Dar's Blog

Lean Startups

Dar Aalaei — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:01:31 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot about lean startups lately, especially giving the industry and company I am involved with. When I first heard about “lean startups”, the words ‘cheap’ and ‘few resources’ initially came to my mind. This was wrong. Eric Reis explains that a lean startup is about testing your product correctly and efficiently while using feedback and measurements to quickly make changes to your product. Product. Test. Feedback. Iterate. It’s all about speed, it’s all about discipline.

These are just a few points about lean startups. You can find more on Eric Reis’ blog at:

http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/search/label/lean%20startup

When is the right time to launch your product?

Dar Aalaei — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:46:54 +0000

Websites are tricky to launch. How much ‘pampering’ should your website undergo before you feel it’s a ready product? Websites are like resumes; they continuously evolve over time. Therefore it’s possible to fall under the common ‘analysis paralysis’ mode and delay your launch to the point where you have encountered a lost opportunity.

A few things to think about:

Has my product reached the minimum acceptable level in terms of functionality, looks, and usability?
Once launched, what is the best way to execute my marketing strategy to reach the customer and find the correct product/market fit? (Hopefully you have this strategy before you launch)
What are the worst case scenarios you could encounter and what are your plans to correct them?

If you have a solid product that has realizable value then your competitors WILL take notice. Now you have another problem…how do you gain momentum and separate your business from competition and copy-cats?. . .

New Biz Venture

Dar Aalaei — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:05:21 +0000

Here is my new blog. I’ll start off by sharing some great resources for entrepreneurs and start-ups.

http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/

http://startup-marketing.com/

http://techcrunch.com

http://mashable.com

http://gigaom.com

http://venturebeat.com