February 26, 2009 at 13:48How to make a successful startup? Opinions differ
At the first free seminar for start-ups from the Egenius.ru project (AVK-Media), the speakers spoke diametrically opposite principles for a successful startup launch: how long it takes to launch a project (2 months or 2 years), where to get sources of ideas from (your own creativity or adaptation of a Western model) what types of advertising to choose (expensive traditional or low-budget creative), etc.
The topic of the seminar sounded like "Marketing analysis of a startup idea." Speakers were Olesya Batog, a business developer at Pronto-Media, the project manager for the IRR.ru website in the regions, and Akopov Ruben, general director of GDEETOTDOM.RU LLC .
Sources of ideas
Olesya Batog:Ideas are best to borrow, to take working models from the foreign Internet. In the West, a huge number of successful projects are being implemented that can and should be adapted to our realities. Based on an already proven idea, it is much easier not only to calculate its potential, but also to convince the investor of its profitability.
Ruben Akopov: You need to generate your own ideas. No need to catch up with anyone, you need to study the market and identify unmet needs, free niches. No need to copy Google - come up with something of your own, and perhaps you will be able to realize something that even they don’t have.
Marketing analysis
Olesya Batog:Well-established methods for assessing markets, competitors and opportunities - this is not the main thing. One of the main success factors is the desire to achieve this success. If a person is not ready to take responsibility, develop the idea to a victorious end - he will not succeed, no matter how favorable the situation is.
Ruben Akopov: Only on the basis of a comprehensive and in-depth analysis can we understand whether the idea will blow up the market or join the ranks of startups that have not achieved success.
Startup deadline
Olesya Batog: You have 2-3 months to implement the idea, no more. The market is rapidly changing, and what you came up with a year ago may not be relevant anymore. An Internet project has been living for about 4 years, so 2 years doing a startup is nonsense.
Ruben Akopov:We have been implementing our startup “Gdeetotdom.ru” for about two years, a serious promotion went a little more than six months ago, and now we only plan to reach the breakeven point.
Competitive environment
Olesya Batog: I like to study competitors. In this way, you can think of your own successful strategy. Competitors are those with whom you can compete. And the market leaders are your teachers, your potential partners. You cannot consider Yandex a competitor - you can (if you really try) interest them as a partner.
Ruben Akopov: Competitors are all strong market players. You need to try to be better than them, to come up with services and services that they do not have. Otherwise, your company will not develop.
Advertising
Olesya Batog:We live in a world filled with advertising. By giving expensive, for example, outdoor, advertising, you increase the advertising noise, and you can’t practically calculate the effect (if any). It’s better to concentrate on creative, highly targeted, non-standard advertising.
Ruben Akopov: We spend about $ 2 million on an advertising campaign, and we believe that these are justified costs. We entered a highly competitive market where no one wanted to see us or take us seriously. With help. We managed to achieve excellent indicators on the daily traffic of the site on radio ads, and using the outdoor advertising, we showed the seriousness of our project for advertisers.
An Internet project is ...
Olesya Batog:We all sell air. We sell our image, we sell our virtual projects. Internet projects require huge mental and financial investments, bring real money, but do not produce anything.
Ruben Akopov: We do not sell air. We sell ad slots, we sell new customers to our advertisers. We sell the success of their business.
Video of the seminar and presentation of speakers here
PS At the next seminar we will discuss the problem of managing a startup team. Speakers are being clarified. This time we will have a normal sound on the broadcast, a good presentation on the screen, and the speakers will be strictly limited in time. (In general, we will take into account all the mistakes of the first workshop)
The topic of the seminar sounded like "Marketing analysis of a startup idea." Speakers were Olesya Batog, a business developer at Pronto-Media, the project manager for the IRR.ru website in the regions, and Akopov Ruben, general director of GDEETOTDOM.RU LLC .
Sources of ideas
Olesya Batog:Ideas are best to borrow, to take working models from the foreign Internet. In the West, a huge number of successful projects are being implemented that can and should be adapted to our realities. Based on an already proven idea, it is much easier not only to calculate its potential, but also to convince the investor of its profitability.
Ruben Akopov: You need to generate your own ideas. No need to catch up with anyone, you need to study the market and identify unmet needs, free niches. No need to copy Google - come up with something of your own, and perhaps you will be able to realize something that even they don’t have.
Marketing analysis
Olesya Batog:Well-established methods for assessing markets, competitors and opportunities - this is not the main thing. One of the main success factors is the desire to achieve this success. If a person is not ready to take responsibility, develop the idea to a victorious end - he will not succeed, no matter how favorable the situation is.
Ruben Akopov: Only on the basis of a comprehensive and in-depth analysis can we understand whether the idea will blow up the market or join the ranks of startups that have not achieved success.
Startup deadline
Olesya Batog: You have 2-3 months to implement the idea, no more. The market is rapidly changing, and what you came up with a year ago may not be relevant anymore. An Internet project has been living for about 4 years, so 2 years doing a startup is nonsense.
Ruben Akopov:We have been implementing our startup “Gdeetotdom.ru” for about two years, a serious promotion went a little more than six months ago, and now we only plan to reach the breakeven point.
Competitive environment
Olesya Batog: I like to study competitors. In this way, you can think of your own successful strategy. Competitors are those with whom you can compete. And the market leaders are your teachers, your potential partners. You cannot consider Yandex a competitor - you can (if you really try) interest them as a partner.
Ruben Akopov: Competitors are all strong market players. You need to try to be better than them, to come up with services and services that they do not have. Otherwise, your company will not develop.
Advertising
Olesya Batog:We live in a world filled with advertising. By giving expensive, for example, outdoor, advertising, you increase the advertising noise, and you can’t practically calculate the effect (if any). It’s better to concentrate on creative, highly targeted, non-standard advertising.
Ruben Akopov: We spend about $ 2 million on an advertising campaign, and we believe that these are justified costs. We entered a highly competitive market where no one wanted to see us or take us seriously. With help. We managed to achieve excellent indicators on the daily traffic of the site on radio ads, and using the outdoor advertising, we showed the seriousness of our project for advertisers.
An Internet project is ...
Olesya Batog:We all sell air. We sell our image, we sell our virtual projects. Internet projects require huge mental and financial investments, bring real money, but do not produce anything.
Ruben Akopov: We do not sell air. We sell ad slots, we sell new customers to our advertisers. We sell the success of their business.
Video of the seminar and presentation of speakers here
PS At the next seminar we will discuss the problem of managing a startup team. Speakers are being clarified. This time we will have a normal sound on the broadcast, a good presentation on the screen, and the speakers will be strictly limited in time. (In general, we will take into account all the mistakes of the first workshop)