19A - Idea Napkin 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is James Lang. I am an older online student and I have been an aspiring entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. I say aspiring because my efforts always focused on a short term need to move forward at a very specific time in my life. I have been fortunate enough to work for a company that sows my entrepreneurial spirit with a safety net. Business and technology are what excites me. Combining both and being successful at it really excites me. I have failed more times than succeeded in my ventures but that’s what drives me. I have created products that have taken off and more that did not. My experience in the field is a key asset that I have, and my business maturity continues to evolve every day. This is an opportunity for me to test my abilities, years of learning, and give back. I am going to fall on my face and that is exciting!

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

In my previous posts I outlined that the business card market spends approximately $400 million per year with a waste of $352 million because people throw these business cards away. I am still working on verifying the facts around the environmental impact but so far it seems to be approximately 6 million trees needed to create this volume. What I am offering is an environmentally friendly way for B2B and B2C to utilize a product that is focused and measured on driving results for a fraction of the cost. A digital communication card that is dynamic to each recipient based on the moment the information was received. A communication channel for these individuals to stay in touch, negotiate, and build a relationship. The key to this digital information card is driving results with proven ROI to owners.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

B2B – This will be the initial market I will target. Corporations that spend money for their employees to carry around business cards that produce very little in return. This market will spend the most upfront and already see very little in return, so this will be my test market. To enter this market, I will focus on Sales managers.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will pay you money to use your product or service.

Given that 88% of traditional business cards are thrown away within the first week I believe there’s a compelling argument for a product that performs better than what they are used to today. If I told you that 88% of your groceries would be thrown in the trash within a week would you buy the same thing again? No, you would look for an alternative. Do you remember the conversation you had with the piano repair guy a year ago (true story) and what he quoted you? No – I have a business card with a phone number and that’s it. Recollection of some sort of price but nothing concrete. My product will create a loose relationship with recall on the conversation that can be used to pick up where parties left off no matter how long ago. It also provides individuals distributing their information a way to analyze the performance of their distribution. Take that one step higher at the corporation level and executives can monitor performance against distribution to see who their top employees are – those that know who their market is!

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

I have been in business for 20 years. I have been a Product Manager, IT Manager, Customer Service Rep, Project Manager, Director of UX Design, and currently a VP of Customer Success. I have worked in a private company with 400 employees downsizing to 70 and losing $750k/mth. Rebuilding the company as a senior leader to 3000 employees and going public. Along the way acquiring many companies to sustain growth.

I know what it takes to go from nothing to something and beyond. It is brutal at times and sometimes not a lot of fun. However, it can be magical if you believe. You get the right people together, everyone believes the mountain can be conquered, and you are willing to give it your all – it’s an amazing ride you will never forget!

Paragraphs 1 and 5 fit together as they speak about you and your competencies. Paragraphs 2-4 also fit together as forces you to focus on the product, the market, and why someone would pay for your product in the first place. If you don’t have these defined it is likely a weak idea.

The feedback I received was mostly encouraging and offered guidance to “un-complicate” things and provide a more descriptive solution. With this advice I decided to narrow down my target market and more importantly focus on the problem – proving ROI – instead of the solution.