Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 10

The ‘go to market’ phase is when sh*t gets real for new products. In This Episode two product experts and four top entrepreneurs reveal how it’s done.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Jessica Sepel (https://www.instagram.com/jshealth/?hl=en) is the founder of JS Health Vitamins (https://jshealthvitamins.com/)

Anson Parker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ansonparker/) is Head of Product at digital bank Up.com.au

Ben Thompson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bthompsonemploymentinnovations/) is CEO of HR platform Employment Hero.

What to listen out for:

2.22 Vegemite brand fail story

10.01 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

13.43 Launch small and test

23.35 The power of community in a successful product launch

25.40 Rolling out comms across all online channels such as socials, email

27.56 Using friends as first customers

31.28 The danger of focusing on big corporate customers for B2B

39.57 Using a pre-launch wait list to build anticipation & demand

45.22 RECURRING SEGMENT: Nerd under pressure

Resources & links:

1. Vegemite brand fail https://www.bandt.com.au/marketing-failures-whats-name/

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The post #22. Launch marketing: how to promote your new product or service to market for the first time appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 9

Selling via Online Platforms & Distribution Partnerships Can Be a Powerful way To Extend the Reach of Your Product. But You Need To Be Careful. In This Episode Three Top Entrepreneurs Reveal How It’s Done.

Guest Bios:

Dr Wei Shin Lei (https://www.linkedin.com/in/weishinlai/)and Jason Wolfe are the founders of Acoustic Sheep, the manufacturing company of Sleepphones (https://www.sleepphones.com/).

Jessica Sepel (https://www.instagram.com/jshealth/?hl=en) is the founder of JS Health Vitamins (https://jshealthvitamins.com/)

Anson Parker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ansonparker/) is Head of Product at digital bank Up.com.au

What to listen out for:

2.48 The story of Unlcked vs Google

11.13 How to use influencer marketing & celebrities

12.01 The importance of authenticity in brand marketing

13.44 How to scale content marketing

23.36 Upbank & the Afterpay partnership

27.34 Why Sleephones use Shopify for eCommerce

32.19 What it’s like to sell through Amazon marketplace

39.19 RECURRING SEGMENT: Nerd Superpower

Resources & links:

1. ‘No man is an island’ The Devotions, by John Donne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devotions_upon_Emergent_Occasions
2. The story of Unlcked vs Google https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/unlockd-goes-administration-laying-blame-squarely-googles-anti-competitive-conduct/
3. ‘The Four’ by Scott Galloway https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-four-9780552173438

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The post #21. Seller beware! Navigating the pro’s & con’s of E-commerce & online distribution platforms appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 8

Raising capital Is often a key step in the product development cycle of startups. If you need to raise capital, how do you get investors excited enough to Invest in your company? In this episode a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, & product experts reveal how it’s done.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Emlyn Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emlynscott/) & venture capitalist & is the founder of CP Ventures (https://cp.ventures/)

Mina Radhakrishnan is founder & CEO of ‘proptech’ platform Different.com.au (https://www.linkedin.com/in/minarad/) and has worked for Google & Uber.

What to listen out for:

02:01 How Peloton became one of the most extraordinary growth stories of the decade

10: 40 What are the different stages of raising capital?

11:40 How VCs screen and filter the tons of proposals they receive

19:59 Common mistakes to avoid when raising capital and the opportunities that a lot of founders seem to miss

24:14 Why startup founders should be very clear on their value proposition

29:34 The key metrics VCs are looking for in early-stage companies

31:39 What’s the 10X rule? 

39:23 Why traction is super important in startups? 

43:02 Should you raise capital during a global pandemic?

