Yoosk : 18 Lessons Learnt by a UK Digital Media Start Up

8/4/2019 Yoosk : 18 Lessons Learnt by a UK Digital Media Start Up

1/22

18LESSONSLEARNTFROMAUK

DIGITALMEDIASTARTUP

Yooskenteredthepar.cipa.vemediamarketin2007,enablinginternetuserstoholddirectconversa.onswithleadersItsbusinessmodelisbasedonrevenuesfrom

governmentsforhelpingthemaccesstargetedaudiencesandformanagingthe

engagementprocessItusesitsproprietaryso@wareandwebsitestodothis


2/22

ThestoryofYoosksjourneyis

toldthroughnewspaper

clippingsThelessonsareinthe

formofrelatedques.onsthatweaskedourselvesaswewent

along


3/22

1Isyourcommunity

enthusias.cenoughand

areyouclearabouthow

theycangetinvolved?

Newwebcommuni.esneedarapid

groundswellofenthusias.csupport

andvolunteerswillingtospend.me

ontheprojectforfreeIfthis

doesntemergequickly,start

worrying

Ouroriginalplanwastobuildacommunityofuber-userswho

wouldgettheanswerstousers

ques.onsfrompublicfigures

Wemadethemistakeofnot

focusingonthemobilisa.onofthis

communityandhelpingthemget

directlyinvolvedInstead,weemployedfreelancejournalistsinan

aLempttospeedthingsupWe

thoughtwedkickstarttheQandA

processbutactuallywe

disempoweredthecommunity


4/22

2Doyouknowenough

abouttheindustryyouare

abouttoenter?

Wecalledourselvesawebstartup,

butactuallythatmeansveryliLleIn

fact,wefoundourselvesinthenews

industryandlaterthepoli.cal

communica.onsindustry

Wewereoutsidersandconstantly

havingtoimportcredibilityandknowledgeintothecompany

Ul.mately,lotsofinnova.onsare

unsuccessfulfirst.mearoundThisis

becauseitisnottheideabutits

implementa.onandacceptancethat

reallycount

Knowledgeoftheterrainandbeing

abletocallonalliesarehuge

advantageswhenfigh.ngthebaLle

forthisacceptance


5/22

esson3:Areyourteam

readytoadaptyour

productandbusiness

modelandshi@focusasnecessary?

Whenyouarelearningsomuch

aboutanewmarket,youneedto

constantlyadjustyourproposi.on

inlinewithrapidlychangingdata

onwhatcustomerarewillingto

payforandthechangesthey

thinkyoushouldmaketoyour

product

Idontthinkmanyci.zen

journalismstart-upseverfounda

viablerevenuemodelIntheend,

Imgladwedidntfocuson

buildingaci.zenjournalistcommunityandinsteadkept

adap.ngourbusinessmodel


6/22

4Areyoubuildingthe

rightkindofteam?

Thismaysoundobviousbutunder

constantpressuretodevelopthe

productorfindrevenuesources,it

iseasytooverlookthehuman

resourcemanagementtasksthat

arenecessary

WeworkedwithpostgraduatejournalismstudentsatondonCity

Universitywhoprovidedagreat

freeresourcetoaddcontent

However,whatwereallyneededto

addtotheteamweredevelopers

whocouldhelpusiteratethe

technicalplaormmuchquickerandmorecheaplyEverywebstart

upneedsinhousetechnologists


7/22

5Doyouknowthe

purchasingprocessfor

yourproduct?

Bynowwethoughtwehadastrategythatwasviable:wewere

developingwidgetsthatcouldbe

placedonnewspapersitesto

manageQandAsbetweentheir

readersandpublicfigures

However,itwasprovingvery.me

consumingtoworkoutwho

exactlytosellto:editors,a

newspapersdigitaleditororthe

webmanager?

Someproductsareordered

rou.nelywithoutmuchscru.ny

butthisisnotthecasewith

innova.veproducts

Despitealotofinterestfrom

clientsourproposalswereo@en

passedaroundlikeahotpotato,or

pushedtoonesideastoodifficult


8/22

6Areyoucommunica.ng

withabsoluteclarityboth

internallyandexternally

exactlywhatyourproductdoesandwhatitisfor?

