A guest lecture on Experimentation at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

1. Experimenta+on 101
www.nex.&
The secret sauce of early stage entrepreneurship

2. A li2le about me
-­‐ Founding CMO, Tala (formerly Inventure)
-­‐ Director of Product, Grovo
-­‐ Mentor, Techstars & UN Accelerator
-­‐ Seed Investor, Inevitable Collec>ve
-­‐ Founder/CEO, Nex@
Ajay Rajani, Experiment Addict
20+ experiments & side
projectsin last 2 years
Scaled companies to 100+
countries across 6 con:nents
Helped raise $100 million+ in VC
from Accel Partners, Chris Sacca & others

3. What is an experiment?
Subject to
constraints
Answers ques+on(s)
with data
Method creates trust

4. Why are experiments
valuable?

5. The mixtape
(1987)

6. The mixtape
(2016)

7. To recap:
Compe++ve Advantage
(You vs. Them)
Compara+ve Advantage
(You vs. You)
Increasingly valuable
(internet = permissionless)

8. Innova&on is more accessible than ever
Average cost to start up
2000 2005 2009 2011
$5,000$50,000
$500,000
$5,000,000
Open source &
horizontal scaling Cloud & AWS
Growth aOer launch
(MAU in millions)
0
125
250
375
500
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
WhatsApp
Facebook
Skype (2003)
See e.g. decreasing costs of produc>on/distribu>on and
increasing speed of adop>on

9. What makes a great experimenter?
Empathy
+ self awareness
Maker’s mentality
+ hacker skillet
Desire for truth
+ comfort with data

10. What makes a great experiment?
Binary outcome Predictable Data Acknowledges
subjec+vity

11. Examples of Great Experiments
Marketplace U+lity Retail / Physical

12. Enter NexB: a de-­‐risking machine
for prospec&ve entrepreneurs
GREAT
IDEA
FUNDABLE
BUSINESS
SoBware & community that streamlines the
path to a fundable business
Created by Laymik
from the Noun Project
Created by David García
from the Noun Project
Validate key assumptions
with experiments
(e.g. product & market)
Win the trust of people
you need to help
(e.g. collaborators & investors)

13. Running a Nex2 Experiment
Idea Experiment Constraints

14. Currently in beta
V1 plaLorm for
community-­‐sourced,
run & financed
experimenta>on
We are living in a >me of great
experiments. We are returning to a
>me when anyone can be an
inventor and innovator.
-­‐ Fred Wilson, Union Square
Ventures

15. Next up:
Blueprint
our “magic 8-­‐ball”
for business ideas
Expert-­‐curated experiment
playbooks tailored to type of
business you’re looking to build

16. Nex2 Tools & Resources
/Experiments Blueprint Lab Report
Core
Coming Soon

17. Email: ajay@inevitable.vc
Learn more: Nex.2
Experimenta+on 101
The secret sauce of early stage entrepreneurship