Marketing in Product UI

Just got myself a Tata Photon+. Was rather surprised when I saw the Interface for the first time. Here's a screenie of how it looks.



The two images on the left and right turn out to be hyperlinks to this page - which keeps giving me a 'Connection Timed Out'!

Now then, the fact that I am seeing the UI of your product/service means that I have already bought your product/service (if not all, then at least in most cases). Even if I have not, at least I am in a position to click on 'Connect' - and check out the product myself. Basically, I (as a user) am in a stage where my (repeat) purchase would depend more on your product/service performance - and the claims on the left and right ends of the interface - if anything, are only going to annoy me whenever the service fails to live upto my expectations.

And if you still insist on inserting your ad images in your own product UI, then please put high resolution images so that at least the text is legible :P

Angels in the Crowd

Of late there has been a growing buzz in the early stage investments space – lots of seed stage funds, incubators and entrepreneur mentoring platforms have come up – which is definitely a very encouraging sign. An interesting innovation in this area is the advent of crowd funding platforms for startups, which – simply put – allow the crowd (people like you and me) to participate in the early stage funding process. [You can give GrowVC a whirl in case you haven’t already – a global platform that connects entrepreneurs with funders and mentors. Another similar example is AngelList. In a way, SecondMarket also allows one to get a piece of the pie of private unlisted firms, although it is more of secondary sale]

Crowd funding for startups is undoubtedly an exciting phenomenon – as it turns the traditional investing model on its head – wherein typically the ‘smaller’ investor comes in only when the company becomes ‘larger’ – large enough to have got listed on a stock exchange with all the regulatory hurdles cleared – thus making sure that the ‘small’ investor’s interest is safeguarded (as it is not efficient for people like you and me to perform a thorough due diligence of a company to invest an amount as small as say Rs. 10,000.).

The big plus of such a concept is for the startups themselves – they get a platform to showcase their product/service, and also a forum where they can get a general perception of how good their business model is according to the ‘crowd’ (Although the ‘crowd’ – who are mostly investors – may not really be the ‘end customers’ for the startups – so it is possible that even the ‘crowd’ may not be able to appreciate the solution that the startup is intending to provide). Not to forget, of course, the main objective – which is to get themselves some funding!

From the funders’ point of view, apart from being an opportunity for ‘small’ investor to be part of the early stage investment space, it also creates a pool for early stage funds to build a pipeline of deal flow.

There are big challenges to be overcome though. For one, the platforms have to strike the right balance between the following two extremes
- Potential investors ending up NOT investing in startups – because it may not make sense to invest a lot of time to study the startup/entrepreneur/ business model – given the amount they want to invest is so small [As against, angels/seed stage funds – who spend a lot of time to understand the startup and the entrepreneur, but also invest a substantial amount]
- Potential investors following a herd mentality – and ending up (frivolously?) investing small amounts, but in large numbers [GroupOn/Facebook Valuations on SecondMarket?]

Moreover, the Capital Market regulators would also come into picture – making the regulatory environment more stringent (which is of course, good in a way!) [The SEC has already shown its inquisitiveness towards the SecondMarket transactions!]

We have already seen the rise and (relative) fall of the Microfinance industry. We probably need to keep a check to make sure the ‘Microequity’ concept sees a comparatively smooth sailing.

The 'Stop Loss' Trigger

Comparing starting your own venture with an investment in the stock market is not fair at all. But, there is one concept in the stock market jargon that I feel has some significance for an entrepreneur. A ‘stop loss’ – in simple terms – is a valuable tool (trader’s can’t do without it – but novice investors unfortunately do not use it that often) which helps you keep a cap on the losses. So in case you buy a stock for Rs 100 with the (obvious) expectation that the stock price will rise after you buy it, and unfortunately some event occurs which your diligent analysis could obviously not predict (disturbance in Libya / 2G scam / your investee company’s CEO quits), a stop loss at say Rs 90 would have helped you to keep the possible losses in check.

Coming back to our analogy, a stop loss is essentially an acceptance that as an investor, I could be wrong – and in case I am wrong, rather than throwing good money after bad (‘averaging down’ as is the tendency with many investors) – I might be better off cutting my losses. Thus, for an entrepreneur, a stop loss (and here the loss is not just a ‘capital loss’, but also a lot of ‘time’ and ‘emotional’ loss – which is far more heartbreaking) would be deciding at what time to stop pursuing the idea in case things are not shaping up as expected. In the startup where I worked before, we kept hopping from developing one product to another as we realized why our products may not work. I wonder if it was insufficient analysis of the market or a ‘conformation bias’ that stopped us from quitting early (or not getting into it at all). Similar is the case with one of my close friends who started with something which did not work out and then did something totally different and now he is into something entirely different as compared to the earlier two ventures.

A sense (and the guts) to accept you are wrong is important. Though it might sound like ‘quitting’ (which is generally not taken in a positive sense), you at least live to fight another day!

Cross posted on IdeaBing