It's the ski season and if you are looking for a ski holiday you could do worse than check out www.ifyouski.com. In fact, to be clear - I love this website!
It's so good to see her keep going, year after year. Ifyouski.com was my first internet job. I joined in August 2000 (shortly after they raised some money from VCs) and now, 13 seasons later, she's still shining.
Ifyouski nearly didn't survive. It had c.£3m of investment and at one point we had about 50 staff. It imploded and was saved/bought by Online Travel Corporation in 2001 for a bargain (it's since been sold again a couple of times). A handful of us kept our jobs. I was one of them, together with Robin Wallace, Max De Grunwald, Rob Van Selm, Tim Barke, Susanne Hedges, Andy Hiseman, Tom Corcoran and Alan Whiteley. Great team.
Ifyouski.com was a very useful website. It still is. It's a well structured fusion of holiday search with great decision support content (resort information, snow reports etc.) So what happened to the £3m? Where did that go?
I was working in a Ski Tour Operator in 2000 and it was the height of the dot com boom. I was excited by the chance to join an internet start up and whilst I didn't know much about startups or the internet, I knew a lot about selling and organising ski holidays. I saw an ad, thought "Yup - that'd suit me" and I joined in a role which would these days be called Product Manager. Back then such job titles didn't exist.
7 years earlier (1993) ex-Olympian skier, Michael Liebreich published a book on ski technique called The Complete Skier. A few years later he took it online as complete-skier.com. It had ski technique content, resort information, snow reports, ski news. It was just stacked full of great ski related content. On top of this a ski chalet holiday search was added as a way of generating some revenue.
As it turns out, a ski chalet holiday search in 1999 was a very useful tool indeed. It still is. The British ski chalet business is fragmented with many small independent operators. In those days, if you were looking for a chalet (say) for 8 people in a specific resort for a specific date from a specific airport you'd have to phone many different operators having read the ads in the Sunday Times travel supplement. To have a website where all of the main operators were listed was fantastic because you could search across many operators at the same time. When you'd found your ideal holiday you could phone the booking office (our travel agent partner) or make an email enquiry. The travel agent made a commission on the booking which they shared with us.
Nice business model. Going strong today.
What happened in 2000 was the company looked to build on it's early success in ski by raising money to launch new sites leveraging the same technology platform. Instead of just ski, the plan was to open up into adventure travel (ifyouexplore), golf (ifyougolf) and scuba diving (ifyoudive). And as well as doing this in the UK, we intended to launch in 3 other countries. Instead of 1 market in 1 country we went head first into 4 markets in 4 countries. Instead of nuturing 1 business model that worked, we developed 1 that worked and attempted to launch another 15 that we didn't know whether they would work or not.
This was an expensive bet to make. Expensive as we had about 50 people (although about 20 of them were interns). In 2000, tech development was costly (we used an agency) and almost everything was proprietary. We had to buy our own servers, write code from scratch (very few open source libraies existed) and create our own content. We didn't know about lean startup methodology.
As it turns out the international businesses and the non-ski businesses didn't deliver a revenue stream fast enough. Some parts of the ski business model simply did not transfer across borders or sectors.
The cash burn was crazy. Back in the dot com boom maybe this didn't seem so crazy. However, unable to deliver the revenues, we were not able to raise further funding and the business was sold.
All that remains now is the one business model that worked; selling ski holidays in the UK via a travel agent using online search.
The lesson I took away from that experience was that any new business model that a company attempts needs to be validated before putting too much investment into it. Validation of the business model requires really understanding the customer segment(s), the distribution channels, the customer relationship methods, the proposition, the key activities and resources, who the key partners are, the cost base and the revenue model.
An excellent way to map this out is using a business model canvas. A business model canvas allows you to capture on one page all of the above points. You can highlight the parts of the canvas that you understand (the "knowns") and the parts you yet need to prove (the "known unknowns"). You can think about the assumptions you are making and then think about how you can go about testing those assumptions. You then systematically run those tests and tweak the model based on the feedback. Once you really have proven all elements of the canvas to a reasonable degree of certainty, you're in a position to start investing money in developing this business model.
