Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:57 am
The stages of startup development are associated with the life of a plant: a seed is planted and watered, it grows into a stem with leaves, develops, and a flower appears at the top. A flower is a symbol of the plant's maturity, and in the field of entrepreneurship, maturity means that the startup has grown into a stable business. In this article, I will tell you how to make sure that your startup does not dry up and fade, but blossoms with bright colors.
Stages of a Startup's life:
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 2 - image
1 Seed
We divide the longest and most labor-intensive “seed” stage into the following sub-items:
pre-seed
In short: you have an idea for a startup and you think about it.
The ideal team: a startup founder (that’s you, the future entrepreneur), an idea, and fans.
Tasks:
create a product idea or hypothesis
find followers
"polish" the idea
The period of the product idea birth is the time to find an “army of fans”, no matter that the product does not exist yet. Do not be afraid to tell your idea, fearing that it will be stolen – no one will realize the dream better than its creator. At the same time, be modest and independent. Then the followers may become business angels and invest money in your startup.
seed
In short: the concept is ready, fans have been found, and the main stage begins – creating a business plan.
Ideal team: startup founder + business analyst.
Tasks:
set goals
analyze the market
identify and study the client
prove demand for the product
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 3 - image
A crucial stagestartup, it was not for nothing that Captain Vrungel said: "As you name a yacht, so it will sail." The better you see the prospects of the business, the more confident you will be in your actions. The narrower the target audience you choose, the more likely the demand for the product will be. Be attentive at this stage and do not be lazy to work through each point.
MVP
In short: it’s time to make a basic version of the startup, or MVP – minimum viable product.
The point is that instead of implementing a grand idea with maximum functionality, investing everything that has been accumulated into the implementation, it is better to develop a basic version with the most necessary functionality - release it to the world, and only then tweak it. The SCRUM development methodology is ideal here (read more in the article).
Ideal team: startup founder, business analyst + product developers (3-5 people).
Tasks:
create a technical specification (a diagram that illustrates the content and interface elements of the future product)
create an offer
adopt the most promising directions
develop MVPstartup
start up
analyze the result
With MVP, it’s easy to test an idea or hypothesis with the least amount of time and capital. Don’t let your startup fail just because you abandoned MVP.
There is no right or right number of users at the beginning of your startup. The main thing is to have enough of them, so that you can constantly move and see which people like your product and use it, and which ones abandon it. Morgan Brown
product-market fit & product-channel fit
In short: the MVP is gaining momentum chinese singapore b2c cell phone number data and you are entering the market on your own.
The ideal team: startup founder, marketer, developers + client manager and tester.
Tasks:
develop a marketing strategy
find your narrow niche in the market
countNet Promoter Score, if it is above 8, then everything is fine, if below, then reconsider the marketing strategy
build an initial customer base
language-market fit – figure out how to talk about a product so that customers accept and understand the message
conduct usability testing
The marketer plays a big role at other stages as well.promoting a startup, but this stage is its finest hour. The main task is to do everything so that as many target audiences as possible learn about your product, so that before the launch, users are already eagerly awaiting the launch.
death of valley
In short: investments and cash deposits have been made, but there is no profit yet.
The ideal team: a startup founder and everyone who has money.
Tasks:
accumulate resources before launching the product
support a startup while making money from additional work
use money from FFF (family, friends, fools) - people who believe in you and who "don't mind" investing at least a little in your startup)
intensively search for business angels (people who invest small amounts of money, but actively help to establish the “right” connections) and venture funds (companies that attract finance, evaluate the prospects of a project and then invest money)
take out loans, apply for grants
"Death Valley" is a crucial stage for you as a leader. Take risks!
Use any of the tasks, if it doesn't work, move on to another. Yes, during a "crisis" in a startup, it is difficult to find investors, but it is possible. In addition, if you are already famous and loved, turn to rich admirers for financial help. Getting out of the "Valley of Death" is vital, because otherwise your startup will dry up without ever blossoming.
2 Launch
Briefly about the stage: product launch and intensive work on brand promotion.
Ideal team: startup founder, marketer, developers, client manager, tester + lawyer, accountant.
promote the product vigorously
be aware of legal issues such as brand registration
conduct thorough testing, optimization and bug fixing
improve both the product and the brand of the company and, especially, its leaders
look for investors again
You've been waiting for this for maybe half a year and finally got it - the product launch. You've dealt with everything that concerns a startup exclusively, the worst is already behind you. But don't get too cocky, there are still many difficulties ahead.
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 4 - image
3 Scale
Briefly about the stage: growth and expansion of the startup.
The ideal team in the last two stages grows along with the development of the startup and changes depending on its direction.
Tasks:
hire cool specialists
constantly look for new niches, market funnels, target audiences
to form a corporate culture
About the last two stages we will say the following – keep moving & believing and everything will work out.
4 Maturity
Briefly about the stage: the stage of maturity and the beginning of a regular business.
