1st presentation to ProductCamp Austin on February 23rd, 2019. The presentation covered the lifecycle of Live Athlete, a SaaS startup that never found product-market fit.

1. A Case Study
By Darren Smith
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2. In Kind

3. Objective of
Case Study
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● Timelines
● Evaluating Through
PM Lense
● Lean Startup
● Belief vs. Belief

4. Personal Timeline:
June 2015 - Certified as NFL Agent
September 2017 - Started Coding
Bootcamp at UT
April 2018 - Finished Bootcamp
September 2018 - PM Course at
General Assembly
February 2019 - ProductCamp
Live Athlete Timeline:
Jan 2015 - Founded
April 2016 - 1st Draft
October 2016 - Kerby Lane Incident
January 2017 - Pivot to App
October 2018 - Pivot to LEAN
December 2018 - Shuttered
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5. Hypothesis
By creating an online destination for athletes to research,
connect with, and contract with industry pros, Live Athlete will
become the defacto source for everyone involved in the
process of helping athletes reach the professional levels.
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6. Question
Does Your Personal
Experience Translate
Universally?
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7. ● 21 year old Football Player
at Drake University
● Wants to get drafted, but
knows he is a long shot.
● Is actively trying to find
Sports Industry Pros to help
him get to the NFL.
● Has passion and
persistence.
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Grant Montana John Steinberg
● Newly registered NFL
Agent
● Does not have the backing
of a large agency
● Needs help finding athletes
who want to be signed
● Has the money to spend on
marketing, training, and
more. Just needs a shot.
Chuck Weider
● Small Training Facility in
Louisiana
● Wants to get into NFL
Combine training
● Needs help finding athletes
to train
● Has the expertise to run a
great problem, but lacks
brand awareness

8. Answer
Only If User Research
Validates That Assumption
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9. Question
How Big is Your Market?
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10. ● >1M people in the USA
● > 50k Serviceable Market
● > 5-10k Market Share
How Big is The Market
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11. Answer
Critically Evaluate Market
with Real Facts
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12. Question?
If You Build It, They Will
Come!
Right?
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13. 13

14. Answer
Don’t Build or Spend Money
Run Lean
Ex: Poppy App
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15. 15
Building a Startup is
About Solving a
Problem - Avni Patel
Thompson of Poppy
https://youtu.be/0W5Jaip5_-g

16. Question?
Who Are Your Competitors?
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17. Answer
Consider All Possible
Competitors Including Doing
Nothing.
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18. Instagram Direct Message
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19. Question
What Can You Launch and Still
Charge Money?
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20. 20

21. Answer
Users Will Only Pay if You
Deliver Measurable Value.
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22. Question
Do Your Users Want or Need
Your Product?
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23. Industry pros from across the sports landscape become paid
members and athletes regularly engage with Live Athlete to
research and find industry pros to advance their careers.
Product / Market Fit
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24. Answer
They Better Give a Shit or You
Will be Shit Out of Luck.
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25. Question
Are You The Right Person to
Lead This Product?
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26. Answer
I HOPE SO!
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27. Failures of Live Athlete
● We didn’t know or apply Agile Methodologies
● Would have been much faster development cycle with Lean
Startup thinking
● There was no Build-Measure-Learn
● Did not trust obvious feedback or lack thereof
● Pursued Full Featured “MVP” rather than true “MVP”
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28. Belief in Self vs. Belief in Product
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29. In Kind

30. Thank You !
www.LinkedIn.com/in/DarrenMSmith
Or scan QR for LinkedIn Profile
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Darren Smith
www.Dar.ren
Smith@Dar.ren