Lean Start Lab

New Month. New Year. New Us! We just launched our brand new website with a brand new look! Check it us out here: https://www.leanstartlab.com/... Have a startup idea you're exploring? Give us a shout. Maybe we can help #StartUp #New #Launch

Naturally, we like to think about good things happening to us and fail to prepare for the worst. This naive optimism is sadly also common in the startup world. We’ve all seen them ... Rosy projections with no basis in reality, backed only by the slightest of sense and a whole lotta assumptions! And truth be told, the market doesn’t give 2 about your intention and desire. It only cares about what YOU can do for IT. The practical world of business DEMANDS execution and result Likewise, this is how the programs at Lean Start Lab are designed. Drawing from our years of experience, we help entrepreneurs 1 Make consistent progress 2 Accumulate small wins 3 Keep them accountable We believe that startup is a marathon, not a sprint. In the Bootcamp program, our Startup Advisor will help you think about the long-term and prepare for the worst. As a big believer in tough love, there is plenty of love to go around when you’re with us. Like a college professor who won’t curve your grade, so won’t the market. Pass or fail is entirely up to you. But when the time comes, you’ll be used to it.

People often say you need money to make money. While that certainly is true, You actually don’t need money to work on your startup! Due to the massive amount of FREE resources available, this is arguably one of the best times to be an entrepreneur: ... FREE productivity tools that empowers your planning and communication (like Google Workspace and Slack) FREE platforms to find and connect with investors, co-founders, and mentors (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora etc.) FREE online courses on any skill such as programming, marketing, copywriting etc. And many, many more But most importantly, you can literally turn any idea from a thought in your head into a visible prototype. All without even writing a single line of code! The only thing you need is the right tool and some good old-fashioned hard work to get started. Sure, it won’t be pretty, but it’s a step in the right direction. Should you need that kick in the rear to go even further, check out our Bootcamps and enlist. https://bootcamps.leanstartlab.com/ But be warned, this *IS* Bootcamp after all. Don’t expect a walk in the park.

Think back to that time when you screwed up as a kid. Maybe you fought someone at school or maybe you ruined your mom’s favorite vase. Either way, you’re in deep But it’s okay sometimes because the fact of that matter is... You screw up, and then you learn. It’s these missteps that made you who are you today, and you are only stronger because of them. This fact applies to your startup idea as well, the brain child that you so stubbornly protect and shelter from the real world. If you just wait for it to grow then that day may never come. And as you struggle to raise it, the pushback from your loved ones is too strong! WAIT!!! Before self-doubt creeps in and consumes you, heed our words: If you’ve never tried, how would you know? If your brain child never takes its first fall, how could it grow? Your brain child needs to venture out before you could see its true potential. It needs to tumble before it can find its footing. So until then, you just have to try. This won’t be easy, but with the right help, we believe your baby will grow into a fully-fledged adult. Check out our Bootcamps at https://bootcamps.leanstartlab.com to find out how we can whip that baby into shape.

Let’s start with an easy and classic example! Say, for example, you want to start an online shoe store. Let’s call it Shoe4Everyone... Step 1: Buy a domain name for your site: shoe4everyone dot com on GoDaddy (GoDaddy is a popular choice but any will do). $12 Step 2: Use a no-code website builder (like Squarespace) to build out your store. $20 Step 3: Take photos of the shoe you want to sell (or you could even find them online these days) $0 Step 4: Share the site to your potential customers. $0 Step 5: If all goes well and there are a lot of clicks on your Buy button, you now know people are interested in your products. $0 Step 6: Process these orders and notify your new customers of their purchases. $0 Step 7: Personally buy the shoe yourself and ship them to the customers. $0 (breakeven price) Boom You have just validated that people are willing to buy shoes from your online store, all for a low, low price of $30 So, for those of you who already knows the story, this is how Zappos got their start Before anyone knew what dropshipping even was, this innovative tactic, along with Tony Hsieh’s iconic leadership, propelled Zappos to become, arguably, THE #1 online shoe store on the market. As a result, Zappos later got acquired by Amazon, the e-commerce juggernaut, in 2009 for $1.2B Zappos’ humble origin story proves that: Contrary to popular beliefs, starting a successful venture doesn’t require thousands of dollars in starting capital, but simply good old fashion grit and forward-thinking. Check us out at bootcamps.leanstartlab.com if you have a startup idea and the determination to see it to fruition. Following Zappos’ footsteps, we’ll help you start your venture, the lean way.

