Startup Experience is a course that simulates the process of creating a new business, understanding customer needs and developing a new product or service that we had throughout the second semester at Aalto. I worked with Naba Kumar, Mario López Batres, Jiyo Palatti, Ling Sun and Dosky Otewa on solving the last mile problem.
The course was divided into Sprints, each with its own deliverables and ending with a pitch. I took on the role of a COO for the initial two Sprints and set up our work process that we followed until the end of the course. In the beginning our focus was on research. In the first 2 Sprints alone we have made 64 interviews split equally among the team.
“When carrying something like groceries, it’s difficult.” — Interviewee
Additionaly, we performed desktop research on existing alternative solutions, case study of Kutsuplus, challenges for autonomous driving such as weather conditions, local examples of the last mile problem and urban mobility in general. To get an idea of what we accomplished in the first ~4 weeks, take a look at my COO report (including a draft of the Lean Canvas and our key findings).
Trello board with tasks assigned to individual team members
The COO role then rotated as did the role of a pitcher. One of our pitches was made in the form of a video (narrated by me) and can be found here.
During our ongoing research we realized the importance of finding the right geographical area to start with and we have made website to engage our potential users in locating it. We identified supermarkets in suburban areas as a promising location and ran an experiment there by offering rides to customer as they were walking out (of course with the permission of the supermarket staff). As the service was of course not ready yet, we had candy prepared for those keen to accept our offer. This helped us confirm the customer need.
Together with Ling and Mario we made prototypes to test our concept with users and demostrate how it would work. We started on paper and gathered the first feedback using the Wizard of Oz technique with post-its in place of interactive elements. Then we moved on to Sketch and InVision and made a rough prototype, which was then redesigned in the next iteration.
The incresing fidelity of our prototypes
Marketing is another important aspect of start-ups success so we had to make posters, create presence on social media and during one of the latter sprints we recorded this promotional video in a only couple of hours during class:
One of our last main tasks was to figure out the finances. We have calculated our market size, described a revenue model and identified key partners as well as sources of funding - all incorporated in our financial plan. We then had a mock interview with an angel investor to whom we presented our proposal.
Working on this project has truly been quite an experience. I’ve freezing outside in show while trying to get more interviews, sweating in a sauna or having fun playing bowling at our team outings (made mandatory by our team agreement!), polishing our pitches and acting in our own commercials. All I have left to say is thank you to my team, it has been amazing working with you!
