preshero.co@matteoc

FROM CONSULTINGTO PRODUCTISING

Follow the money... and the meaning

preshero.co@matteoc

My name is Matteo and I prepared this presentation for Berlin’s 4HWW meetup on

23.7.2014

preshero.co@matteoc

My name is Matteo and I prepared this presentation for Berlin’s 4HWW meetup on

23.7.2014

Later I adapted it for Slideshare

preshero.co@matteoc

I’ve been a consultant for

the last 3+ years

preshero.co@matteoc

I’ve been a consultant for

the last 3+ years

Today I run a successful consulting

business with multiple clients

and I make a good living in Berlin.

preshero.co@matteoc

Retainer agreement

preshero.co@matteoc

Retainer agreementThe most important thing I

learned? To have a retainer agreement with my clients. It’s the one consulting life saver!

preshero.co@matteoc

I’m also an entrepreneur

preshero.co@matteoc

I’m also an entrepreneur

Sometimes I encounter

extraordinary people or ideas,

and I want in.

preshero.co@matteoc

Clients ≠ Partners

preshero.co@matteoc

Clients ≠ PartnersIn this case my potential clients become partners.

So I am involved in traditional businesses,

and also startups.

preshero.co@matteoc

?

preshero.co@matteoc

?If everything is going fine, where is the story in this

presentation?

preshero.co@matteoc

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived

forwards”- Benjamin Button

preshero.co@matteoc

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived

forwards”- Benjamin Button

My consulting business has not always been successful.

preshero.co@matteoc

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived

forwards”- Benjamin Button

My consulting business has not always been successful.

Let’s go in the past and discover what happened.

preshero.co@matteoc

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived

forwards”- Soren Kierkegaard

preshero.co@matteoc

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived

forwards”- Soren Kierkegaard

That’s the right attribution by the way...

preshero.co@matteoc

Signed the first big client

preshero.co@matteoc

Signed the first big client

95% of time to other projects

preshero.co@matteoc

Signed the first big client

95% of time to other projects

Once I signed up my first big client I literally

thought: consulting is working, now let’s go find

some new ideas. I got distracted from my core

business.

preshero.co@matteoc

Ø

preshero.co@matteoc

ØThis figure comes from my bank account...

preshero.co@matteoc

Hunger is a great

motivator

preshero.co@matteoc

Hunger is a great

motivator

Hunger gave me attention and focus!

preshero.co@matteoc

“Follow the money”- Lester Freeman

preshero.co@matteoc

“Follow the money”- Lester Freeman

I went back to my main source of income with the objective of winning back my old clients and finding

some new ones.

preshero.co@matteoc

Business Model Canvas

preshero.co@matteoc

Business Model Canvas

I started applying the same techniques I use for

my clients to my own business. And it was

hugely useful.

preshero.co@matteoc

Website

preshero.co@matteoc

WebsiteSince I had no clients and a lot of time, I used it to build a business website

detailing my value proposition and offering.

preshero.co@matteoc

La Fabbrica della Realtà is an innovation laboratory centered around people and

ideas.

preshero.co@matteoc

La Fabbrica della Realtà is an innovation laboratory centered around people and

ideas.

More than 1 year after going to zero I came up

with a clear definition of my business and its goals.

They are my life goals also...

preshero.co@matteoc

Why didn’t I do this at the beginning?

preshero.co@matteoc

“If I do, I understand”- Confucius

preshero.co@matteoc

“If I do, I understand”- Confucius

First I needed the “doing”.The “understanding” came right after.

preshero.co@matteoc

From consulting to productising

preshero.co@matteoc

preshero.co@matteoc

Consulting is not scalable.

preshero.co@matteoc

Consulting is not scalable.

You can increase your rate.

preshero.co@matteoc

Consulting is not scalable.

You can increase your rate.

Only until you run out of time.

preshero.co@matteoc

time vs money

preshero.co@matteoc

time vs moneyI used to be an employee trading time for money.

preshero.co@matteoc

time vs moneyI used to be an employee trading time for money.

Here I was a consultant, still trading time for

money.

preshero.co@matteoc

time moneydecouple

preshero.co@matteoc

time moneyproducts

preshero.co@matteoc

time moneyproducts Products are the key to decoupling time and money. But how do you go

about finding products?

preshero.co@matteoc

3 principles of product discovery

preshero.co@matteoc

expertise

preshero.co@matteoc

expertise

You have to start from the areas where your expertise is close to 100%. If you stray away from your domain of

knowledge, your chances of success diminish.

preshero.co@matteoc

ease

preshero.co@matteoc

ease

Your product needs to come from something that easy,

effortless to you. If it’s hard for you then it’s not the

right path!

preshero.co@matteoc

passion

preshero.co@matteoc

passion

You need to have fun dealing with the product,

you need to love the customer base of the

product and be passionate about what your customers

will do with it.

preshero.co@matteoc

PRESENTATION HERO

from bad presentationsSaving the world...

preshero.co@matteoc

PRESENTATION HERO

from bad presentationsSaving the world...

I found my product. It’s a presentation training course

called Presentation Hero!

preshero.co@matteoc

PRESENTATION HERO

from bad presentationsSaving the world...

I found my product. It’s a presentation training course

called Presentation Hero!

Check it out! You can click here!

preshero.co@matteoc

Terrific resources I found along the way

preshero.co@matteoc

Patrick McKenzie(patio11)

preshero.co@matteoc

The bootstrapped software as a service

business expert.

preshero.co@matteoc

MicroConf(Prague 10.2014)

preshero.co@matteoc

Watch the videos if you can’t afford the

conference.

preshero.co@matteoc

Nathan Barry(Authority)

preshero.co@matteoc

Master product builder and product launch

evangelist.

preshero.co@matteoc

Noah Kagan(OkDork)

preshero.co@matteoc

Practical, tactical marketing tips that work.

preshero.co@matteoc

Brian Dean(Backlinko)

preshero.co@matteoc

The missing manual to pearly white hat SEO.

preshero.co@matteoc

Takeaways

preshero.co@matteoc

Retainer Agreement

preshero.co@matteoc

expertise

preshero.co@matteoc

ease passion

preshero.co@matteoc

YouI can’t tell you the future of

PRESENTATION HERO just yet. Only you can decide how this

presentation ends.

preshero.co@matteoc preshero.co@matteoc

Apply these ideas to your

business?

preshero.co@matteoc

Share these ideas with

others?

preshero.co@matteoc

Apply these ideas to your

business?

preshero.co@matteoc preshero.co@matteoc

Share this presentation fbbr.co/4hww

Photo Credits: Matteo Cassese by Stefano Corso, Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, copyright Warner Bros. Pictures, The Wire copyright by HBO, Noah Kagan copyright by Noah Kagan, Brian Dean copyright by Brian Dean, Se Faccio Capisco by Fab Lab Reggio Emilia, Pasta with finocchiona by Luca Nebuloni Some rights reserved

Icons: Public Domain, Relax designed by Arturo Arce from the Noun Project Creative Commons – Attribution (CC BY 3.0)

It’s all up to you!