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Building an MVP
LMU
February 2013
Tony Karrer, Ph.D.
CEO, TechEmpower, Inc.
akarrer@techempower.com
http://socalcto.com

2
Background
• Ph.D. Computer Science, LMU Professor CS 10 Years
• Founder
– Sprinkler Systems Installation (age 15)
– Knowledge Stream ($59M exit)
– TechEmpower (1997 - present)
– Aggregage (2010 – present)
• Part-Time CTO / Technical Advisor
– Talk with 100+ startups each year

3
What is an MVP?
• Minimum Viable Product
“The minimum viable product is that version of a new
product which allows a team to collect the maximum
amount of validated learning about customers with the
least effort.”
• Really Not about Showing to Investors, Getting
Feedback from Customers
• Test / Prove Aspects of Product
– Cost of Customer Acquisition, Conversion Rates /
Pricing, Viral Coefficient

5
Ways to Make Your MVP More Minimum
• Paper Prototype
• Smoke and Mirrors Prototype
• Fake Site
• Leverage Existing Platforms or Third Party
Products
• Steve Blank – Startup Owner’s Manual –
Customer Development

7
Before You Build Anything
• Wireframes
• Graphic Comps
• Paper Test and Iterate
• Don’t Miss Key Questions
http://www.socalcto.com/2011/08/32-questions-developers-may-have-
forgot.html
– Targets/Mobile, Notifications, Email, Marketing Tracking, Analytics / Metrics /
Reporting, SEO Support, Social / Viral, Location, Time Zones, Video
• End Result: Wireframes, Comps, Functional
Notes/ Specification

9
Complexity of Your Product
Complex
> 12 Prog Mon
> $100K
Simple
< 3 Prog Mon
< $35K

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Complexity of Your Product
Complex
> 12 Prog Mon
Simple
< 3 Prog Mon
Equity Only Developer
Dedicated Technical Team
In House, Outsource,
Hybrid
Freelance Developer(s)
Technical Cofounder

11
Founder Developer Gap
• Mark Suster, GRP, Ideal
Startup Team
– http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/02/06/ho
w-to-configure-your-startup-team/
Technical Advisor
Programmer Friend
Part-time CTO
?

12
Outsourced Designers/Developers
• eLance, oDesk, 99 Designs
• Off-Shore Firms
• Do You Have Ability to Direct/Review?
• Contract Issues
– Own the Code Repository, Hosting Arrangement, etc.
– Iterations
– Deliverables/Features/Functions
– Test, Fix Process
– Price - Not to Exceed
– Termination
• Agile?

13
Elusive (Illusive) Technical Cofounder

14
Be Prepared When You Meet a Developer
• They Want
– Solve a problem, create something neat from scratch
– Learn something new
– Food and other Rewards
• Hate
– Salespeople / Being Sold
– Pretending to Know More Than You Know
– Not Knowing Enough
– Time Wasters - Don't talk too much. Stay on point. Only
go social when they go social.

15
How Do I Interview a Developer?
• Review and Discuss Portfolio
• Check Match for Culture
• Simple Coding Tests or Review Code They’ve Written
• Audition Project
• Get Help

16
How to Judge Developers or
Symptoms of a Weak Developer
• Frequently missed deadlines
• Delivery of code/product that clearly has not been tested;
Bugs – no big deal. The system keeps crashing – no
problem; Annoyed at testers for finding bugs.
• Massive overtime
• Fixing one thing breaks something else
• Source code control is only marginally being used
• No attention to detail, don’t ask questions
• The first 90% of a project takes 90% of the time. The last
10% takes the other 90%.

17
What Language Should I Use?
• Ruby/Rails
• Python/Django
• PHP + Zend/Cake or Joomla/Drupal/WordPress
• Java
• .Net
• Mobile? ESP? Analytics? Video? SEO? Social/Viral?

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