Oct
Mission Impossible: Launching a Startup in 48 Hours
Although is seems impossible to get a web project up and running in just two days, this happened last week in London, at the Launch48 event. After presentations on PR for web apps, legal issues, business models, building what customers want, covered by Steve Parks’ live blogging, participants started pitching their ideas.
The six lucky winners got to see their dream app become real, with a team of over 15 people working all weekend to make it happen. I wanted to know more about what goes on there, so I talked to one of the winners: Andrew Dancy, founder of protected.cc.
Everything Starts with an Idea
Eugenia Cosinschi: Why did you go to Launch48?
Andrew Dancy: I’d heard about Launch48 from a colleague who mentored at the first Launch48 event. He suggested that it was a good way to get to meet people and network, as well as being fun. I then saw that in addition to the weekend they were doing a conference (on the Friday) and I liked the look of some of the topics; I felt they would provide helpful advice and information.
EC: And you already had a project in mind. What was your idea about?
AD: I’ve had an idea in my head for a few months now for a system that would allow users to prove that a document existed at a certain point in time. An example usage could be if you’re a web designer and you’ve just spent ages working on a pitch for a potential client. Normally you’d just send your pitch off to the client and hope that they don’t rip off your idea. With a time stamping service you’d be able to prove that you had that pitch or idea at a certain point in time – evidence that would help in the event of a dispute over copyright or ownership.
When I came to Launch48 I didn’t have any firm intention to suggest an idea on the Friday evening. However, after the conference (before the weekend itself started) I went out for drinks with a couple of the organisers and they persuaded me to pitch the idea!
EC: Oh, so it was all spontaneous. But weren’t there other companies already providing this type of service?
AD: Yes, there are a number of other companies doing this sort of thing. However what I’ve noticed in the past (and we subsequently confirmed when doing competitor analysis over the weekend) is that they are mostly aimed at larger companies, or their services aren’t very web friendly. I wanted to create something that anyone could use.
EC: So your competitors’ services are either too expensive or too difficult to use.
AD: Correct – that was my perception. Some also appeared to be too geographically specific. For example there are a number of US companies that do this sort of thing that are set up far more as copyright registries, which is a concept that doesn’t work well in the UK due to the difference in copyright / patent law.
EC: What about your background? Did you have any experience building web apps prior to this?
AD: I started my career as a web developer for the Granada television company here in the UK about 10 years ago. That role meant I worked on a number of high profile websites for about three years. I then spent 4 years working as a .NET applications developer and more recently have been working as an IT Manager. Alongside all of this for the last 18 months I’ve been doing consulting for a number of web startups, mainly providing development support. So I do have a certain amount of web application experience, although primarily using Microsoft platforms and technologies.
… And a Team of 15 Experts is Trying to Make It Happen
EC: Getting back to Launch48, after the conference on Friday, participants started pitching their ideas, then 6 ideas were selected. What happened afterwards?
AD: After the six ideas were selected, we obviously had to form teams. I ended up with quite a few business oriented people, but fortunately also a couple of developers and several user interface designers. Then, after a quick coffee it was off to work!
Our first challenge was to find a space to work in. The areas of the PayPal offices we had access to were quite open plan, so we ended up using several desks and tables in the cafeteria area. There wasn’t really time for much more on the Friday, so after ensuring we’d all swapped contact details it was off to the pub.
EC: How were these teams formed? Strangers from the audience just came to you and said they wanted to be a part of your team and list their qualifications?
AD: Basically yes. After the voting finished, each team name was called out, and people that wanted to join that team then came forward. The Launch48 organisers reserved the right to alter the teams if they felt there was any imbalance, but I don’t think they needed to do that in the end. Most of the people who joined my team told me that it was the idea that attracted them most.
EC: How many people did you end up with in your team?
AD: Including myself there were 15 in total.
EC: You had a team, you had a space. How did you start working? Who did what?
AD: On the Saturday the first thing was to draw up some basic teams. The technical was obvious – we had two people who had programming skills who were able to go off and start setting up the backend. The other main teams were User Interface (i.e how would the service look) and Marketing & PR .