46:57 Buy Now Pay Later Digital Marketing offer from our sponsor 

51:40 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment with Emlyn Scott

Resources & links:

1. Peloton, Masters of Scale https://mastersofscale.com/john-foley/
2. Peloton story https://www.businessinsider.in/Peloton-is-valued-at-more-than-4-billion-but-CEO-and-cofounder-John-Foley-says-investors-turned-his-pitches-down-for-4-years-These-are-the-reasons-why-he-thinks-they-were-rejected-so-many-times-/articleshow/70897413.cms

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The post #20. Raising capital for startups: how, when – & what venture capitalists look for in a product appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 7

Pricing & Business Model Is A Key Step in The Development Cycle of Any Product. If You’ve Developed A Great Product Or Service, How Do You Structure your Business model to become the market Leader? In This Episode Product Experts & Leading Entrepreneurs Reveal How It’s Done.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Jessica Sepel (https://www.instagram.com/jshealth/?hl=en) is the founder of JS Health Vitamins (https://jshealthvitamins.com/)

Emlyn Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emlynscott/) & venture capitalist & is the founder of CP Ventures (https://cp.ventures/)

Mina Radhakrishnan is founder & CEO of ‘proptech’ platform Different.com.au (https://www.linkedin.com/in/minarad/) and has worked for Google & Uber.

What to listen out for:

02:15 How Ikea became a global brand by changing its business model from pre-assembled furniture to flat pack

08:34 Ross Gales from Pollen reveals key concepts that entrepreneurs should understand for designing business models

13:25 Learn the Pirate Methodology of measuring business success

17:01 Carrie Peters from Ustwo talks about the importance of pricing and business model to the end product design

18:35 How Mina Radhakrishnan of :Different is revolutionising the conventional business model of property management

23:55 Why SAAS is often favoured by VCs? 

30:12 Why JS Health is using the subscription model to market and distribute their vitamin products?

34:10 Buy Now Pay Later Digital Marketing offer from our sponsor 

37:51 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment with Ben Thompson

Resources & links:

1. Ikea story https://www.fastcompany.com/3057837/the-man-behind-ikeas-world-conquering-flat-pack-design
2. Ikea current size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA

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The post #19. We need to talk about ‘Business Models’: choosing the right pricing & distribution for your product appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 6

A supply chain is a crucial component of any business. If you’ve developed a great product or service, how do you create a winning supply chain to bring it to market? In this episode Product Experts & Leading Entrepreneurs Reveal How it’s done.

Guest Bios:

Sven Almenning (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sven-almenning-a8554b20/) is founder & CEO of the Speakeasy Group, a leading Australian hospitality group. (https://speakeasygroup.com.au/)

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Dr Wei Shin Lei (https://www.linkedin.com/in/weishinlai/)& Jason Wolfe are the founders of Acoustic Sheep, the manufacturing company of Sleepphones (https://www.sleepphones.com/).

Jessica Sepel (https://www.instagram.com/jshealth/?hl=en) is the founder of JS Health Vitamins (https://jshealthvitamins.com/)

What to listen out for:

02:01 What happens when supply chain breaks down? Hershey’s Halloween Meltdown

10:30 Carrie Peters: Why it is important to bring your manufacturers early in the ideation stage?

14:04 How Speakeasy Group makes the supply chain sourcing more collaborative

22:47 “Customers go once for the novelty, they return for quality.”

29:15 Why Dr. Wei Shin Lai of SleepPhones talk to their manufacturers weekly 

34:18 Tech startups should make the right decisions early on – Ross Gales

39:36 Entrepreneurs should carefully choose where they want to put their time and effort 

40:42 Buy Now Pay Later Digital Marketing offer from our sponsor 

44:43 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment 

Resources & links:

1. Herhsey’s supply chain fail https://www.cio.com/article/2440386/supply-chain—hershey-s-bittersweet-lesson.html

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The post #18. Sourcing & manufacturing: how to build out (or improve) a supply chain for your business or start up appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 5

‘Intellectual Property’ Protection Is A Key Step In The Product Or Service Development Cycle. In This Episode Leading Entrepreneurs & Legal Experts Debate When Companies Should Use Intellectual Patents & Trademarks.

Guest Bios:

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Chris Baxter (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneypatentattorney/) is a leading Australian patent attorney & founder of Baxter IP

Ben Thompson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bthompsonemploymentinnovations/) is CEO of HR platform Employment Hero.

