Take it from the founders who have already been through the ups and downs of launching their ideas. From one founder to another, 8 tips for launching your digital startup.
by: Kasia Krzyzanowski
photo: Ian Schneider / Unsplash
1 – IDENTIFY AND FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM YOU’RE SOLVING – AND BE SURE IT EXISTS IN THE FIRST PLACE
“As simple as it sounds, you have to clearly identify the existing barriers that your solution or service is supposed to resolve and what it would enable for your target audiences.” — Charles Nadler, CEO – Ludwig
“A lot of startups are trying to solve a problem that isn’t a problem. Creating value is the most important thing.” — Alexandros Trepeklis, CEO – Yollty
“Don’t just try to replicate the process stepby- step but try to understand the problem you need to solve and start at the beginning, as you might find a more efficient solution.” — Tom Michels, CEO – Salonkee
2 – WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME – MAKE THIS CLEAR IN YOUR MARKETING
“The most important thing is to be able to articulate the added value. You need to explain how your new way of doing something will bring advantages. “What’s in it for me?” – the user has to be able to answer this.” — Patrick Kersten, CEO – Doctena
“At the end it’s all about product marketing. Don’t just stay in your corner and think users will just adopt it.” — Tom Michels, CEO – Salonkee
3 – GET FEEDBACK FROM THE BEGINNING
“Talk as much as you can with people about your digital idea and adjust, reconsider and realign.” — Charles Nadler, CEO – Ludwig
“The idea is important, but the idea will involve listening to feedback, changing according to the feedback you get and understanding the market.” — Alexandros Trepeklis, CEO – Yollty
4 – FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH
“Gather the best teams, partners and collaborators around your project because alone you cannot reach the finish line. For now, digitalization still depends on humans and is defined by humans and that is the beauty of it.” — Charles Nadler, CEO – Ludwig
“Find the right technical partner to do the digitalization and be careful about their quality. Check their track record, be sure they understand the needs and be sure that they’re able to provide a good solution.” — Sébastien Berthelot, CEO – Moovee
5 – MAKE AN MVP AND TEST IT EARLY
“Make your MVP as compact and cost-efficient as possible. Don’t spend too much money making too many features. Test your MVP before releasing it, the earlier the better.” — Elnura Ashimova, CEO – Yoganect
“Look for early signs of validation. When digitalizing any kind of process, you need to prototype what you have in mind and put it in front of the customer.” — Eugene Mizin, CEO – Job Today
6 – SIMPLICITY IS THE KEY FOR USER EXPERIENCE
“A lot of apps are a little too complicated and don’t focus on the user experience. The reason we’ve grown is because we’ve been able to simplify the experience.” — Claude Grunitzky, Chairman – Koosmik
“Make sure it will be simple to use. Digital means change. If it’s difficult to use, you might find resistance.” — Tom Michels, CEO – Salonkee
7 – FOCUS ON GETTING IT RIGHT
“Unless there’s good execution, ideas don’t matter. Execution is product skills, marketing skills, customer validation, analysis skills – so much is about execution.” — Eugene Mizin, CEO – Job Today
“The idea isn’t that important – we are certainly not the first to have the idea but we’re still the ones that succeeded in Luxembourg because of the execution. Ideas are always nice to write about but are nothing without execution.” — Tom Michels, CEO – Salonkee
8 – BE PASSIONATE
“Just be passionate. In the end, doing business is a matter of opportunity. You need to be the right person at the right time – if you’re seen as passionate about what you’re doing, you’ll manage to earn the trust of your users.” — Antoine Hron, CEO – Klin