I was lucky enough to work with some really great people at ifyouski.com. Many remain true friends. We had a real adventure and managed to leave a legacy which still keeps going today.
The good news is for entrepreneurs today, lean start-up methods have made it easier to validate business models sooner. More tools and platforms exist to support new initiatives and there's a growing workforce of talented designers, developers and marketing folks to call on.
Showing posts with label fail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fail. Show all posts
Monday, 27 January 2014
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
If You Knew You Couldn't Fail, What Would You Do?
Have you ever seen a baby learning to walk? Of course you have. Now, tell me how they do it.
I'm lucky to have four kids. I didn't teach them to walk. They didn't teach each other. They just got up and had a go. First of all they started to figure out how to pull themselves up to stand against the furniture. Then they made one or two steps. A few weeks later and they were walking.
We all first learnt by trial and error.
Later in childhood, we start to learn from others. We are taught. We go to school. It's quite amazing to have my eldest daughter read a book to me. She's six. 6 months ago she couldn't read.
We are taught.
There's a third phase. Once we know how things work, we can go figure things out for ourselves. Some kids spend hours playing tennis, some spend hours programming, others spend hours and hours making things. Some of these kids will become the best in the world at what they do. Literally the best in the world. In this phase we practice. We seek guidance, we practice some more. We put hours and hours in. We make mistakes and learn from them. We practice some more.
We are self-taught and we practice.
But then - we become adults. Some people continue with trial and error (It's called 'learning on the job' in the business world. Some are taught (it's called 'training' in the business world). Some practice, work long hard hours, push themselves and become the best in the world at what they do. I'm not sure what we call these people, but I admire them.
I am more thirsty for knowledge now than I have ever been in my life. The more I learn the more I realise there is to learn. And I want to be the best in the world at what I do. Why? It's simple. There's very little in life that beats the feeling that you get when you say 'today I did what I do best!'
Today I will do what I do best. Will you?
Imagine a team where every person can say that. Can you imagine what that team would be able to achieve? It would be extraordinary. World beating. In fact just writing this makes my hairs stand on end - it really is something special. It's like watching the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race and seeing the winners win. It's awesome.
The thing about great teams is, 1 plus 1 equals 3. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Only it's not guaranteed. Sometimes two egotistical geniuses equal less than two because they haven't figured how to collaborate well.
So - on a practical note then, how do we build great teams where every person does what they do best and on top of that build a winning team?
How do we make that team possible?
Here, I think are the 5 main ingredients;
1. Allow people to make mistakes.
If we make more mistakes, we learn more. I'm not saying that we should aim to fail. Rather we should always be 'doing'. Doing something means you have the opportunity to learn. If you don't do anything you won't make any mistakes, but then again you won't learn anything. This is the thinking behind the phrase 'fail faster'. It's not that you should aim to fail - instead, you should 'do more faster' - because that's how you'll learn.
Fear holds us back though. We are afraid to make mistakes in case it's not seen as successful by our peers and egos.
My wife and I were talking the other day about why she is successful at what she does. She does business development for a recruitment firm and she needs to figure out how to book meetings with HR Managers and then persuade them to use her firm's services. She said that you can't book meetings without making phone calls, so she has to be very persistent to keep calling until she gets the meeting. She will keep calling way long after other people have given up. Most people fear the rejection, whereas she doesn't.
Her motto is "if you knew you wouldn't fail, what would you do?" Great advice indeed.
So - as a manager, I will always say to my team, 'make decisions and do stuff. Better to do lots and be right 95% of the time than to do a little and be right 100% of the time'. You'll learn faster and so will I.
2. Trust your colleagues and help them to learn from their mistakes
You can only truly build a successful team if there is true openness. I need to be open with my intentions, emotions and reasoning. By doing so, my colleagues can help me identify what I'm doing well and what I can do better and I will learn faster. If I do this though I am opening myself up. I am doing exactly the opposite of what most people do in business. It needs mutual trust, respect and willing - and it needs to start at the top.
