He starts to gather information, and opens up an "explore & discover" phase. He knows that this stage is really important, so he decides not want to rush it. He takes his time. Also, he partners up with a trustworthy team, which understands the concept and shares his vision. After a couple of weeks of research later, Peter gains more confidence. His idea might be a winner after all. But wait! It still feels like the job isn't done. The research must go further.
Peter draws a value proposition for his concept and a business strategy. A value proposition is a statement that answers the ‘why’ someone should do business with you. It should convince a potential customer why your service or product will be of more value to them than similar offerings from your competition. You know why your company is great, but do your potential customers know what sets your brand apart? On the other side, a business strategy is the top-line vision of the company. It is why the company exists. It ensures the long-term growth and sustainability of the organization. How the product will differentiate and innovate, impact people lives, improve their well being and become something that everybody loves? How he will transform his idea into a product, and a product into a business which generates real revenue? Peter still has some unanswered questions, so he decides to dig even deeper. Stay strong Peter!
So far, Peter has an idea of a product, a bunch of reports about the market, the competition and potential users. He sketched his value proposition and drew a business model, alongside a strategy. "But all of this is useless without proper validation from real users!" says Peter out loud. Well, you are right, dear friend. You should start a "Validated user research" phase.
After four months since Peter started his journey into the startup world, he feels more excited than ever. Throughout the research, he talked and listened to people's needs and wishes, gaining real validated data from real people: potential users are interested and might buy his product. With data gathered through user-interviews, Peter decides to enter into a "Prototype and experiment" stage, in order to outline his idea into a first tangible thing. It involves ideation and design thinking. My god Peter, you are crushing it, buddy!
After a series of experiments and user-tests, with different prototype iterations, Peter feels confident enough to build a "minimum-viable-product" (MVP). An MVP is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development. It involves programming and more technical work, alongside design. Based on all the information and data gathered until this point, the MVP is built and launched into the market.
