2. Koen Stevens
koen@bubobox.com
www.bubobox.com
About me
Software Engineer/Master E-Business
Previous owner web content management and
online video company (internet entrepreneur)
Word-Of-Mouth Director BuboBox
4. BuboBox Timeline
Team Prototype First client Market
Research
for different
verticals
Closed seed
round (625k)
5. Running lean at night
The Four Steps to
the Epiphany
(Steve Blank)
The Lean Startup
(Eric Ries)
Running Lean
(Ash Maurya)
6. To lean or not to lean, that’s the question
Lean Startup Customer Development
Verticals 1 or limited multiple
Sales cycle short long
Sales process Online Offline
Customer type SMB Larger customers
Opportunity Normal Audacious
7. Definition of 'Market Research'
Market research is any
organized effort
to gather information
about target markets or
customers
9. Market Research: online tools (1/2)
Identify trends: Google Trends/Zeitgeist, Adwords
Market Research: Gartner, Forrester Reporting, Surveys, Customer
Development (also see Lean Startup later)
Marketing plans: go-to-market action plan
SWOT: f.e. MindTools template SWOT Matrix
Location Analysis: Google Maps, Google 3D,
Internationalization: virtual offices (ex. iMinds GoGlobal program)
10. Market Research: online tools (2/2)
Competitive Analysis: LinkedIn, Job postings competitors, Magic
Quadrant (Gartner), Rivalmap.com, Engagor.com
Target Market Analysis: Market size, total addressable market
(TAM): bottom-up & top-down (based on research)
(Inter)national competitors: Crunchbase (part of TechCrunch),
LinkedIn, Blogs, Google Alerts, Twitter search terms
(“Know your competition, but don’t become a me too company”)
Price analysis: mystery shopping, online pricing (SaaS), case
studies, white papers
11. The power of the crowd
Kickstarter (f.e. OUYA Game Console)
Indiegogo (f.e. Scanadu)
AskYourTargetMarket (AYTM)
12. Is market research dead?
No, but it’s evolving...
Remember:
Your early assumptions are wrong
No competition = no market
Talk with key market players and
existing customers afterwards as
much as possible
Combine different techniques, do it
your way
13. Pivot
“The pivot. It used to be called, ‘the
fuck-up.’ Taking the stigma out of
failure is very exciting,” he said. “But
we see founders who give up too
quickly. It’s permission to give up
very fast. Are they really going to do
the heavy lifting over time?”
-Paul Graham (Y-Combinator)
14. Market Research: our findings (1/2)
Peer and expert influence (Founder Institute graduate)
People tend to look for validation of their own
assumptions in surveys (we did use AYTM)
Focus groups focus on herd behavior (we did use PXL
research through an innovation grant “Innovatiepremie”
following the “Lean Startup” method and individual
sessions) Lesson learned: DIY
15. Market Research: our findings (2/2)
You don’t need a business plan, but actually you do (no
napkin investors in Belgium)
Sell without a product (personal examples: Netfood,
Restox, BuboBox)
73.6% of all Statistics are Made Up: there is no right or
wrong for market research: do it your way but do
something and do it NOW!