3. Design learning structures
A great example of this is how we used to run our software development cycles in one of my previous companies. We planned our work in two week cycles. This was pretty effective in terms of getting things done. The important ingredient I think that actually made it successful was that after every cycle ('sprint') we set up a 'retrospective meeting'. This was a simple meeting where we simply asked, 'what went well, what didn't go so well and how will we in future do more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff?' Doing this systematically requires a regular meeting slot in the diary, an agenda and a habit. It requires structure.
Good teams consciously create these structures to become learning teams.
4. Hire people that can handle this culture
This is critical. If you believe that you want to build world class winning teams you need to hire accordingly. Sure you need talent and experience. I say they're over-rated.
Just because someone has knowledge and ingredients to make a great cake it doesn't mean that they will. And just because someone was motivated to bake great cakes in the past doesn't mean that they will do so again in a different kitchen.
What really matters is
- does this person know how to apply themselves to a challenge?
- is this person willing to open themselves up and be fully transparent with their emotions, reasoning and intentions?
- are they able to give feedback to others in a helpful way?
- are they thirsty to be the best in the world at something?
5. Go with the flow
You cannot tell people what motivates them. In my experience, people do best what they are interested in, not necessarily what they are good at. I might be quite good at filing and organising paperwork, it doesn't mean I'm interested in it. Give me a reason to be interested in it or find me something to do that I am interested in and I will do it well. Really well.
So - as people develop in your team, find opportunities for them and help them where possible to grow in your organisation to do what they do best. Build the team around the capabilities you have and seek out new team members to fill the gaps if they exist (and make sure you follow the points in point 4).
To conclude
Great parent allow their children to make mistakes, they teach them all they can, and they give them wings to fly and pursue their own dreams.
In a team, we must think of ourselves as parents of each other.
And every day, if we strive to be the best we can be in what we do we'll need to push ourselves to the limit and make a few mistakes. It's the mistakes that lead us to truth.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote,
'Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified'
Fail faster. Act like a child and a parent at the same time. Be the best in the world at something every day.
I'm lucky to have four kids. I didn't teach them to walk. They didn't teach each other. They just got up and had a go. First of all they started to figure out how to pull themselves up to stand against the furniture. Then they made one or two steps. A few weeks later and they were walking.
We all first learnt by trial and error.
Later in childhood, we start to learn from others. We are taught. We go to school. It's quite amazing to have my eldest daughter read a book to me. She's six. 6 months ago she couldn't read.
We are taught.
There's a third phase. Once we know how things work, we can go figure things out for ourselves. Some kids spend hours playing tennis, some spend hours programming, others spend hours and hours making things. Some of these kids will become the best in the world at what they do. Literally the best in the world. In this phase we practice. We seek guidance, we practice some more. We put hours and hours in. We make mistakes and learn from them. We practice some more.
We are self-taught and we practice.
But then - we become adults. Some people continue with trial and error (It's called 'learning on the job' in the business world. Some are taught (it's called 'training' in the business world). Some practice, work long hard hours, push themselves and become the best in the world at what they do. I'm not sure what we call these people, but I admire them.
I am more thirsty for knowledge now than I have ever been in my life. The more I learn the more I realise there is to learn. And I want to be the best in the world at what I do. Why? It's simple. There's very little in life that beats the feeling that you get when you say 'today I did what I do best!'
Today I will do what I do best. Will you?
Imagine a team where every person can say that. Can you imagine what that team would be able to achieve? It would be extraordinary. World beating. In fact just writing this makes my hairs stand on end - it really is something special. It's like watching the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race and seeing the winners win. It's awesome.
The thing about great teams is, 1 plus 1 equals 3. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Only it's not guaranteed. Sometimes two egotistical geniuses equal less than two because they haven't figured how to collaborate well.
So - on a practical note then, how do we build great teams where every person does what they do best and on top of that build a winning team?
How do we make that team possible?
