Launching a successful product in a competitive market requires more initial groundwork than a brilliant idea.
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Both startups and enterprises need to understand their potential in the market before investing in developing a final product. Building even the simplest but best-quality MVP will take you at least 6 sprints (12 weeks). Hiring a team to do this will cost at least $35k. However, you can save close to 70% of this initial investment by spending less on other tools first. This is our recommendation to startup founders: Where to start and how to explain your idea to potential users and investors.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Prepare an idea explanation email (free)<\/b><\/p>\n You can write down your idea in an email and send it to potential users. It is better if they are from the field, such as salespeople, support teams, or anyone who may potentially benefit from your solutions. You may reach out to your friends, but we recommend connecting with people you do not know yet as well. Nowadays, a tool like LinkedIn offers endless possibilities for connecting with other professionals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At this stage, your audience will provide you with other solutions they use or some ideas or problems they really have. This test may take you 2-3 weeks, as people will need some time to reply. You can always set up a follow-up call to clarify some questions and talk to potential users. You can always prepare a brief presentation, which will help you tell a story about your solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Product Brief Presentation ($250)<\/b><\/p>\n While you can create nice text and add pictures by yourself, a visually appealing and well-structured presentation can make a significant difference. While you can certainly design a presentation yourself, consider hiring a professional graphic designer. In LaSoft, we allocate around $250 for design, recognizing the importance of maintaining a consistent and professional brand image.<\/span><\/p>\n If you plan to work with professionals, especially from the corporate world, a nice presentation will be a door opener, and a bad one may kill their desire to talk to you. Good presentation demonstrates your attention to detail and commitment to quality. So I recommend \u201cmaking a cool presentation with good design if you want people to take you seriously.\u201d It will take a bit longer, but it will be a powerful icebreaker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Landing page ($2,000)<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While a good explanatory email and idea presentation will help you talk to people from your circles, a landing page opens new possibilities. We usually go so far only if we have 5-10 solid positive feedbacks on your email and presentation. A good quality rule applies here as well. With a landing page, you may talk to people you do not know, using Ad Tools like Google Ads, for example. Yes, you do not have a tool yet, but you can always ask people to leave their email if they are interested in your idea. A captivating landing page will generate excitement and anticipation around your product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Please see the example below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t <\/p>\n We recommend spending not more than $1,000 on a paid campaign. This should generate 500-1000 visitors, and if everything works well, close to 5% of them will leave their email. This will be a good sign for you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Explainer video ($250-$500)<\/b><\/p>\n Today, videos are highly engaging and effective way to communicate your idea. You can use the video to explain what problem you are trying to solve and how this may benefit the user. This will help your audience to visualize the benefits and understand the value proposition. It is better if you have an animation or some UI\/UX designs ready, it will help you to illustrate your solutions and make a point. Here you can see an example of an explainer video: <\/span>Live\u0421harts: The charts order process, the first version;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nTools to pitch and validate your idea before MVP<\/b><\/h2>\n