How to Lanch a Startup (v) - some more about Value Proposition

This time round I’m gonna take you through the Value Proposition. So by now you should be able to say who your product is for (Minimum Viable Segment); when they would use it; and why.

The next step is to come up with a solution.

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This where you describe what the product does:

• What is it? A simple description of the recognisable category if fits in.
• What does it do? A description of the result it delivers with an emphasis on benefits.
• How does it do it? A description of the features.

You also have to consider how it is different from all the stuff that it is already out there and that it will be competing with.

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So think about:

• What products will the customer compare yours against? Come up with a list of who you are positioning yourself against.
• How are you different? What is your biggest and most important point of difference when compared to the alternatives?

The best place to start designing your solution is by defining the difference you are making to the customer’s “job to be done.” These are two really important questions to consider:

What is the biggest gap that you identified during your research into the job to be done?
How will your product either eliminate or reduce that gap?

Once you’ve defined what the gap is, state it as a benefit that you will deliver for the customer.

Let’s take the evolution of the job of listening to music over the past few decades, and kudos to anyone who has experience of all of these (I’m a child of the 80s, so cassette tapes are as far back as I go!)

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Records: The previous alternative was live music. The gap was that you couldn’t listen to good musicians unless you were in the same venue as them. The difference is that the musicians no longer need to be present. So now you can now listen to quality performances anytime you like in your home.

Cassette Tapes: The gap was that you couldn’t carry your music around. The difference is you can now carry it around. So now you can now take your music with you and listen to it whenever and wherever you like.

CDs: The gap was that the records and tapes could become easily damaged. The difference is that the sound quality was better in most people’s opinion, and the CDs were less likely to become damaged. So now you can listen to you music whenever and wherever you like without a significant compromise in sound quality.

MP3 players: The gap was that you could only carry a limited portion of your music and could only play it for a limited amount of time before you had to change discs. The difference is that you can carry a far greater amount of tracks. So now you can have nearly all your music with you and listen to it without interruption for a far longer time.

iTunes: The gap was that it took technical knowledge to convert music into mp3 files, and you couldn’t easily organise your music. The difference was that it was now easy to buy or convert music and organise it. So now you can now listen to all of your music collection anywhere, anytime and organise to match the mood and situation.

Spotify: The gap was that you had to buy (or pirate) tracks to listen to them, even before you knew you like them. The difference is that you can now listen to music without buying it as long as you can tolerate ads or are willing to pay for a subscription. So now you can now listen to as much music as you want, and discover new stuff without having to pay according to the volume of music you listen to, thus making music discovery much easier.

The key lesson from the examples above is that there is generally one key difference that drives adoption for a new service. We can think of this as the minimally viable difference. The challenge In getting your idea off the ground at this stage is to define what that key difference is for your product, and state it as a key benefit your customer will understand.

More to come soon.


Check out the previous advice:

Part 1 - Intro - @sroka87/how-to-launch-a-start-up-introduction

Part 2 - Minimum Viable Segment - @sroka87/how-to-launch-a-start-up-minimum-viable-segment

Part 3 - Job Story - @sroka87/how-to-launch-a-start-up-the-job-story

Part 4 - Market Size - @sroka87/how-to-launch-a-start-up-value-proposition-market-size

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