Here, I think are the 5 main ingredients;
1. Allow people to make mistakes.
If we make more mistakes, we learn more. I'm not saying that we should aim to fail. Rather we should always be 'doing'. Doing something means you have the opportunity to learn. If you don't do anything you won't make any mistakes, but then again you won't learn anything. This is the thinking behind the phrase 'fail faster'. It's not that you should aim to fail - instead, you should 'do more faster' - because that's how you'll learn.
Fear holds us back though. We are afraid to make mistakes in case it's not seen as successful by our peers and egos.
My wife and I were talking the other day about why she is successful at what she does. She does business development for a recruitment firm and she needs to figure out how to book meetings with HR Managers and then persuade them to use her firm's services. She said that you can't book meetings without making phone calls, so she has to be very persistent to keep calling until she gets the meeting. She will keep calling way long after other people have given up. Most people fear the rejection, whereas she doesn't.
Her motto is "if you knew you wouldn't fail, what would you do?" Great advice indeed.
So - as a manager, I will always say to my team, 'make decisions and do stuff. Better to do lots and be right 95% of the time than to do a little and be right 100% of the time'. You'll learn faster and so will I.
2. Trust your colleagues and help them to learn from their mistakes
You can only truly build a successful team if there is true openness. I need to be open with my intentions, emotions and reasoning. By doing so, my colleagues can help me identify what I'm doing well and what I can do better and I will learn faster. If I do this though I am opening myself up. I am doing exactly the opposite of what most people do in business. It needs mutual trust, respect and willing - and it needs to start at the top.
3. Design learning structures
A great example of this is how we used to run our software development cycles in one of my previous companies. We planned our work in two week cycles. This was pretty effective in terms of getting things done. The important ingredient I think that actually made it successful was that after every cycle ('sprint') we set up a 'retrospective meeting'. This was a simple meeting where we simply asked, 'what went well, what didn't go so well and how will we in future do more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff?' Doing this systematically requires a regular meeting slot in the diary, an agenda and a habit. It requires structure.
Good teams consciously create these structures to become learning teams.
4. Hire people that can handle this culture
This is critical. If you believe that you want to build world class winning teams you need to hire accordingly. Sure you need talent and experience. I say they're over-rated.
Just because someone has knowledge and ingredients to make a great cake it doesn't mean that they will. And just because someone was motivated to bake great cakes in the past doesn't mean that they will do so again in a different kitchen.
What really matters is
- does this person know how to apply themselves to a challenge?
- is this person willing to open themselves up and be fully transparent with their emotions, reasoning and intentions?
- are they able to give feedback to others in a helpful way?
- are they thirsty to be the best in the world at something?
5. Go with the flow
You cannot tell people what motivates them. In my experience, people do best what they are interested in, not necessarily what they are good at. I might be quite good at filing and organising paperwork, it doesn't mean I'm interested in it. Give me a reason to be interested in it or find me something to do that I am interested in and I will do it well. Really well.
So - as people develop in your team, find opportunities for them and help them where possible to grow in your organisation to do what they do best. Build the team around the capabilities you have and seek out new team members to fill the gaps if they exist (and make sure you follow the points in point 4).
To conclude
Great parent allow their children to make mistakes, they teach them all they can, and they give them wings to fly and pursue their own dreams.
In a team, we must think of ourselves as parents of each other.
And every day, if we strive to be the best we can be in what we do we'll need to push ourselves to the limit and make a few mistakes. It's the mistakes that lead us to truth.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote,
'Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified'
Fail faster. Act like a child and a parent at the same time. Be the best in the world at something every day.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
How not to ask for a phone number
A real life lesson in simple usability improvements that can improve conversion rates.
My wife and I love the movies, so to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend we'll be going to our local cinema to see "The Kings Speech". I've heard it's very good.
I booked online with at the cineworld.co.uk site (@cineworld) and only just managed to book thanks to a rather horrible usability hurdle. Here follows what I wrote to them using the contact pages after the experience.