Tasks:
delegate control
expand staff, office
look for opportunities to open a branch abroad
create localized teams for more efficient results
continue to grow and develop
Growth never stops. LinkedIn is almost 20 years old and they continue to grow and experiment. The same goes for Facebook, which has over a billion users. It doesn't stop, it buys apps, runs tests. It's not just a checkbox and move on. Morgan Brown
Stages of a Startup's life:
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 2 - image
1 Seed
We divide the longest and most labor-intensive “seed” stage into the following sub-items:
pre-seed
In short: you have an idea for a startup and you think about it.
The ideal team: a startup founder (that’s you, the future entrepreneur), an idea, and fans.
Tasks:
create a product idea or hypothesis
find followers
"polish" the idea
The period of the product idea birth is the time to find an “army of fans”, no matter that the product does not exist yet. Do not be afraid to tell your idea, fearing that it will be stolen – no one will realize the dream better than its creator. At the same time, be modest and independent. Then the followers may become business angels and invest money in your startup.
seed
In short: the concept is ready, fans have been found, and the main stage begins – creating a business plan.
Ideal team: startup founder + business analyst.
Tasks:
set goals
analyze the market
identify and study the client
prove demand for the product
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 3 - image
A crucial stagestartup, it was not for nothing that Captain Vrungel said: "As you name a yacht, so it will sail." The better you see the prospects of the business, the more confident you will be in your actions. The narrower the target audience you choose, the more likely the demand for the product will be. Be attentive at this stage and do not be lazy to work through each point.
MVP
In short: it’s time to make a basic version of the startup, or MVP – minimum viable product.
The point is that instead of implementing a grand idea with maximum functionality, investing everything that has been accumulated into the implementation, it is better to develop a basic version with the most necessary functionality - release it to the world, and only then tweak it. The SCRUM development methodology is ideal here (read more in the article).
Ideal team: startup founder, business analyst + product developers (3-5 people).
Tasks:
create a technical specification (a diagram that illustrates the content and interface elements of the future product)
create an offer
adopt the most promising directions
develop MVPstartup
start up
analyze the result
With MVP, it’s easy to test an idea or hypothesis with the least amount of time and capital. Don’t let your startup fail just because you abandoned MVP.
There is no right or right number of users at the beginning of your startup. The main thing is to have enough of them, so that you can constantly move and see which people like your product and use it, and which ones abandon it. Morgan Brown
product-market fit & product-channel fit
In short: the MVP is gaining momentum chinese singapore b2c cell phone number data and you are entering the market on your own.
The ideal team: startup founder, marketer, developers + client manager and tester.
Tasks:
develop a marketing strategy
find your narrow niche in the market
countNet Promoter Score, if it is above 8, then everything is fine, if below, then reconsider the marketing strategy
build an initial customer base
language-market fit – figure out how to talk about a product so that customers accept and understand the message
conduct usability testing
The marketer plays a big role at other stages as well.promoting a startup, but this stage is its finest hour. The main task is to do everything so that as many target audiences as possible learn about your product, so that before the launch, users are already eagerly awaiting the launch.
death of valley
In short: investments and cash deposits have been made, but there is no profit yet.
The ideal team: a startup founder and everyone who has money.
Tasks:
accumulate resources before launching the product
support a startup while making money from additional work
use money from FFF (family, friends, fools) - people who believe in you and who "don't mind" investing at least a little in your startup)
intensively search for business angels (people who invest small amounts of money, but actively help to establish the “right” connections) and venture funds (companies that attract finance, evaluate the prospects of a project and then invest money)
take out loans, apply for grants
"Death Valley" is a crucial stage for you as a leader. Take risks!
Use any of the tasks, if it doesn't work, move on to another. Yes, during a "crisis" in a startup, it is difficult to find investors, but it is possible. In addition, if you are already famous and loved, turn to rich admirers for financial help. Getting out of the "Valley of Death" is vital, because otherwise your startup will dry up without ever blossoming.
2 Launch
Briefly about the stage: product launch and intensive work on brand promotion.
Ideal team: startup founder, marketer, developers, client manager, tester + lawyer, accountant.
promote the product vigorously
be aware of legal issues such as brand registration
conduct thorough testing, optimization and bug fixing
improve both the product and the brand of the company and, especially, its leaders
look for investors again
You've been waiting for this for maybe half a year and finally got it - the product launch. You've dealt with everything that concerns a startup exclusively, the worst is already behind you. But don't get too cocky, there are still many difficulties ahead.
Startup Life Cycle: From Zero to Hero - 4 - image
3 Scale
Briefly about the stage: growth and expansion of the startup.
The ideal team in the last two stages grows along with the development of the startup and changes depending on its direction.
Tasks:
hire cool specialists
constantly look for new niches, market funnels, target audiences
to form a corporate culture
About the last two stages we will say the following – keep moving & believing and everything will work out.
4 Maturity
Briefly about the stage: the stage of maturity and the beginning of a regular business.
Tasks:
delegate control
expand staff, office
look for opportunities to open a branch abroad
create localized teams for more efficient results
continue to grow and develop
Growth never stops. LinkedIn is almost 20 years old and they continue to grow and experiment. The same goes for Facebook, which has over a billion users. It doesn't stop, it buys apps, runs tests. It's not just a checkbox and move on. Morgan Brown