Jun 3, 2015
Quick Recap: Lean Startup Machine 2015
Lean Startup Machine Workshop 2015
As we mentioned before, Kejora sponsored the Lean Startup Machine workshop in Jakarta, on 4-6 September 2015, at Kejora HQ facilities, Wisma Barito Pacific Building. The workshop is open to everyone, whether you are a student, entrepreneur (to-be), employee, or innovator.
The point of the workshop of course is to introduce the Startup Machine method in developing businesses and products. This method is heavily about finding out what the customers want and need to avoid developing a product that ends up in the trash bin.
As stated by Doni Priliandi, CEO and Founder Happy, 5, 95% of business failure was not caused by technical difficulties. “It wasn’t bugs that caused your app to fail. It was because nobody is using your product!” he exclaimed.
That's why as an entrepreneur you should "Get Out of the Building" to really interact with your consumers face-to-face and find out what they're really doing and what they need to be better. During the workshop, all the teams were forced to do at least 5 (five!) GOOTB experiments in 2 days.
This year's LSM attracted more than 110 people, coming from various backgrounds. During the first session, they pitched their problems/ideas in order to form their weekend startup team. Out of 28 founder pitches, finally we had 14 teams to work out and validate their ideas over the weekend.
On the first day (night, actually), following the team forming, the attendees were introduced to Javelin Board, which assist them in designing the experiment. The experiment is the key element of LSM methodology, which is designed to validate startup ideas: does the startup has customers and whether the customers have problems worth solving. One mindset which is very critical to acquire is "not to jump into solution mindset.
Every customer has a problem.Every problem has a solution.But not every solution has a problem.And not every problem has a customer.
Besides the introduction to Javelin Board, the attendees also listen to mentors explaining several key topics, including how to do customer interviews, how to validate a solution, and some best practises of lean startup methodology.
On the second evening, the teams learned about Concierge MVP and the fun part begins... everyone got creative and built their MVP (concierge, of course) as a method for validation. The teams were challenged to sign up their first early adopters and to get their money shot!
I really admire the dedication of the attendees, they really went all out over the last three days. It was uncommon to see them working until 1 AM! And I was surprised that some can get hundreds of sign ups only in one day.
The workshop includes a competition for the best team. The team is evaluated based on the learnings & validations that they demonstrated during the packed three-day workshop. And the Indonesian LSM startup champion for 2015 was: Home911, an on-demand home repair service. PeduliBudaya, an online portal for Indonesian cultural products and activities, came in second, and then Wishlist, a gift directory and wishlist service, came in third. They competed against 110 participants from across Indonesia in this annual event. Congratulations Team!
Some of the mentors in the workshop were: Alan Jiang from Uber, Zafrul Noordin from Code Ar.my Malaysia, Achmad Zaky from Bukalapak, Rene Suhardono from Impact Factory, Kevin Mintaraga from Bridestory, Ryan Gondokusumo from Sribu, and Boye Hartmann from YDigital Group.
“(The) Indonesian startup scene makes me feel like watching Asia’s Got Talent,” said Hartmann. “Every year you keep on saying that they can never possibly bring another talent like that, but it just keeps on happening!”
Wow! That was a very validating statement on how much potential Indonesia's got, but despite that we can't be content just yet. Remember that the AFTA is coming soon, which means in the near future there will be new foreign players, which is good a in a sense that they will accelerate the tech industry further, but they'd also be coming from countries already much more advanced in this field.
Yusi Obon (Head of Communications of Bukalapak.com) agrees with the opinion of Nadiem (Makarim, CEO of Go-Jek), as Obon stated that "in order to be successful, young entrepreneurs need to be ten times better than us. Because in your time there will be competitors that are already more advanced than us,” - “The only way you can win is by becoming ten times better.”