Dear Cineworld
"...I wanted to share with you a usability problem I had with the payment pages. If my experience is anything to go by it will be seriously hampering your conversion rates and if you fix it should improve your bottom line immediately...
It's to do with the validation of the mobile phone number.
I initially put in my number as follows;
077XXXXXXXX
The error message told me to add the country code. So I did;
+4477XXXXXXXX
The error message told me to only use digits. So I did;
004477XXXXXXXX
Then the was another error message. Can't remember exactly what it said. To get through the validation process I needed to actually type;
4477XXXXXXXX
4 attempts!
From someone who works building websites for a living and has done so for the last 11 years!
It's quite possibly the worst validation experience I've ever had.
Suggestions;
1. If you want to capture the data in that format tell them so in the form up front
2. Alternatively have a drop down of country codes to select from with UK as default. Then ask people to enter their number as normal in the field and get your programmers to remove the first zero and any spaces.
In essence - you're making it way too complicated.
Hope you find this useful..."
What's happened here?
I've seen this happen many times.
The developer says, "In order to send SMS confirmation messages, my system needs clean and correct numbers. I need the country code, then the mobile number in the following format; [XXYYYYYYYYYY] (where X is the country code, no zeroes, no symbols and Y is the number, no spaces, no zero up front)".
The developer does not say, "How do people usually type in their mobile numbers? How can I help them enter it in a way that is obvious for them and still helps me get the data in the format I need"
Don't blame the developer though. The producer / product manager should be on top of this during the design process and the interaction designer should instruct the developer.
Cineworld, to be fair have built a pretty intuitive website and it's very easy to find and select a movie to book.
Funnily enough, Cineworld did populate the form with a suggestion format in the field. I didn't see it, the light grey was so light it didn't register. Then, when I got it wrong, I didn't have obvious instructions on what the format should have been.
The only way top really test this is to watch real people using it. People with nothing to do with the design process. Learn from idiots like me, tweak the form, then measure the results. How many more visitors converted into bookings did I make as a result of that change? Sounds obvious.
Be your own customer.
My wife and I love the movies, so to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend we'll be going to our local cinema to see "The Kings Speech". I've heard it's very good.
I booked online with at the cineworld.co.uk site (@cineworld) and only just managed to book thanks to a rather horrible usability hurdle. Here follows what I wrote to them using the contact pages after the experience.
Dear Cineworld
"...I wanted to share with you a usability problem I had with the payment pages. If my experience is anything to go by it will be seriously hampering your conversion rates and if you fix it should improve your bottom line immediately...
It's to do with the validation of the mobile phone number.
I initially put in my number as follows;
077XXXXXXXX
The error message told me to add the country code. So I did;
+4477XXXXXXXX
The error message told me to only use digits. So I did;
004477XXXXXXXX
Then the was another error message. Can't remember exactly what it said. To get through the validation process I needed to actually type;
4477XXXXXXXX
4 attempts!
From someone who works building websites for a living and has done so for the last 11 years!
It's quite possibly the worst validation experience I've ever had.
Suggestions;
1. If you want to capture the data in that format tell them so in the form up front
2. Alternatively have a drop down of country codes to select from with UK as default. Then ask people to enter their number as normal in the field and get your programmers to remove the first zero and any spaces.
In essence - you're making it way too complicated.
Hope you find this useful..."
What's happened here?
I've seen this happen many times.
The developer says, "In order to send SMS confirmation messages, my system needs clean and correct numbers. I need the country code, then the mobile number in the following format; [XXYYYYYYYYYY] (where X is the country code, no zeroes, no symbols and Y is the number, no spaces, no zero up front)".
The developer does not say, "How do people usually type in their mobile numbers? How can I help them enter it in a way that is obvious for them and still helps me get the data in the format I need"
Don't blame the developer though. The producer / product manager should be on top of this during the design process and the interaction designer should instruct the developer.
Cineworld, to be fair have built a pretty intuitive website and it's very easy to find and select a movie to book.
