. The vantage point from the turf isn't the only one.
Indeed. Having something like that to break one out of one's tunnel vision and preconceived notions can be a powerful thing.
[+] [-] AznHisoka|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adaml_623|14 years ago|reply
He uses 33000 people to tell him it's good. So you get things that appeal to the average.
There is no place for niche apps and no cult hits in his world. Just the sexy and the summer blockbuster.
But there are other lots of other bloggers out there in the world.
[+] [-] pace|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DeanCollinsLCC|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] shouteagle|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rgrieselhuber|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DeanCollinsLCC|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] DeanCollinsLCC|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]