Dr Wei Shin Lei (https://www.linkedin.com/in/weishinlai/)& Jason Wolfe are the founders of Acoustic Sheep, the manufacturing company of Sleepphones (https://www.sleepphones.com/).

Emlyn Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emlynscott/) & venture capitalist & is the founder of CP Ventures (https://cp.ventures/)

What to listen out for:

01:04 Why entrepreneurs usually fail to consider IP?

02:33 Patent war between Facebook and Blackberry

09:54 What is a patent attorney? 

15:58 Contrarian viewpoint: Why Ben Thompson believes there’s no need to protect your IP?

18:51 No, Carrie Peters will not ‘steal your baby’

21:54 IP can be a dealbreaker for VCs 

27:50 Australia is saying goodbye to innovation patent

33:51 How early patent filing and strong branding protected SleepPhones

43:57 How much would it cost you to file a patent in Australia? 

47:16 Buy Now Pay Later Digital Marketing offer from our sponsor 

44:45 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment with Chris Baxter 

Resources & links:

1. Facebook vs Blackberry I.P case https://www.itproportal.com/features/blackberry-vs-facebook-a-david-vs-goliath-conundrum/
2. Peter Thiel book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_to_One

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The post #17. The I.P Conundrum: when – or even if – to protect your business with patents & trademarks appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 4

‘Prototyping’ Is A Key Step In The Product Or Service Development Cycle. In This Episode Design Experts & Leading Entrepreneurs Reveal How To Use Prototyping To Get Your Product Or Service Ready For Production.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Dr Wei Shin Lei (https://www.linkedin.com/in/weishinlai/)& Jason Wolfe are the founders of Acoustic Sheep, the manufacturing company of Sleepphones (https://www.sleepphones.com/).

Jessica Sepel (https://www.instagram.com/jshealth/?hl=en) is the founder of JS Health Vitamins (https://jshealthvitamins.com/)

What to listen out for:

01:06 What is prototyping and why it is so common? 

02:51 The story of James Dyson 

12:16 Why should you watch your customers use your product or service

15:53 Current insights on 3D printing

18:04 How long will it take to prototype

22:17 The no.1 mistake people do in prototyping

28:18 The importance of codifying your prototyping process

29:17 Meet an entrepreneur who achieved 21,540% growth rate 

35:34 Why a problem-centric nutritional product is changing the game in Australia 

41:07 Buy Now Pay Later Digital Marketing offer from our sponsor 

44:45 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment with Dr. Wei Shin Lai and Jason Wolf

Resources & links:

1. Dyson vacuum cleaner protoyping story https://www.wired.com/2012/11/mf-james-dyson/

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The post #16. Prototyping is fun! How to bring your product (or service) to life for testing and production appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 3

‘Product planning’ is a key step in the product or service development cycle. In this episode design experts & leading entrepreneurs reveal how to take your raw idea into an actual thing people will buy.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Anson Parker (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ansonparker/) is Head of Product at digital bank Up.com.au

Ben Thompson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bthompsonemploymentinnovations/) is CEO of HR platform Employment Hero.

What to listen out for:

1.52 Google Glass story

8.56 Venn diagram of 3 x core product strategy concepts

9.34 ‘Externalities’ defined & explained

11.39 ‘Differentiating & diffusing’ – key step in product planning

14.21 How long it takes to do product planning properly

16.08 THE NERD-O-METER recurring segment

19.44 ‘Empathy mapping’ – a key step in the product planning phase

25.59 How & why the agile framework was developed

32.20 Psychometrics vs demographics in product design

39.02 What is ‘wireframing’?

41.43 The importance of first principles in product development

47.10 Closed beta testing vs open beta testing

53.15 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – recurring segment

Resources & links:

1. Google Glass story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass
2. Don’t go chasing ‘waterfalls’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4
3. Agile product development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

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The post #15. Product planning: how to develop your ‘idea’ into a real thing people will actually buy appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 2

A good business idea or new product/Service is just the start. In this episode Product Design experts & leading entrepreneurs reveal how to validate your idea – & avoid problems.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales Rob Newman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Mina Radhakrishnan is founder & CEO of ‘proptech’ platform Different.com.au (https://www.linkedin.com/in/minarad/) and has worked for Google & Uber.