Has this happened to you before? No product to show customers No customers to show product No product to show ... And on and on and on! This is the chicken and egg problem of the startup world, and we are acutely aware of this problem. Luckily, there is a solution! One only need to look at past and present success stories to find out how: Dropbox: This $10B company was once just a disruptive idea by its founder Drew Houston and was made tangible through a 3-minute video showing potential users how his product works, all the while not having anything built out, yet! Tesla: Without a doubt, Tesla is one of the most hyped companies in existence, and every Tesla product release is often met with a lot of media attention and speculation. Their Cybertruck was no exception. Its revolutionary design coupled with the company’s reputation garnered massive excitement, generating millions of dollars in the form of pre-orders for Tesla. This is even before any factory was built to manufacture this product at scale! AirB&B: Before taking the global travel industry by storm, AirB&B got its humble start as a local concierge service. The founder duo, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, started taking pictures of their apartment and posting them on a website as a listing. After they had validated the market with 3 initial paying guests, they began to expand by personally meeting with hosts and offering to take professional photos of hosts’ apartments to list on their website. There’s a recurring theme throughout these 3 inspiring stories: The truth of the matter is, you don’t need a product to start selling, especially at an early stage! Only build out your product when there’s a user base, always validate before bringing your idea to life. If you want to learn how to do validate your idea before having a product to sell, we might be able to help! http://bootcamps.leanstartlab.com/ #ForFoundersByFounders

Imagine you’re standing in front of the biggest names in the biz, asking them to part with their hard-earned money. No pressure. Some of these guys are your heroes even, and this is your one shot at impressing them. It won’t be easy, but you believe that you’ve got just the next best thing. ... Let’s say it’s Shark Tank. You’ve worked so hard to get here. Congrats, you nailed that pitch! The sharks smell blood, and now they all want a bite of your tasty startup. Then comes the questions: 1 What make people want your product? 2 What are your sales? 3 Why do you need our money? Easy enough, right? If you fail to answer any of these questions, and especially the first one, then I’m sad to say that you would have blown this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My reasoning is simple If you cannot differentiate then, Nobody needs your startup Nobody pays for your startup Nobody invests in your startup It’s just simply economics, supply and demand. The earlier your venture is, the harder it is to answer that first question. However, it is the most fundamental step of any venture: Figuring out your purpose, the IT factor of your company. In other words, WHY? Why should your startup exist? Every successful company has a Why that sets them apart from the competition. Therefore, we are hyper-focused on helping startups find their Why’s through the tried-and-true method of fast and rigorous market validation. Our quick and cost-effective approach provides founders with invaluable insights and empowers them to achieve long-term success in their respective fields. The 3 questions I posed above may be tough, but your startup is tougherwith the right market fit. Want to build, prototype and validate market needs in only 3 weeks? Check out bootcamps.leanstartlab.com to get started, today! #ExperimentToInnovate #BuildBetterProducts #ForFoundersByFounders

Visit LeanStartLab.com to learn more. See you on the other side!

Always awesome to see our clients recognized for their hustle and progress on their startup journey Congratulations to Parker and Jerry on this latest win with Destiny! Glad our team was able to play a small part in pushing your vision and mission forward Now onto building even better and greater things!... https://www.startlandnews.com/2020/07/kc-wichita-nxtstage/ Shout out to our friends at Startland News for your diligence in celebrating KC startup success stories!

This is why we do what we do at Lean Start Lab! It's an amazing feeling when we can help entrepreneurs/startup founders bring their visions to life. Looking forward to continue building The Transition Academy with Kim Riley!... When it launches, it will definitely make waves and more importantly, it will make lives better! #startup #platform #empowerment

Check out this fun (and funny ) article done by Startland News on our founder and CEO, Tin Ho, who is recently selected as a #KCultivator

Check out our latest case study for one of our recent clients. Let us know your thoughts. We love feedback!

A few words to the team from Tin

#MemorialDay #RememberOurFallen #Heroes

Our entrepreneur clients are making big waves in the startup scenes Congratulations to Rhonda Dolan, founder and CEO of Udo, on being honored as the Entrepreneur of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce! https://www.startlandnews.com/2019/05/rhonda-dolan-udo/

Good catching up with our favorite lawyer of Kansas City, David Oliver. Can’t leave without a photo with the super car #coffee #catchingup #kansascity #supercar

Stoked to see our client, Blockchain Water, putting the demo we built to good use in the Venture Creation Challenge at the UMKC Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation This is the exact purpose the prototype was built for: visually explain the product concept during high-staked pitches! Elango and his team are competing for 1st place for $20,000 in grant. Wish them luck!... Fun fact: Blockchain Water also pitched to Digital Sandbox KC recently and received $20,000 in proof-of-concept funding.

This is the team - Russ Hanneman

Designing in gray scale is a formal step in our UX/UI process We work with a lot of early-stage startups who are still figuring out their brand and therefore don't have a style guide handy. So, to not put everything to a halt in the name of how pink the CTA button should be, we just design the UI in gray while our clients tinker with the color scheme.... Here is a nice article summarizing why we're such sticklers about this: https://medium.com//4-reasons-why-you-should-design-withou #uxui #designprocess #styleguide

This is a cool game to test your UX/UI skill and build your design vocabulary https://cantunsee.space/ Our team is nerding out on this game and having competitions to see who'll pay for team lunches next!

The winning continues! Our client, Rhonda Dolan, was featured on the Kansas City Business Journal where she discussed the time poverty we face in our modern society and how her startup Udo is set out to solve this problem. Udo recently received $20,000 in proof-of-concept grant from Digital Sandbox KC to build and launch the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).... We are having a blast working with Rhonda on the MVP, which is scheduled to go live this May! Stay tuned! Article: https://www.bizjournals.com//udo-personal-assistant-app-em #womenintech #timemanagement #talentsolution