4. Lessons Learned – First Pivot
The China SME market for RFID tagging was not as
large as we imagined
Pivoted to a Yammer Clone for the China SME
market
Advisor and VC feedback for the pivot was great so
we saw far more potential there
Learned importance of being flexible and willing to
decisively pivot!
5. Business Canvas #3
Key Partners Key activities Value Propositions Customer Customer Segments
Relationships
• Web site • A more secure • SMEs in China (#
• Payment providers social network among • Automated Services employees 20-100)
development
• Established Social business • Customer care line
• Mobile App
Networking platforms communities
Development
like QQ, Sina.com • Simplify and
• Database
• Smartphone App organize the lives of
management
Store providers busy professionals
Key Resources Channels
• Streamline • Internet website
• Software Developers communication and • App stores
• Software management projects • Word-of-Mouth
• Memorialize • Social Networking
meeting outcomes Websites
• Baidu / Google
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
• Cost of technology development • Freemium (Initial trial and free service for tracking a small
• Customer Service number of items)
• Data Storage • Monthly subscription cost based on usage
6. Lessons Learned – Second Pivot
Had become a Yammer clone for the Chinese market
… but then saw potential beyond that
Now taking the best features of social collaboration
companies – including Yammer, Doodle and
Dropbox – to include in the MVP
Communication: Constantly seeking feedback – from
customers, advisors, and business team.
Needed to work on IP and licensing clearances –
especially since we are dealing with China – This
took longer than expected.
7. Business Canvas #4
Key Partners Key activities Value Propositions Customer Customer Segments
Relationships
• Web site development • A more secure social • SMEs in China (# employees
• Payment providers • Mobile App Development network among business • Automated Services 20-100)
• Established Social Networking • Database management communities • Customer care line
platforms like QQ, Sina.com • Office application development • Simplify and organize the lives
• Smartphone App Store or linkage of busy professionals
providers • Streamline communication
• Chinese Government (for and management projects
license applications) • Solidify meeting times
• China Mobile Operators e.g. Key Resources • An efficient communication and Channels
China Mobile, China Unicom collaboration platform for SMEs
• Software Developers who don’t have an OA software • Internet website
• Software as a service • Appstore
• Word-of-Mouth
• Social Networking Websites
• Baidu / Google
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
• Cost of technology development • Freemium
• Customer Service • Initial trial and free service for tracking a small number of items
• Data Storage • Monthly subscription cost based on usage
• Chinese Domain registration
• Chinese SMS partnerships
• License fees
8. Web Site Launch Application Process in China
万网审核 Submit Domain Name Applications
Domain Name5 weeks Check
Takes Application
2-3 Work Days
Get a web space from a web hosting company
Mail Information to Web Hosting Company 25-Day
4 Work Days Process
Submit Web Site Application to Communications Administration 通
管局
Company ID and Web Site Ownership
Owner State ID
License Description Certificate
15 Work Days
Web Site Application Approved
9.
10. Lessons Learned – Third Iteration
Prepare for the unknown - Getting Internet site up and
running in China is a non-trivial effort
Don’t assume anything - Learned that UI design in
China is way different than in US
Needle in a haystack - Finding early adopters is really
hard, especially when people don’t trust you
Where’s the microscope - Analytics is a great friend if
you want to know your customer’s needs
14. Popular Visited Pages
- from Google Analytics
Micro-blogging Page
First Page of Site before logging in
Page to log in
Listing of company groups
Invitation to other colleagues
Viewing Members of the company
Private Message inside the 35hzs.com
15. Customer feedback
Customer feedback from last block
Front page was too simple
Reply messages need to be showed
Concern about security
What we have improved from customer feedback
Front page
Full function SMS
Sign-in Authentication
Learned from trial users in Oliver’s company:
The site should be designed based on users’ daily work flow
How to increase stickiness - rankings, supervisor’s
responses, useful & interesting contents
16. Other Players in China
Talked to Salesforce and one other competitor
(gongxf.com) in China
Social Collaboration for Business is new concept in China
Salesforce Chatter: targeting Global Customers in China
gongxf.com 工學坊： Offer free HBR articles for their
customers
Demand is there for Business Social Collaboration Software
Nascent Market: Only have early adaptors now
Chinese Government is not intervening this
17. Biggest Challenges and Next Step
More evangelists!
More marketing and advertising activities are
needed to raise customer awareness to attract real
users
QQ.com and Sina.com is more for consumer market
Need to have another channel for the B-to-B market
Continue to refine key features of the MVP
Coding Challenge
Start charging for the product according to a
“Freemium” model
18. Other Lessons Learned
Unlike other MBA courses or working in a well-
established company, emulating an early stage
startup requires no clear cut tasks. As a
result, passion, individual initiative, team spirit, and
the ability to function well as a team are critical to
success.
Legal strictures and requirements cannot be ignored.
Proper licensure and clearance is critical, especially
when working within a country such as China. These
obstacles simply took longer to overcome than
initially anticipated.
Hinweis der Redaktion
ProductAdded Payment feature… Used something like PaypalUsed … for SMSModified front pageAdded administration capability
(tradeoff: hard for trial, next step: show a trial account on front page, can users try without registration(like doodle.com))
