On 14th June, a workshop on “How to build a Rock Star product” was held to equip entrepreneurs with a better understanding of what is a good product development process, furnish them with the latest news on product design and the know-how on the relationship between Scrum-based development and key business decisions. Speakers included Tanguy Lesselin of Cartouche, Andy Marks and Xiaodan Wang of ThoughtWorks. The workshop was co-organized with SGE.
Check out the key learning points generously contributed by the speakers from the workshop:
Tanguy Lesselin
Work Lean and Agile from the start to get fast to Product-Market Fit (in other words, admit from the start that you may be wrong with regards to your business and product vision)
Try to make sound business decisions with your product plan by thinking in terms of potential ROI
Aim at simplifying your product instead of just adding new features Read more
Having a Rock Star Product is a starting point for almost anything else. It attracts customers, investors, candidates, partners and the rest. The reality is that less than 0.1% of start-up projects get big, and that they each spend 80% of their cash and time on product development.
So how can you maximize your chances get to the KillerProduct fast? The answers lies partly in “Lean Start-up” and “Agile Development“. This is what the next workshop will be all about.
Whether you are a business founder or cofounder, or a technical or UX guy, if you want
To have a better understanding of what is a good product development process
To get the latest views and top worldwide experts on product development and product design
To know how Scrum based development relates to key business decisions
And you:
Have already developed a prototype or even a version 3 of your product/service
Tanguy Lesselin, a serial entrepreneur who has launched and financed companies in content management software, innovative e-commerce, and online services, as well as an angel investor will first make the introduction on the subject and tackle the CEO’s perspective on what makes a good product and how to decide on a product roadmap.
Then, his two invitees Xiaodan Wang and Andy Marks, senior Singapore consultants from ThoughtWorks, who are among the best experts in the world to talk about Agile development and User Interface Design will share their most updated thinking and practical advice with you on this issue.
Through technical, Product Design and Business perspective, they will help you crack critical questions like:
Considerations for Product Design by Xiaodan Wang:
What defines a good product and why good design ensures the product’s success?
How to do quick’n'dirty user testing and prototypes to get the information you need?
How to find good designers?
Speed versus Quality: Technical trade-offs for Startups by Andy Marks
Why is time-to-market so crucial if you are working for a startup ?
How does that necessity inform your technical decision making?
Which technical decisions can have immediate, near-term and long-term impact on your ability to evolve, pivot and scale your application?
How to invest sensibly in software quality?
How to responsibly delay technical decisions in times of uncertainty?
At the end of the session, we’ll also have a Q&A session with both Tanguy and the ThoughtWorks’ team.
Event details
When: Thursday, 14 June 2012
Time: 6:30PM -8:00PM
Price: $45 $0 – subsidized by Microsoft!
Where: Level 22 CF-12, Microsoft Singapore, One Marina Boulevard, NTUC Centre – Singapore 018989
The session is subsidized by Microsoft. If you are interested, kindly register your interest. If you’re a startup that doesn’t fit the target as above, your registration may still be considered. As the number of participants is limited (we had over 80 attendees for the two previous sessions: “How to fire up your dream team” and “How the hell can we raise money”), we will come back to you within 48h to confirm your attendance.
Speakers’ biographies:
Xiaodan Wang:
Xiaodan Wang is a leading Experience Design consultant with ThoughtWorks Singapore. Prior to this she worked at Yahoo! and Microsoft on full life cycles of multiple international online products. She has extensive experience in iterative and user-centric design, and has a track record of improving KPIs for multi-lingual websites through in-depth market knowledge and understanding of local users. Besides her internet work, Xiaodan also published an interior design book “Contemporary China” with UK publisher Thames & Hudson, and is the co-author of book “London”, published in Shanghai, China.
Andy Marks:
Andy Marks is a 10-year veteran of ThoughtWorks and Technical Principal for the Singapore office, having previously been Market Technical Lead for the Melbourne and Perth offices in Australia. Andy has significant experience leading, coaching and working in Agile software development teams. In his various roles within ThoughtWorks, he has been involved in solution delivery, coaching, mentoring teams
Tanguy Lesselin:
Back in 2003, Tanguy Lesselin had already co-founded, built, raised 6M Euros in venture financing, and sold the first company Tekora (web content management software) to a listed company. He then went on to start another one, CV Premium that became profitable from year two onwards and still enables executive job seekers to get help writing their resumes today. Tanguy’s third company, Sokoz, was the first live shopping platform back in 2008. It earned industry and media recognition, got 150K active members in just 6 months, and 350 high-end brands and pro-sellers operating on the platform. Tanguy raised 2M Euros from business angels and was nominated e-commerce manager of the year in 2010 by the leading e-commerce magazine in France. Today, Tanguy is working on a stealth startup in Singapore and also invests as a business angel.
