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Startup Hacks: An Early Stage Checklist

Source: Mashable!

Aug 06, 2008

Summary

This is a guest post written by Michael Cerda. He blogs about startups, people and the variety hour at Cerdafied.

Here’s a list of things to keep in mind in the early stages of your startup, sponsored by the school of hard knocks.

Product: You product should be a pain pill, not a vitamin.

Make sure it solves a problem or addresses a need. It shouldn’t be something you have to rationalize with major market trends every time you explain it. It should be obvious and descriptive in one line. If you get this wrong, you’re done before you even begin.

From a usability stand point, make sure your addressable audience can get into the product sampling process quickly and easily. Bake instant gratification, stickiness and the need to come back for more into the experience. Avoid having a variable cost structure that directly correlates to every use of the product (don’t take this too literally though).

Marketing: Build marketing into your product.

“Viral marketing” is often misused terminology. Word of mouth is good, but it’s not viral. Viral is something that spreads o

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