The User Interface team started to think about how the service would look and feel to the end user, whilst the marketing and PR people started by researching who already had similar services, what features they offered and what their pricing models were.
EC: So there were 2 people on the technical team. How many people on the UI and Marketing&PR teams?
AD: We had three or four people working on UI, another four or five doing marketing, PR and research, and the others covered the rest (such as finance, legal and project management).
Mentors Help the Teams Get Back on Track
EC: Any significant problems along the way?
AD: During the Saturday we found that we’d drifted from our original core idea and were struggling to identify a clear and specific market sector to focus the service on. It culminated in the entire team having a discussion on the Saturday afternoon during which one of the mentors (individuals that Launch48 provide on the Saturday to give advice and assistance) suggested we step back and take stock.
This helped us to realise that we ought to return to the core idea, and focus specifically on the creative sector as our initial target market.
EC: What was the mentors’ part in all this? Was there a mentor permanently assigned to your team or they only intervened when asked?
AD: Mentors were available throughout the Saturday (some in the morning, some in the afternoon and some in the evening). They would generally go round the teams, although due to time pressures (they only had two hours) not all mentors saw every team. They were generally specialists in a particular field (for example PR or user interface design). We didn’t have mentors permanently assigned to each team, although we did have an appointed liaison from the Launch48 organisers who we were able to call on for practical issues (such as getting hold of flipcharts or suchlike).
A Prototype Was Born
EC: By the end of the weekend, what had your team produced?
AD: On the Sunday afternoon all the teams had to do a short (10 minute) presentation. By that time we had a working prototype of our system, a simple website with video explaining how the service works, and the basic outline of a business plan. We didn’t demo the service during the presentation (due to lack of time) but one of the organisers had previously demoed the service himself.
EC: Yes, I saw that. What would you say was the best thing about Launch48?
AD: I’d say the best thing was the people. It was the sort of event where you were constantly surprised by the variety of the people you kept on bumping into. Everyone seemed highly motivated and enthusiastic about the whole idea. And that made it great fun.
EC: And what’s the status of the project now? How many of the team members will be a part of your new startup?
AD: Pretty much everyone on the team has expressed a desire to continue with the project. At the moment we’re sorting out some infrastructure issues so we can get the prototype back up and running (hopefully within a day or two) and then we’re intending to map out the future direction of the project. There’s a launch48 follow-up meeting in early December where we’re hoping to show further progress.
EC: So for now, there aren’t any co-founders on board.
AD: Apart from team members, no.
EC: What are your plans for the near future?
AD: One of the things I’m doing at the moment is looking to see if there are individuals with particular skills in this field that would want to come on board.
EC: So no financing needed at the moment.
AD: At the moment we’re intending to bootstrap, so no financing needed in the short term. The immediate priority is to develop what we created over the weekend into a viable proof of concept, which can also attract early adopters. Then we’ll need to work on building that into a sustainable business. Once the early stages are in place we may need financing to take things to the next level, but that’s some time off at the moment.
EC: Thanks a lot for the interview, Andrew. And good luck with your project.
AD: Thanks very much.
What an interesting article! Launch48 sounds like lots of fun. Andrew’s idea sounds really simple and useful. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story and good luck!
Scott
Thanks for stopping by, Scott.
I liked Andrew’s idea too.
Hi Ian, thanks a lot for your comment, I appreciate it. I like what you’re doing with launch48 and next time I’ll try to be there in person
I might take you up on your offer and ask you some questions soon. Thanks again.
Great interview, great analysis, and i really like seeing other people excited about launch48. I am a co-founder of launch48 and this is a great synopsis of the whole event. You asked some very intelligent questions.
I will have to link to this from the launch48 web site! Please let me know if you want any more information about the event.
[...] Mission Impossible: Launching a Startup in 48 Hours – an interview with Andrew Dancy, founder of protected.cc and an interesting analysis of how the event was run. Edit – the URL of this site has changed as they now have an English version available [...]