Team, Big Market, Product, Business Model, Traction, Revenues, Unfair Competitive Advantage… What are investors really looking for? How much money are they willing to bet on your idea, product, company? At what valuation? What is the real “cost” of raising money? How can you maximize your chances of raising money?
If you have ever wondered:
• if you could and should raise serious money
• how to make your company look good to investors
• what the investment process looks like
And you:
• Have already been selling your product/service for 6-12 months
• Have 3-30 people teams
• Are struggling with accelerating your companies’ growth,
Supported by Microsoft and co-organized by SGE and Tanguy Lesselin, a serial entrepreneur who has launched and financed companies in content management software, innovative e-commerce, and online services, as well as an angel investor, this session will see Tanguy share real life experiences, best practices and resources to help solve questions like:
• How much do you need? How much can you reasonably get? At what kind of valuation?
• What are the different investor categories? Which ones should you target?
• What are investors looking for?
• What does “investor-ready” really mean?
• Practically speaking, how do you raise funds in Singapore?
• What are the terms you want to avoid most?
To add to Tanguy Lesselin’s rich experience, an outstanding invitee, Leslie Loh, Managing Partner at Red Dot Ventures and Partner at Extream Ventures, board member of Spring Singapore, and an outstandingly successful entrepreneur, will be there to share with you his investment criteria (also check out a short video interview with Leslie by SGE at JFDI.asia’s Demo Day)
At the end, we’ll also have a Q&A section where SGE‘s Isaac, will place both Tanguy and Leslie on the firing line.
Event details
When: Thursday, 24 May 2012
Time: 6:00PM -7:30PM
Price: $45 $0 – subsidized by Microsoft!
Where: Level 22 CF-12, Microsoft Singapore, One Marina Boulevard, NTUC Centre – Singapore 018989
The session is subsidized by Microsoft. If you are interested, kindly register your interest. If you’re a startup that doesn’t fit the target as above, your registration may still be considered. As the number of participants is limited (we had 80 attendees for the previous session and many had to stand), we will come back to you within 48h to confirm your attendance.
Leslie Loh is General & Limited Partner at Red Dot Ventures, an incubator and at Extream Venture, a venture fund with joint investment from National Research Foundation Singapore targeting early stage technology startups in Singapore.
Mr. Loh is also currently a board member of SPRING Singapore and was an IDA Board Member (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore) for 2 terms from 1999 to 2003. He has always found time to contribute to entrepreneurial and ICT development in Singapore and has been invited as judges to various awards committee including ASME Entrepreneurial of the Year and National Infocomm Awards.
After graduating from Saint Mary’s University, Canada, in 1982 with a bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Information Technology, Mr. Loh co-founded in 1983 and was the Chairman and the CEO of System Access which turned from a one-man outfit to a publicly listed global banking software organization with 10 offices and 500 staff in Europe, Middle East and Asia before being acquired by SunGard Data Systems INC, USA, a leading global financial services software provider.
Mr. Loh has been awarded many times for his success as an entrepreneur: selected Winner of the ASME Rotary Entrepreneur of the Year in Singapore in 1998, he received the National Youth Award (Individual) in 1999 and, in 2006, he was awarded “Person of The Year” IT Leader Award by the Singapore Computer Society.
Mr. Loh also chairs the board for several of his investee companies including Lithan Education Group and Just Commodity Software Solutions.
Tanguy Lesselin
Back in 2003, Tanguy Lesselin had already co-founded, built, raised 6M Euros in venture financing, and sold the first company Tekora (web content management software) to a listed company. He then went on to start another one, CV Premium that became profitable from year two onwards and still enables executive job seekers to get help writing their resumes today. Tanguy’s third company, Sokoz, was the first live shopping platform back in 2008. It earned industry and media recognition, got 150K active members in just 6 months, and 350 high-end brands and pro-sellers operating on the platform. Tanguy raised 2M Euros from business angels and was nominated e-commerce manager of the year in 2010 by the leading e-commerce magazine in France. Today, Tanguy is working on a stealth startup in Singapore and also invests as a business angel.
VCs will almost always invest in a “A-Team with a B-idea” over a “B-team with an A-idea”. But team building is often one of the hardest things any founder must do in a startup, with the next hardest thing being keeping the team going. Losing your star employees could be a big morale drainer and in a startup, can severely cripple it.
