7-step Process to Launch a Startup
Most early-stage founders fail for 1 reason. They use the wrong process. But here is the good news:
Hello
This is Pierre, co-founder of Reddot.
Today I am sharing our 7-step process to launch a startup in 2 weeks.
How to find the right offer idea
The 1st factor in an early-stage startup's success
The 5-step Framework to craft your value proposition
The MAYA concept to imagine a product
How we built the MVP with 5 tools
The 1-1-3-1 rule for a high-converting landing page
The Alpha launch concept (4 ingredients)
Quick intro
Everything shared here is based on our methodology. We build startups and lead them to product-market fit for 1 reason:
So we stay in shape to get the same results for our clients.
Our latest project is lnchr.
The tool helps early stage founders to produce marketing assets to test fast (ads, emails, pages). Read the announcement post here.
Step 1 - Start from a problem
“How to find the right offer idea”
Most founders start with a solution, but after investing months or even years and a lot of money, they may realize that their offer doesn't solve any real problem.
As a result, their company fails. Instead, you should start with a problem.
Here's how we did it:
As a growth marketing agency, we meet with 10 early-stage founders every week. We often hear comments like:
'We need to test, but we can't afford it.’
Here's how you can do it:
Choose a specific industry and a niche that you love.
Analyze the key players in this niche (your audience).
Ask them questions about their work or life.
Identify a real problem that everyone faces.
Ensure that it's at least a 4 on the scale below.
Congratulations, you've found a pain point!
From now on, your mission is to find a solution to this problem.
Step 2 - Analyze the market
The 1st factor in an early-stage startup's success
The 1st factor of success before the product or the team is the market. If there is huge market demand, there will be growth. Here’s another way to put it:
“If you are selling hot dogs, don’t try to make the best mustard. Instead, look for a starving crowd”
Don’t worry, I will not leave you here with this famous quote. Here are 2 tools to analyze your market trends.
SEMRush: Enter your keyword and discover the volume of research. You can also see related keywords, questions, and articles to study further.
Get a SEMRush 14-day PRO Trial (instead of 7) with my link: http://bit.ly/41bEpHI
At the end of this exercise, you’ll:
Validate or invalidate the interest in your solution
Know the best country to launch it
Understand your audience’s behaviors
At Reddot, we’ve developed a 4-step market intelligence process that we use with Fortune 500 companies. Contact me if you are interested.
Step 3 - Craft the value proposition
The 5-step Framework to craft your value proposition
Here is a process to define your value proposition:
Define the pain point your offer is solving (cf part 1)
Define your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Write your audience’s dream outcome
List what your offer does
Craft your value proposition with 1 exercise;
Use 3 blocks:
Company X helps ICP
to (dream outcome)
with (offer)
6. We also suggest you add a strong hook to grab your audience’s attention.
Step 4 - Build your product’s concept
The MAYA concept to imagine a product
MAYA is a product design concept “Most Advanced. Yet Acceptable”. It was invented by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Your new product should be innovative but not so different from existing products. Otherwise, people won’t understand and use it.
How we did:
We analyzed the SAAS platforms out there used by marketers. This includes analyzing social listening, outbound, and even accounting tools. Based on this benchmark, we highlighted the key principles and components of a good platform.
What you should do:
Benchmark the alternatives to your product
Analyze what they offer and the user interface
Determine what is the “yet acceptable”
It’s mostly used for products but you can also use the same concept for services. Don’t create a service too complex.
Step 5 - Create your Minimum Viable Product
How we built the MVP with 5 tools
With our method, the goal is to validate a hypothesis. It's not to build a perfect product and be 100% profitable from day one. So you need to adapt your development process accordingly.
The best way to do this is to use no-code tools and APIs.
Here are the five tools we used to create lnchr:
Webflow: $15
OpenAI: $20
Wized: $20 + 3% on transaction fees
Xano: $60
Stripe: 2% on transaction fees
"We connected Wized to a Webflow dashboard template. This allowed us to have real application capabilities with a light setup. We plugged our tool into OpenAI for intelligence and used a simple database called Xano."
Here's an illustration of how to build an MVP:
Step 6 - Build your landing page
The 1-1-3-1 rule for a high-converting landing page
There are several rules for building a high-converting landing page, but my favorite is the 1-1-3-1 rule. It explains the main goal of the page: to hook one target audience with one main message.
That's why it's important to know your audience and decide on one message.
The 1-1-3-1 rule is as follows:
1 audience
1 main message
3 benefits
1 call to action
Here's an example of how to use the 1-1-3-1 rule for Lnchr:
Audience: Early-stage founders
Main message: Create high-quality marketing campaigns in seconds to test and iterate faster with the power of AI.
Benefits: Save time, gain an edge over competitors, and achieve faster results.
Call to action: Register for free.
Here's an extra note from Alain:
"Build one page per core value proposition. Keep it simple. You can improve it later. The page needs to be clear and explain how it will help users achieve their desired outcomes. KEEP IT SIMPLE."
Step 7 - Launch your Alpha offer
The Alpha launch concept (4 ingredients)
The alpha launch is the first phase of a product launch cycle. You need four ingredients for a successful Alpha:
Your Minimum Viable Product (already tested with internal members)
Promotion
An announcement to your target audience
An angle
Steps 1 and 2 are straightforward. You need to publish your MVP with a discount ranging from 50-70%.
Now, let’s focus on the announcement. Your goal is to identify a channel where you can communicate with your target audience. Here is a list of five ways:
A LinkedIn post (this is how we did it)
Posting on Reddit - perfect for crypto or gaming
Running Facebook ads with a -70% discount
Using Appsumo if your MVP is advanced
Publishing short videos on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts
The important thing is to share your story from the right angle. You are talking to a specific audience, so craft a message that resonates with them.
Share why you started the project, how you plan to solve their pain points, and explain how you’ll bring them closer to achieving their desired outcome.
Thanks for reading this newsletter!
Reddot is a Growth Marketing agency focused on Go-to-Market and generating revenue.
We use a sprint methodology to test and scale your revenue.
Get more information on our website or contact us.
Hi. What's your 4-step market intelligence process? I pick huge or 3 client niches. I'm doing something wrong. Not sure what exactly =)))