Hey ,

It's Innocent here. last week we discussed activities that would be happening in the community in this new year, "Startup School Extended {SSX}" and "Founders opinion". with the first session of SSX which started on Monday In case you missed out, here is the meeting transcript.

Meeting Title: Startup School Extended 

Date: 13th Jan 2024

Time: 2 - 3 PM

Location/ Platform: ETF WhatsApp Community 

Attendees: 38 Members

Interviewer: Gloria Momoh

Interviewee: Samson Njoku

Introduction

Gloria:

“Hello everyone, 

Thank you for joining us for the Startup School Extended Session

Today we’ll dive deeper into practical strategies for validating startup ideas.  With actionable tips to boost your startup journey.

We will be talking to: 

Samson Njoku, is a Software Engineer, Developer, Advocate, and Technical Writer based in Abuja, Nigeria, with over six years of experience in full-stack development, team leadership, and creating developer-focused content. 

He is passionate about solving real-world problems and specializes in building user-centric applications and writing maintainable code. 

Samson also enjoys mentoring developers and simplifying complex technical concepts through engaging tutorials and articles.

Gloria: “Welcome Samson Njoku, It's a pleasure to connect with you here”

Samson Njoku:

"Thank you for having me. Sorry for being late."

Gloria:

"It's fine

would you like to introduce yourself to the house?"

Samson Njoku:

“Sure.

I am a software engineer and developer advocate who enjoys sharing knowledge.

I am passionate about user experience and education.”

Gloria:

Knowledge is a key concept of the community. We will be asking a few questions today and hoping you share your insights on the topic. This week, we are talking about  "Validating Startup ideas" and we know as a founder this is a path you must have crossed, and we are honored to learn from your experience

Samson Njoku:

Sure

Questions 1:

Gloria:

My first question goes thus:

Once you had your idea, how did you determine whether there was a real market for it? What research or actions did you take to confirm that people needed or wanted what you were offering?

Samson Njoku:

The first thing is the market research 

I tried to determine the market type and who makes up that market. This is key to determining whether they will be interested and what marketing strategies would work best for them.

The research actions mostly included interviews. I also used questionnaires, but I would recommend live interviews. If possible, the interviews should be done in person and at the market's location.

Question 2:

Gloria:

"Nice 

"The interview should be done in person and location of the market "

I am writing this down.

Thank you for that insight My next question will be 

When you first had the idea for your start-up, what were the first steps to explore its viability? What did the initial phase look like?”

Samson Njoku 

"I wrote down the core concept in detail, including the problem it solves, who it serves, and how it’s different from existing solutions.

This was important because almost everything is in the market but what makes yours sell is the fix you add to what is already out there.

Now speaking about "fix", it wouldn’t be enough to make only minor changes that the existing competition can make overnight. It has to be a real pain point solved in a manner that has not hit the market before and might be difficult to replicate in a short time

Next, make a lean prototype and discuss it with the possible users and stakeholders. It would also be good if you could include those in similar markets at this point to give you their feedback

At the end of this exercise, you should know if what you have is viable enough without wasting so much money and time”

Questions 3

Gloria:

👌 

"Nicely outline 

"The fix you add to what is already out there makes the difference"

Another thing I am taking home. My next question would be

Start-ups often operate with limited resources. How did you go about conducting market research while being mindful of your budget? Are there any creative or cost-effective methods you used?”

Samson Njoku:

“There is hardly a cost-effective way if this is to be done right.

In my case, I had someone in the market who helped do some of this research and set up meetings under my direction. In the end, I still had to go there physically.

In my case, all these were difficult because I was building solutions for people who were not very tech-inclined (which is the case in most of Nigeria's sectors).

So based on my experience, I think a founder needs to budget for market surveys and marketing. We have many great products that no one heard about.

I would also recommend getting a co-founder who can share the responsibilities of investors in that sector. None of these are easy routes but a founder will have to wey his/her options and decide”

Innocent Amadi asked Samson  a question:

Interestingly, you discussed with possible users and stakeholders _after_ making a lean prototype.

I’m curious why you decided to do this, vs discussing it with potential users when it was still in the idea stage.

Also, how long did the lean prototype take you to make (roughly)?

Samson Njoku replying Innocent:

So I had already met with them and discussed the solution at the idea stage and they were excited about it.

However, due to the lack of predictability in our market here, I made that prototype to see if having a feel of what the product will be like changes their opinion or re-enforces it.

I needed to carry them along the process.

My lean prototype took me 1 month (I think it could be shorter if I were to do it again) 😆

The MVP took 4 months (I worked alone on it for 40 hours/week)

Conclusion: 

Gloria:

“It has been great talking to you, Samson Njoku 

And I learned something today.

We will be calling it a day here, but not too worry, the conversation continues all through the week, so you can ask questions, 

and I am sure Samson would be glad to answer where he can.

But before we drop the final mic, are there questions from the community members?

Innocent: 

Would’ve loved to dig a bit deeper, but you haven’t shared your startup or what your solution is. Would’ve given this a bit more context for me to dig deeper with.

Samson Njoku:

"Oh… I built a real estate inventory system designed specifically to keep track of properties, clients, and employees.

The system was also designed to help them improve their internet presence."

Gloria:

Thanks again Samson Njoku and the rest of us who joined in. I hope we all have a good day as it draws to a close, see you at the next one"

Next Steps:

For SSX, we pick a start-up stage and ask founders who have gone past that stage about their experience - what worked, what didn't, general learnings

If you are interested in sharing your experience. you can reply to this message or send me a DM  and we can talk more on it.