The Smarter Startup: A Better Approach to Online Business for Entrepreneurs

Table of Contents

1. Contents
2. Part 1: Think
   1. 1. Why Become an Entrepreneur?
      1. Follow your passion
      2. Will it make you happy?
      3. Why are some people lucky?
      4. Find your balance
   2. 2. What’s the Big Idea?
      1. Brainstorming an idea
      2. Validate your idea
      3. Evaluate your idea
      4. Make the decision
   3. 3. Do Your Research
      1. Talk to your prospects
      2. Test marketing
      3. Define your customer
      4. Look at your competition
      5. Survey the battlefield
      6. Pay attention to the 800-pound gorilla
3. Part 2: Know
   1. 4. Timing Is Everything
      1. Innovation adoption curve
      2. Commoditization of technology
      3. The value of network effects
   2. 5. Competition and Positioning
      1. Competitive strategy
      2. Positioning strategy
      3. Mind your value chain
   3. 6. Business Models
      1. Seven business model archetypes
      2. Defining your business model
   4. 7. Setting Up Your Business
      1. The hacker and the hustler
      2. Incorporating your startup
      3. The advisor
      4. Partnership agreements
      5. Should you outsource?
      6. Should you seek investment capital?
      7. Startup accelerators
   5. 8. Developing Your Product
      1. Introduction
      2. The Lean Method
      3. Choosing a technology platform
      4. Cost expectations
      5. When code should suck
      6. Agile vs. Waterfall
   6. 9. Going to Market
      1. Internet marketing channels
      2. Marketing funnel stages
      3. Internet marketing models
      4. Choosing a marketing model
   7. 10. Optimization
      1. Analytics-driven insights
      2. Traffic optimization
      3. Conversion optimization
      4. Customer retention