To help describe the route I’m intending over the coming months I’ll try to cater for different learning styles, especially both right and left brain thinkers, so I’m going to lean on an excellent concept being developed by Peter Hilton (@PeterHilton) of Lunatech Ventures currently. The Plancruncher website is here.
Having been inspired by the simplicity of the Creative Commons icons they’ve created a series of images that could be used to cover-note business plan Executive Summaries. They’ve identified seven standard sections of a plan within which the writer can summarise their offering (the team, the idea, the product/service, the revenue model, funding requirements, partnership requirements and the return on investment detail). Here’s Peter’s full presentation.
Now I’m not looking to summarise my business plan for a pitch just yet but I should be able to use the model to show the position I’m in today, the position I’m looking to get to when funding will be a requirement and a mid-way step in between. So here goes:
Phase 1
- The product is vapourware (no working demo or prototype)
- There is no team (it’s just me)
- The idea is new and is going to take the world by storm
- The founder is an ambitious and wildly enthusiastic entrepreneur
- There is an elevator pitch that receives great feedback wherever it’s rolled out
Phase 2
- The product is a combination of several well proven concepts
- We are building the product ourselves
- We’re open-source through and through (both technologically and culturally – see earlier post)
- We have a prototype that is invite-only to allow us to manage load and receive valuable early feedback
- We are bootstrapping (self-funded) and are extremely careful with our expenses and costs (as we always will be as long as I’m involvd)
Phase 3
- There is a main revenue stream with more in the pipeline (none are advertising-based)
- We have developed the product and own all the IP
- We have a working product live on the internet
- The community is our #1 asset and we treat them accordingly. Network effects are present and we’re heading for critical mass
- We are looking for funding in return for a share of equity
So there we go, I hope that gives you more of an idea of where I’m going with this. Priority #1 at the moment is to turn this from an “I” to a “We” so early next week I’ll be launching my recruitment campaign.
When I have built a team I intend for us to work out together the details of how we’re going to get from Phase 1 to Phase 2. I’ll be sure to let you know how I get on.
Coming soon — launch of the recruitment campaign, early progress
