Archive of posts filed under the startup category.

Can I have both vision and execution, please?

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People are either 1) vision or 2) execution thinkers. Visionists talk on a high level and focus on values and mission. Executionists think in concrete terms and focus on feasibility and strategy. Visionists and executionists have tough time understanding each other. You see this divide everywhere. Case 1: Political discussion. There was a recent heated discussion in Finland regarding multiculturalism. …

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EU VAT Changes in 2015: Registration Thresholds

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Are you selling software or a service as a software to European consumers? If yes, the new taxation rules apply to you. From 2015, you need to know your buyers’ country of residence, use that country’s VAT rate and report your sales to that country’s taxation authority. GigaOm writes: The problem here is that there are …

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Pitching a Product

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Introducing the big idea should take just one minute. Don’t spend time on details. In Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore formulated a useful, short pattern for idea introduction. For (target audience) who (statement of the opportunity), my idea is a (product category) that provides (statement of key benefit). Unlike (competitors), my idea (statement of primary differentiation). The …

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Only Few Finnish Startups Born Global

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How many Finnish online products are targeting European markets? More specifically, consumer oriented online products? If I’m not wrong, there are very few. Overall, the number and scale of B2C product businesses in Finland is much less than in the neighboring countries. Among these few are some that are “born global”. As a rule, their target market …

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Wasting Time or Improving the User Experience?

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I’ve become a fan of cohort analysis! Cohorts provide a great way to focus on product development and the effect our RnD is having on customers. Cohort analysis tells us if we’re making the product better or just adding clutter and obsolete features. Often it would be the best to “simply” focus on the existing …

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A Groupon Deal Analysis

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Stephen Joyce wrote a great post on how Groupon advertising works. He offers insight into Groupon’s impact on sales and profitability from a local small business’s perspective. The bottom line is: you’re gonna lose! Groupon is the 2-year-old group buying service that has received a great amount of attention (and a billion $ in venture …

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The Best Location for Your Hotel

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Google Maps and hotel data fit together extremely well. Seeing the hotels on a city map along with the most interesting sights (and airports etc.) makes choosing the most suitable accommodation a breeze. Instead of scrolling through long lists of hotels ordered by popularity or profitability, you can pick the hotel next to your favorite …

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