Women Who Rock with Success- March

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4. Sim plif y in g developm en t
A prototy pe is th e f ir st ver sion of a product, a
sketch of your vision .Twen ty-nin e per cen t of
star tups f ail because th ey r un out of cash . O n e of
th e ways to preven t th is is to be prepar ed for when
you do star t spen din g m on ey. Your prototy pe w ill
pave th e way for your M VP ? m in im um viable
product ? th at ver sion of your idea th at h olds on ly
th e vital featur es to be ver if ied by custom er s an d
investor s. (Ch eck out our in for m ative ar ticle on
cr eatin g an M VP.) Such a step-by-step approach to
f igur in g out th e basics of a product w ill h elp you
stay focused on your in itial goals an d com m un icate
your ideas to your team m or e clear ly.
Ad op t th e L ean Star tu p m eth od ol ogy
T h e star tup buildin g process h as n o f r am ewor k th at
w ill wor k in each case, so you?ll h ave to adopt
iter ative approach es. To en h an ce your star tup?s
sur vival prospect en ablin g you to apply gain ed
in sigh t to quickly im prove, use th e L ean star tup
m eth odology.
I n th e L ean Star tu p wor ld, you wor k by th e
build- measure- learn approach ? a way to ef fectively
lever age your r esour ces an d m ake use of feedback.
Rath er th an tr ustin g assum ption s, you build an
M VP an d lear n f r om it by gath er in g feedback an d
m easur in g KPI s. T h e cycle con tin ues un til you
r each a total un der stan din g w ith user s, lettin g th at
in telligen ce tech you h ow to cr eate a viable
product.