Thisstory,whichreferstousasa

debatewebsitejustaboutsumsup

howmuchweweremisunderstood

Thefactthatitcamea@eran

interviewwithamemberofstaff

madeitallthemoreworrisome


9/22

7Doyouhaveasufficiently

strongrela.onshipwiththe

implementa.onteamswithin

partnerorganisa.ons?

TheresaVietnamesesaying:Even

travellersontheKingsRoadhavetopay

atthevillagegates.

Successfulpartnershipsdependonthe

rela.onshipbetweenthemorejunior

implementa.onteamsasmuchasthe

rela.onshipbetweenthedecision-makers

Thefirstpartnershipwithalargemedia

groupshowedthatwhilewecouldsell

ourinnova.veconcepttothegroup

directorofdigital,wemights.llnotbe

abletowinovertheeditorialstaffon

each.tle

Rememberthatnewtasksthatcome

downfromonhigho@enlandonthe

desksofpeoplewhoarehardpressed

withtheirdayjobs


10/22

8Areyouover

promisingandunder

delivering?

TheBuildingDemocracyInnova.onAwardgaveus10kseedfundingto

runsomeambi.ousprojectswith

Parliamentandalargecouncil

Unfortunatelyseedfundingofthis

sizeisnotenoughtoemploystafffull

.me,soul.matelydeliveryhadtobe

donewithcontractorswhileI

pressedaheadtryingtogrowthe

business

ThisneverreallyworkedforusandI

foundthatIhadbeenoverop.mis.c

aboutwhatwecouldachieveThe

endresultwasthattheseprojects

werelowimpactandtookfartoo

longtoimplement


11/22

9Areyoupitchingthe

finishedproductordoing

productdevelopment

consulta.ons?

Agoodopenerforacoldcallis:I

workinxxxx-dohaveyouafew

momentsformetoaskyousome

ques.onsaboutyourobjec.ves

thisyearsoIcanunderstandif

thereisanywayIcandevelopour

productsoitisreallyusefulforyou?

Thisapplica.onofYoosk,which

buildsinterculturaldialogue,came

outofjustsuchaconversa.on

withtheBri.shEmbassy


12/22

10Isthisagrowingmarket?

Investorslikebuoyantorgrowing

marketsandindustries

Whileitwasnicethatthis

Mashablear.cleiden.fiedYoosk

asasolu.ontoaveryrealproblem

inthenewspaperindustry,italso

highlightsthefactthatwewere

tryingtosellourservicesinto

businessesinturmoilanddecline

Aroundthis.mewefound

ourselvesmovingfurtherand

furtherintothegovernment

market,providingdigital

engagementserviceusingYoosk

Thissectorwasconsideredmore

lucra.vebyinvestors,althoughthatlaterturnedouttobeafalse

assump.on


13/22

11:Areyoulocatedwithin

socialisingdistanceofyour

customersandclients?

Idontmeanbecauseyouneedtoschmoozethemnecessarilybut

becauseyouneedtoconstantlybe

havingconversa.onsabouttheir

needsandyourproducts

Webecameformallybasedinthe

WestMidlandsbeforewinningthis

1st

stageinvestmentandthisdecisionwouldappeartohavepaidoff

However,weweresome2hours

fromondonandweneededtobeas

closetothecentreofgovernmentas

possible,sinceweweresellinginto

governmentcommunica.onsteams

andsome.mestheministers

themselves

Weneededtobeateventsandmeet

upstoreallygettoknowkeyclients

andwewerejusttoophysicallyfar

away


14/22

12Canyouspecifyhowyour

expenditureofinvestmentfunds

willeitherconvertpipelinesales

toactualrevenueordelivera

significantlybeLercustomer

experience?Mostofoursecondroundofseed

fundingfundingwentona600pound

adayagencyandthemoneywas

largelywastedonanexpensiveand

unnecessaryAPI

Nothavingourownflexibleinternalcoderwhoreallyunderstoodour

visionandhadanequitystake

constantlyheldusbackWewere

gengrequestsfrompoten.al

clientsforproductimprovements

anditera.onsontheexis.ngproduct

whilewewerespendingourmoney

designinganewsitewithanagency

Weneededto.eexpenditurefar

moretodeliveringwhatpipeline

clientswantedratherthangeneric

improvements


15/22

13Doyouhavewhat

ifscenariosthat

enableyoutoplana

reac.ontodifferent

partnerbehaviours?