If you have ever:
• Wondered about the founding team equity structure and its maintenance over time
• Intended to build and retain a high caliber team and minimize recruiting mistakes
• Struggled to increase your team efficiency and velocity
And you:
• Have already been selling your product/service for 6-12 months
• Have 2-10 people teams
• Are struggling with accelerating your companies’ growth,
then you may be interested in attending the first session of a new program designed to help you get fresh and actionable perspectives on some of the most difficult questions you will have to tackle.
Supported by Microsoft and co-organized by SGE and Tanguy Lesselin, a serial entrepreneur who has launched and financed companies in content management software, innovative e-commerce, and online services, as well as an angel investor, this session will see Tanguy share real life experiences, best practices and resources to help solve questions like:
• How to manage your equity structure over time (founders, co-founders, employees)?
• What are the top clauses to put in a shareholder agreement with regards to co-founders?
• How can you structure an employee equity incentive plan?
• How to attract, choose the best people and convince them to join?
• How to design the most time-efficient recruiting process?
• What are the top recipes to foster your team spirit and motivation?
• When should you fire, and how to do it?
To add to Tanguy Lesselin’s rich experience, an outstanding invitee, Goh Yiping, a serial entrepreneur behind companies like World Indigo, Human Network Labs and AllDealsAsia, will be there to share with you how she managed to repeatedly build successful teams.
At the end, we’ll also have a Q&A section where SGE‘s chief editor, Gwendolyn, will place both Tanguy and Yiping on the firing line.
Event details
Date: Thursday, 10 May 2012
Time: 6:00PM -7:30PM
Price: $45 $0 – subsidized by Microsoft!
Venue: Level 22 CF-12, Microsoft Singapore, One Marina Boulevard, NTUC Centre – Singapore 018989
The session is subsidized by Microsoft. If you are interested, kindly register your interest. If you’re a startup that doesn’t fit the target as above, your registration may still be considered. As the number of participants is limited, we will come back to you within 48h to confirm your attendance.
Since 2003, Goh Yiping has been creating and running successful new ventures in wireless and web & mobile technology industries. Her skills for creating and assisting local start-ups in Singapore have been fostered when she was Managing director in INI-Novation, specialized in developing commercialization strategies, and have been proved with the successful companies she created. Among others, World Indigo, that she created in 2004, won the prestigious National Startup@Singapore Business Plan Competition and raised over S$350k of seed funding at a time when fundraising was still relatively nascent. Human Networks Labs that she created in 2007 provides an innovative technology platform called PixieSense.
And, best of all, All Deals Asia, created in 2010 has become South East Asia’s first and largest one stop deal aggregation portal. It has more than 300,000 registered subscribers and 100,000 Facebook group members and, when it launched the first deal aggregator iPhone app in January 2012, this app has made it into the top three in the lifestyle category within two days of the launch.
Specialized in Mobile Technologies and Business development, she is besides on the Executive Committee Board of Mobile Alliance Singapore, the leading association driving and championing Mobile Applications in Singapore.
Tanguy Lesselin
Back in 2003, Tanguy Lesselin had already co-founded, built, raised 6M Euros in venture financing, and sold the first company Tekora (web content management software) to a listed company. He then went on to start another one, CV Premium that became profitable from year two onwards and still enables executive job seekers to get help writing their resumes today. Tanguy’s third company, Sokoz, was the first live shopping platform back in 2008. It earned industry and media recognition, got 150K active members in just 6 months, and 350 high-end brands and pro-sellers operating on the platform. Tanguy raised 2M Euros from business angels and was nominated e-commerce manager of the year in 2010 by the leading e-commerce magazine in France. Today, Tanguy is working on a stealth startup in Singapore and also invests as a business angel.
Along his entrepreneurial journey, Tanguy has had first-hand experience forming and building teams – with that come the difficult tasks of attracting the best people and getting the most from them in every kind of situation.
The Bootcamp is a technology startup accelerator program in Singapore (part of the Global Accelerator Network) where participants build a prototype within 100 days. Demo Day was on 4th May, 2012.
On 14th June, a workshop on “How to build a Rock Star product” was held to equip entrepreneurs with a better understanding of what is a good product development process, furnish them with the latest news on product design and the know-how on the relationship between Scrum-based development and key business decisions. Speakers included Tanguy Lesselin of Cartouche, Andy Marks and Xiaodan Wang of ThoughtWorks. The workshop was co-organized with SGE.
Team, Big Market, Product, Business Model, Traction, Revenues, Unfair Competitive Advantage… What are investors really looking for? How much money are they willing to bet on your idea, product, company? At what valuation? What is the real “cost” of raising money? How can you maximize your chances of raising money?
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