Lab2Factory

Startup Ecosystem – Stage 1

Studying the evolution, growth and maturity patterns of Product Software companies makes a compelling story which has great differentiation compared to other kinds of software entities.

Most Product Software companies start as an entity founded by the later CXO’s, with both the functional and technical knowledge residing in this initial small core team. Some exceptions of bigger startup Product Software companies do exist, but these are started mostly by second generation entrepreneurs who have the financial muscle to do such a business. Usually these startups are setup as R&D Labs, with the core team working on an innovative idea with a passion to develop a good and unique product. These core teams in general focus on solving a business problem, work through beta customers and eventually make their first wins. V1.0 product is thus born.

Startup Ecosystem – Stage 2

Some of the typical needs that crop up during the next phase of these companies are

• Sales and Marketing
• Installation and Deployment
• Support & Service activities

These activities are typically done best by the initial core team, and become bottlenecks as the time available with the core team is limited. The dependency on and the stress level of the core team increases with every new step.

Think Different – Do what you do best

At such a juncture successful companies think differently. These companies continue to let the core team be the heart and sole of themselves, and invest in knowledge build up outside the initial core team in various ways. Knowledge build up has to be done initially at the product level so that the core team can concentrate on the Customer aspects (like Marketing & Sales). The knowledge build up will also help in doing the support and maintenance activities without too much involvement of the core team.

So end of the day if this target of achieving the knowledge build up is reached then the core team still has the innovative passion left and also has time available to come up with more compelling versions of the product.
 

Some typical questions that crop up everyone’s mind w.r.t knowledge build up are

• Do we need to hire a second set of personnel who will serve in the product development activities?
• The costs of such a thing are high. So what do we do?
• Even if we circumvent the costs, such a team will call for more personal interactions which will add a layer of HRM. Do we require having an HRM?
• We also need some layers of ICT and administration to manage the bigger setup?
• We haven't made any profits yet to invest in all these. So how do we do this?
• Shall we add in more money to spruce up the operations?
• It's a good idea but what if the returns are not as expected?
• We are left with a fixed team and also additional costs
• We are also left with a dedicated team which cannot be let go
• Do we have other choices?
• Who would be such a person who can participate in the growth without actually eating into our company?
• Also would such a person or entity not be interested in the product IP but would only want to participate in the growth process?
• Is there any such entity anywhere in this world?
• Can we grow from Version 1.0 (Lab) to a bigger, more mature development team (Factory) without to many impacts on the core team, and without the hassle and risks associated to it?

Our  Solution

Yes, there is a solution to this typical problem, that's where we as coMakeIT pitch in.

coMakeIT will come in to step up your operations by providing an extended R&D team which can enable the knowledge build up and stay with you till the life of the product.

This team can evolve from starting as a unit which does the initial packing, Support & Maintenance, building small features to that of a team which grows to building new functionality and at some point gets completely embedded into your organization. We will ensure a single point of contact who will quickly be able to grasp your technical & functional problem and anchor a team to enable you to move the next phase.

We are keen to join this ride and be your partner in success. ARE YOU?