I served in two startup accelerator programs as a mentor. I’ve seen some things in my time as a Mentor. A lot of it made me shift my thinking, and made me move further away from the typical way things are done in the startup accelerator community. Mainly because it fostered a vibe of getting the funding by any means necessary, without regard to the long term strategy to keep the company going past startup. And because of that mentality, I’ve seen a fair share of companies shut down, even after getting funding. It was avoidable.
In the startup world, mostly tech, there has been a mad dash to get to releasing the MVP or minimum viable product. That meant whatever it was, however it was, accelerators and mentors would rush a founder to get it out there in the best, quick release version. Accelerator leaders and mentors rushed them on usually a 90 day timeline to get it out quick. It didn’t have to be perfect, just minimally ready to present to the world.
But that lead to underwhelming products or bloated products with very little time for quality testing. Sometimes founders would score funding, most times not. But at least it was out there for consumption, flaws and all. Then after the newness of the product wore off, it left consumers/users feeling like “meh, what’s next”. I’ve seen many of these founders in my days as a mentor close up shop because they weren’t guided much beyond startup and that MVP. That’s part of the reason I started Mogul Chix® Academy. They would go hard for three months, take the advice and scrutiny, sometimes with in-fighting in their own camps, and stress out until demo day. It would be all about getting a yes and a check.
A lot of times, these founders were so in awe of their own creations, they didn’t take the time to experience it themselves, or even test from an end user’s perspective. They didn’t take the time to understand what the triggers and touch points were that lead customers to take further action. They didn’t take the time to find out what messaging resonated with them best, or if there would be additional messaging that would resonate in additional markets. And they didn’t plan ahead to what happens next. This was unfortunate.
Creating valuable experiences will take a founder a lot further than a product can. Experiences register differently with people in a way a product won’t. I’ll use something personal to me, and yes, I know it’s not tech related, so just roll with me for a minute.
For instance, I love shoes. Some would say I’m an addict, and they wouldn’t be wrong. I know for the kind of shoes I like there are many retailers I can go to on and offline. So I’m not loyal to any one retailer and I’m not merely moved because they have the shoes I want. But if I were to receive special privileges for being part of their mailing list that could entice me into a particular store that sells those particular shoes, I will be much more inclined to become a loyal repeat customer. Think in-store foot massages, pedicures, in-house fashion show giving me a sneak peek at the new collection, private shopping session, etc. Those are things that capture my attention. Those are experiences that I would appreciate and always remember…and they would keep me, as a customer, coming back. I would be hooked on the “what’s next?”.
I know, but what does this have to do with tech startups and founders? Everything, when we’re talking about experience.
When a founder and/or company knows how to speak to me, I listen. When they take the time to learn my shopping or usage habits and try to design a better experience for me to use their product, I take notice. When they make the effort to come into the spaces I frequent, I’m showing up a little more. What I’ve seen over the past several years is a rush to put out these apps and services that most times fall flat after the initial hype, which leads to the subsequent closing of or total redirection of the company that created it. I’m not saying there hasn’t been any innovation. Quite the contrary. But even some of those apps, platforms and sites that came out the gate like gang busters and had tremendous support managed to get a collective yawn from the masses when they couldn’t build on top of that initial MVP momentum.
Look, tech is a long game. If you’re not constantly looking to bring the next iteration of your product, if you’re not listening to and studying your customer, if you’re not keeping your head on swivel so you don’t miss the next wave of innovation, your company is doomed to end up in the tech trash heap. Everyone can’t be the first mover in technology. And not everyone can maintain that lead in tech. There is only one Apple. One Microsoft. One Google. One Canva. And if these companies didn’t constantly try to improve on their technologies, we would be asking who? when people mentioned their names. And AI has come in and completely changed the game. So tech companies have no choice but to step up their game.
Some people may disagree with me and that’s OK. Commit to putting the customer first and providing a valuable experience instead of trying to rush to market with something new and shiny. I promise there would be less failed startups and happier, loyal customers.
Adrienne Graham
CEO|Founder
Mogul Chix®
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