Sven Almenning (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sven-almenning-a8554b20/) is founder & CEO of the Speakeasy Group, a leading Australian hospitality group. (https://speakeasygroup.com.au/)

Dr Wei Shin Lei (https://www.linkedin.com/in/weishinlai/)& Jason Wolfe are the founders of Acoustic Sheep, the manufacturing company of Sleepphones (https://www.sleepphones.com/).

What to listen out for:

1.55 The story of the E.T video game product fail

10.45 Definition of product validation

13.01 The three lenses of validation: usability, desirability, feasibility

16.42 Minimum marketable product (MMP) vs Minimum viable product (MVP)

19.12 The principle of ‘inclusive design’

22.37 How to validate a product idea just using Facebook ads

25.59 The ‘f*ck yeah’ approach to product validation

30.32 FEATURE STORY: Sleepphones product validation & ideation

42.52 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment with Mina Radhakrishnan

Resources & links:

1. E.T video game story https://www.npr.org/2017/05/31/530235165/total-failure-the-worlds-worst-video-game
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)
3. Minimum viable product (MVP) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product
4. The Lean Start Up book http://theleanstartup.com/principles

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The post #14. How to validate your product idea, & avoid creating a ‘money pit’ that destroys your life! appeared first on Nerds Of Business.

Season 2: ‘Product development’, Episode 1

All great products start out as an idea. In this episode product design experts and leading entrepreneurs reveal how the secrets to design thinking for success.

Guest Bios:

Ross Gales Rob Newman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossgales/) is Director of Design & Strategy at leading product design agency Pollen. (https://pollen.com.au).

Carrie Peters (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriepeters/) is Product Design Principal at product design agency Us Two. (https://www.ustwo.com.au/)

Mina Radhakrishnan is founder & CEO of ‘proptech’ platform Different.com.au (https://www.linkedin.com/in/minarad/) and has worked for Google & Uber.

Sven Almenning (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sven-almenning-a8554b20/) is founder & CEO of the Speakeasy Group, a leading Australian hospitality group. (https://speakeasygroup.com.au/)

What to listen out for:

3.05 The story of Fender guitars and their hit product ‘the Stratocaster’.

6.48 Henry Ford quote on product development

9.50 Jony Ive and the iPhone design

10.35 The ‘Double diamond’ framework

14.09 The ‘Five W’s’ framework

18.05 ‘Customer value pyramid’ – tool

18.45 ‘How might we statements’ – tool

23.26 Why product design frameworks are so important

25.00 ‘Jobs to be done’ framework

33.45 What it’s like to work in product design at Uber

35.00 Building products vertically vs horizontally

39.50 The origin story of Viking whisky bar Mjolner

43.04 The role of creativity in product design

53.00 Create a product that is better than the person expected, that’s when you’re winning

57.54 NERD UNDER PRESSURE – regular segment

Resources & links:

1. History of the Stratocaster https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/the-history-of-the-fender-stratocaster-the-1950s
2. Thinking fast & slow – by Daniel Kahneman https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/thinking-fast-and-slow-by-daniel-kahneman-book-review.html
3. Jobs to be done theory https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/clay-christensen-the-theory-of-jobs-to-be-done
4. Double diamond framework https://www.justinmind.com/blog/double-diamond-model-what-is-should-you-use/
5. Customer value pyramid https://www.marketingjournal.org/the-elements-of-value-an-interview-with-jamie-cleghorn/#:~:text=The%20Value%20Pyramid%2C%20as%20they,more%20subjective%20value%20higher%20up.

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The post #13. Product ideation: how to ‘think’ your way to a BILLION dollar business idea appeared first on Nerds Of Business.