Wethoughtwehadagreat

proposi.onAsub-domainofYoosk

wasembeddedintoaregional

newspaperandcouncillorswho

agreedtotakepartinQandAsfrom

thepapersreaders

Allthenewspapersjournalists

neededtodowaspickupthe

interviewsandfollowupthestories

Theproblemwasthattheworkforce

hadjustbeenhalvedandthosewho

remainedwerethreateningtostrike

Ourprojectwasquietlysidelinedbut

ifwehadbeenreadywecouldhave

reactedmoreeffec.velytothe

problembyinpungmoreofour

ownresources


16/22

UK: home to the mother of all ParliamentsNumber of MPs who chose to take part in

Yoosks open and direct dialogue between MPs

and constituents: 50

Socialist Republic of Vietnam: single party stateNumber of MPs who chose to take part in Yoosks open

and direct dialogue between MPs and constituents: 100

14. What is the right political, social or cultural context for your product?


17/22

15Doyouhavea

feature,aproduct

orabusiness?

Featuresarevitamins-

whatcustomersconsider

goodwaystospendtheir

.me

Productsarepainkillers-

theywillpayfor

somethingthatsolvesa

realproblem

Abusinessisacollec.onofproductsthatgenerate

enoughrevenueto

supportitscosts,including

salariesandproduct

development

Weraisedathirdstageof

investment-this.mestart

upfundingofover100k-

butas.mewenton,it

becameapparentwehad

aproductwhichbyitself

wasnotenoughtosupport

abusiness


18/22

16AmIfocusingtoo

muchonPRandnot

enoughonsales?

BritainsBestMPwasacampaignweranwiththeIndependent

newspaperAniceideabutwe

weres.llfocusingtoomuchon

gengpublicityandgrowinga

community,notgenera.ng

revenues

Wehadamodelthatworkedandweknewpublicsector

departmentswerewillingtopay

foritAtthisstageweshould

havebeenfocusingen.relyon

developingtheB2Brevenue

genera.ngsideofthebusiness

BritainsBestMPwasan

interes.ngideabutadistrac.on


19/22

17Canwereallyscale

orarearewealways

goingtobeaservices

companywith

proprietaryso@ware?

TheAfghanistanprojectworkedwell:

ourwidgetsandappswere

embeddedveryeffec.velyinpartner

websiteswhosuppliedtheaudience

fortheQandAs

Butwerealisedthatourproductwas

noteasilyscaleabletotensof

thousandsofcustomerslikethe

FCO

Clientswantedtoomuchadviceand

supportandwhatwewereactually

doingwasprovidingaservicewhich

happenedtouseourownso@ware

Thiswasawholenewbusiness

modelandtherewasclearlyaneed

torethinkandlookatothermarkets


20/22

18Isit.metostopbeing

crea.veanddoingstufffor

freeandtojustsell?

Ithinkweproducedsomeverycrea.veengagementcampaigns

However,thatwasnotenoughandin

amediabusinessitiseasyforthe

desiretoconstantlycreateand

innovatetopullyouawayfromthe

hardcommercialimpera.vesof

winningcontracts


21/22

Finally,threesummaryques.ons:

1Canyouturnyourideaintoaproductwhich

addressesaproblemthatpeoplewillpaytosolve?

2Doyouhavethecapacitytogetinfrontofthose

peopleandconvincethemtobuyit?

3Doyouhavethecashandhumantalenttobeat

compe.torswhoarealsotryingtodo1and2?


22/22

2011:YooskmovestoafullyautomatedQandA

processandentersnewmarkets

Morelessonstolearn

Yoosk : 18 Lessons Learnt by a UK Digital Media Start Up

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