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@johnjpeebles Scotland Can Do SCALE August, 2015 http://www.cando.scot/scale/

Startup Ingredients (Team, Solving a Problem, Customers)

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@johnjpeebles

Scotland Can Do SCALE

August, 2015

http://www.cando.scot/scale/

@johnjpeebles

MOTORCYCLE RACINGAND STARTUPS

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Ingredients

@johnjpeeblesCourtesy  of  @sukibakes

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Great Team.Solve a Problem.Get Customers.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

This is really hard.

@johnjpeebles

2 Kinds of HardExercise is Hard

Playing the Violin is Hard

@johnjpeebles

“Aren’t you guys, like, that militaristic

startup?”

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

“It should be hard. But maybe it could be just a little bit

easier, too.”

@johnjpeebles

Who Am I?

John PeeblesCEO of Administrate

Edinburgh, Scotland

@johnjpeebles

CHOOSE ONE

Great Team, Crappy Business ModelOR

Great Business Model, Crappy Team

@johnjpeebles

IN A SOFTWARE COMPANY, TEAM IS ALL THAT MATTERS

@johnjpeebles

“The average programmer reads less than one technical book a year.”

– Steve McConnell

“The average programmer or technical lead never reads about team building or team preservation.”

– John Peebles

@johnjpeeblesTHINK BACK TO UNIVERSITY

@johnjpeebles

A GREAT TEAM CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Fantastic products

Unbelievable outcomes

Size is almost irrelevant

@johnjpeebles

TEAM: YOUR BEST

CHANCEFOR SUCCESS

@johnjpeebles

- JOHN CARMACK, ID SOFTWARE

"I actually have been learning quite a bit about software development, both on the personal craftsman level but also paying more attention by what it means on the team dynamics side of things….It’s about social interactions between the programmers or even between yourself spread over time…”

@johnjpeebles

- FRED WILSON, USV

We made the classic mistake that all investors make. We focused too much on what they were doing at the time and not enough on what they could do, would do, and did do. I am proud that our portfolio is full of companies where we saw the vision before other investors did and backed a great team. But we don't always get it right. We missed Airbnb even though we loved the team. Big mistake.

@johnjpeebles

AGILE AND LEAN: BUILT ON THE ASSUMPTION OF GREAT TEAMS

Ever seen Agile in a Large Corporate Environment?

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.TEAM. TEAM. TEAM. TEAM.

@johnjpeebles

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

How do I build that perfect product that people love?

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

EVERYONE IS FULL OF CRAP.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

(EXCEPT YOUR CUSTOMER)

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

CUSTOMER=

SOMEONE PAYING YOU MONEY

@johnjpeebles

Building a Product is Solving a Problem

@johnjpeebles

Problem Solvers• Earn more money

• Are key to their team’s success

• Are the best developers /designers / managers / etc.

• Can be the difference between success and failure

@johnjpeebles

This is Your Momentof Demotivation

Problem solvers are very, very, rare.

@johnjpeebles

This is Your Momentof Motivation

You can do this!

@johnjpeebles

Building a product should not be user

(or customer) driven

@johnjpeebles

What?

@johnjpeebles

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

— Steve Jobs

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

–Henry Ford

@johnjpeebles

Building a product should be:

Workflow Driven

Job Driven

Results Driven

@johnjpeebles

The Core Mechanic

Know, Define, Solve

@johnjpeebles

Know• Develop your Personas

• Observe the Job

• Work the Job

• Visualise the Job

• Learn the entire process

• Understand motivations and incentives

@johnjpeebles

Define

Don’t “Solve a Solution”

Discover the Problem!

@johnjpeebles

Which do You Go to First?

Pharmacist or the Doctor?

@johnjpeebles

Techniques of Problem Discovery• Reject the Premise of the Question• Use the 5 Whys?• Take nothing as “given”• Don’t listen to users, watch users!

Work their job!

@johnjpeebles

Examples

• “Can you add a button?”

• “I need another report!”

• “Can you add X to Y?”

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Do You Remember When?

@johnjpeebles

@johnjpeebles

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Why is this important?

@johnjpeebles

A Quick Review

• Products are really problem solvers(sometimes cloaked with software).

• The best products are workflow driven and are built by people who have a deep understanding of the problem environment.

@johnjpeebles

Narrative

Cheap and effective glue between people, products, design, and understanding.

Narrative is communication.

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The Benefits of Narrative

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Better retention (memory)

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Better attention

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Exposes skill or conceptual gaps

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People love stories

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Narrative quickly adds and conveys meaning

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Narrative transcends culture

@johnjpeebles

When to Use Narrative

Product design

Product onboarding

Product troubleshootingYour brand (mascot)

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Isn’t This Marketing / Sales / Not My Job?

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Designis Everyone’s Job

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Communicationis Everyone’s Job

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

But my (product, life, self, company) is boring.

@johnjpeebles

WARNINGNarrative requires responsibility!

You will shape the debate / discussion /memory / perception with your story.

@johnjpeebles

The Challenge

Incorporating narrative is (relatively) easy.

Crafting relevant narrative is hard.

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How to Craft a Story

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Juxtapose the Unrelated!

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Personalise

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Incorporate the Great

@johnjpeebles

The Short Story Arc

1. Have a character. Make them flawed.

2. Explain their problem. Include some false starts.

3. Provide the solution.

#ProTip – Inject absurdity for humour!

@johnjpeebles

@johnjpeebles

Pixar Tells Great Stories

Once upon a time ______. Every day, ______. One day, ______. Because of that ______.

Because of that, ______. Until finally, ______.

The End.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Cool Story, Bro.

@johnjpeebles

Make Sure You Practice

1. My wife and family

2. Shopkeepers, Taxi Drivers, etc.

3. Coworkers

4. Meetings

#ProTip: Keep it short!

@johnjpeebles

Introverts vs. Extroverts

Most of us are ambiverts.

Introverts are usually better observers.

Remember - the medium can be adjusted.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Make Sure you Reiterate the Point

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Just a little bit of story telling goes a long way.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Great Team.Solve a Problem.Get Customers.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

Q&A

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

WORKSHOP

One actionable improvement:

1.  You  can  make  to  your  team.2.  Make  to  your  customer  persona.3.  To  inject  narrative  into  your  product  or  pitch.

@johnjpeebles@johnjpeebles

THANKS!

@johnjpeebles

[email protected]