Funnily enough, Cineworld did populate the form with a suggestion format in the field. I didn't see it, the light grey was so light it didn't register. Then, when I got it wrong, I didn't have obvious instructions on what the format should have been.
The only way top really test this is to watch real people using it. People with nothing to do with the design process. Learn from idiots like me, tweak the form, then measure the results. How many more visitors converted into bookings did I make as a result of that change? Sounds obvious.
Be your own customer.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Community 101, Drive Usage, Then Monetise
STOP PRESS!!!
Since I wrote this blog, my frustration and objections are now resolved, you CAN now hear what I really thought about location based services on video...
ORIGINAL POST....
Location based services. Buzz words. You hear them a lot right now. But what do they mean?
Simply put then, if I know where you are, can I offer you something that uses that knowledge in real-time?
If your mobile phone tells me your location co-ordinates...
- if I am Google I can show you a map of where you are and what is nearby
- if I am a restaurant booking app on your iPhone (e.g. bookatable) I can show you restaurants nearby
- if I am Foursquare I can present local restaurants and bars that you can "check-in" to and see who else of your friends are there
Three very simple examples then. But what of the future?
What are the implications for consumers and for marketeers?
At a recent plustechnology event run by London lawyers, Olswang, I committed my comments on this topic to video.
A company called Knowledge Peers were videoing peoples thoughts. Today I received an email with a link to a short video on my observations that targeted marketing can be welcomed by consumers rather than seen as obtrusive, and that location-based technologies help with accurate targeting.
Can I share it? No!
I really don't get it. I mean, I REALLY don't get it. What the? Uh?
Knowledge Peers is a members only site. I tried to send a share this link to a friend, they first had to sign in to Knowledge Peers. Fail. They STILL couldn't view the video. Doh - that sign up was for standard membership. Apparently I have full membership and that's why I can view it. Double Fail.
Look, if you want to build a community site, it needs to be viral, self-sustaining. You need to drive USAGE first, then monetise when you actually HAVE a community.
It's all upside down. I should be able to embed the video in this blog post, email it to friends. If they get value from the content, maybe they will sign up and subscribe.
The content on Knowledge Peers is pretty good. I mean, it's like a YouTube for business. But walling it in is route to oblivion.
So much for trying to share my thoughts on location based services with you. Sorry!
Since I wrote this blog, my frustration and objections are now resolved, you CAN now hear what I really thought about location based services on video...
ORIGINAL POST....
Location based services. Buzz words. You hear them a lot right now. But what do they mean?
Simply put then, if I know where you are, can I offer you something that uses that knowledge in real-time?
If your mobile phone tells me your location co-ordinates...
- if I am Google I can show you a map of where you are and what is nearby
- if I am a restaurant booking app on your iPhone (e.g. bookatable) I can show you restaurants nearby
- if I am Foursquare I can present local restaurants and bars that you can "check-in" to and see who else of your friends are there
Three very simple examples then. But what of the future?
What are the implications for consumers and for marketeers?
At a recent plustechnology event run by London lawyers, Olswang, I committed my comments on this topic to video.
A company called Knowledge Peers were videoing peoples thoughts. Today I received an email with a link to a short video on my observations that targeted marketing can be welcomed by consumers rather than seen as obtrusive, and that location-based technologies help with accurate targeting.
Can I share it? No!
I really don't get it. I mean, I REALLY don't get it. What the? Uh?
Knowledge Peers is a members only site. I tried to send a share this link to a friend, they first had to sign in to Knowledge Peers. Fail. They STILL couldn't view the video. Doh - that sign up was for standard membership. Apparently I have full membership and that's why I can view it. Double Fail.
Look, if you want to build a community site, it needs to be viral, self-sustaining. You need to drive USAGE first, then monetise when you actually HAVE a community.
It's all upside down. I should be able to embed the video in this blog post, email it to friends. If they get value from the content, maybe they will sign up and subscribe.
The content on Knowledge Peers is pretty good. I mean, it's like a YouTube for business. But walling it in is route to oblivion.
So much for trying to share my thoughts on location based services with you. Sorry!
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