
Show HN: Startizer – Startup Incubation System (MVP v2 Made in Access) - Ace__
Hello.<p>I have been working on this longer than it takes for some to get from idea to exit, so maybe I am the last person who should have been working on this, haha.<p>Anyway, I started working on a system to guide founders from idea to launch and early traction. The first MVP was made in Excel (took around 4 years), covering the whole shebang (and some other bits). I shared part of it Jan 2019, crickets, but it was not unexpected.<p>I then started working on MVP v2, this time in Access, finished October &#x2F; November 2019. It does not feature all the steps, but rather, only the first few covering:<p>1. Idea Breakdown
2. Problem Research
3. Market Audit 1
4. Audience Disposition
5. Audience Outreach
6. Audience Interviews
7. Interview Results
8. Signals (ICP and Persona Generation)<p>Currently, I am working with a few founders, working on bottom of the funnel content for Startizer, and continuing targeted outreach one to one.<p>Once in a while, I will also be posting in more public places to see the response, get feedback, see what I can improve in Startizer and indeed any blind-spots I might have. Much to learn... always much to learn really.<p>So, anyway, please do check it out, comments, feedback, would be much appreciated. To finally reiterate, it&#x27;s made in MS Access which makes it PC only: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;startizer.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;startizer.com&#x2F;</a><p>Cheers, Ace.
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rebataur
This is awesome !

We have been working on something similar in this space on Product Management
( From Brainstorming, Idea Validation to Execution, and we got our early MVP
built ( check out the video here
[https://twitter.com/rebataur/status/1234462816834183169](https://twitter.com/rebataur/status/1234462816834183169)
)

Would you be open for some consulting, let me know

~~~
Ace__
Hello Rebataur. I appreciate you checking it out and the comment, thank you. I
checked out the video at the link you shared (Penny Lane). Yep, Product
Management, looks clean and focused. I am open to having a chat about
consulting certainly. Would you like me to contact you, or vice versa?

Cheers, Ace.

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dmerenda
Have been following this project for a while. Impressed with the thoroughness
of the creator, the thoughtfulness he put into the final product, and how much
"under the hood" analysis went into the Excel version that led up to this
release. Kudos, Ace, on getting this out to market, in any form.

~~~
Ace__
Hello Dmerenda.

What can I say mate, other than thank you. Hmm, no I can actually say more,
haha. You've been there and done it so many times, worked with so many, that I
am genuinely getting what I believe to be, is an emotion, haha.

Seriously now, thank for your kind words, and sharing your time with me and
the feedback at the drop of a hat. Much respect mate. Ace.

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kirubakaran
Great work! It really shows how much care and effort you've put in to this.
Thank you for sharing it here.

~~~
Ace__
Hello Kirubakaran. I very much appreciate you taking the time to check it out,
your comment, and for noting that yeah, it looks like what it is, made in
Access but, considerable care and effort has gone into it.

Thank you mate. Ace.

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quickthrower2
Thanks. I'd love to use it, but it is not working on my system. When I click
"Enable Content" in Access, the main form then just disappears.

I'd suggest packing this up as an installer, if you can.

~~~
Ace__
Hello Quickthrower. Hmm, very strange. When you click on Enable Content, the
main form will disappear. Ok, noted.

Try closing it and opening it again, what happens?

If it still doesn't work, I will send over the unlocked version so you can
also have a laugh at my poor naming convention, abysmal table names, and VBA
programming with the type of loops not seen since Groundhog Day.

~~~
quickthrower2
Yes I tried. Please send me that lovely code :-). Email sent.

~~~
Ace__
Cheers mate, I just sent it over. If you need me to send over a priest to
perform an exorcist after you see the 'code', haha, let me know.

~~~
Ace__
It burns!!! (Perform an exorcism, not an excorcist, sheesh. Have to correct it
otherwise, I'll remember it for days, haha).

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phil_rcketchart
Looks promising and very useful to guide people in the startup's journey.
Seems like you will help them to avoid classic mistakes. Good luck man

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Ace__
Hello Phil. Thank you for checking it out, your comment, and the good luck
wish. Long way to go, so I'll take all the good luck wishes I can get. Cheers
mate, Ace.

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harrisreynolds
Ace - Nice work man. I am working on a "no-code" platform (Webase [1]) that is
basically an online version of Access.

If you are open to it would be interesting to make an online version of this
in Webase to make it more accessible. I am happy to do the work if you want to
collaborate some.

Either way congrats on shipping this!

[1] [https://www.webase.com](https://www.webase.com)

~~~
Ace__
Hello Harris.

Thanks mate, much appreciated. I am certainly open to exploring what my
possible next steps could be. I will check out Webase, and continue the
conversation with you.

Cheers mate, and thank you. Ace.

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eberyvody
this is a rad concept, thanks for sharing. sad that i can't play with it on my
mac. from the screenshots, it definitely needs some design love, but it’s an
interesting concept that really resonates with me.

i know it's too early, but do you have thoughts on monetizing it? i wonder if
you could do something like pioneer [0] and broker funding rounds for the
really promising ones — looks like you have some background there.

i’m working on designing something that is a bit like this, but for guiding
the product building part [1]. it kind of papers over this idea validation
step via a “wisdom of the crowd” voting system. do you see startizer only
being focused on the initial idea validation part, or do you want teams to
continue using it to iterate and build over time?

[0]: [https://pioneer.app/](https://pioneer.app/)

[1]: [https://www.co-op-os.com/](https://www.co-op-os.com/)

~~~
Ace__
Hello eberyvody.

Mate, I appreciate you checking it out, thank you very much.

Oh, it definitely needs some design love, haha, holding hands very high up to
that one. It is still concept stage for me, MVP v2.

MVP v1 (took 4 years, which I made in Excel), my private version covered from
initial idea to early traction:

Phase 1 1\. Idea Breakdown 2\. Problem Research 3\. Market Audit 1 4\.
Audience Disposition 5\. Audience Outreach

Phase 2 6\. Audience Interviews 7\. Interview Results 8\. Eco-Player Input 9\.
Signals (ICP and Persona Generation)

Phase 3 10\. Draft Solution v1 11\. Value Propositions + Culture Fit 12\.
Initial Solution + Visionary Solution 13\. Initial Solution v1 14\. Vision

Phase 4 15\. Market Audit 2 16\. Competition Audit 2 17\. Market Opportunity 2
18\. Minimum Viable Solution Formulation 19\. MVP Proposition + User Stories

Phase 5 20\. Solution Roadmap and MVP & v1 to MVP Harmonization 21\. Business
Model Auto Generate + Update 1 22\. Market Demand Validation 23\. MVP Specs,
Users Stories, UX/UI 24\. Prototype + Validation

Phase 6 25\. Investor Criteria Interest Out-Reach 26\. Legal & Regulatory
Preliminary Assessment 27\. Risk Assessment 28\. MVP Production 29\. MVP
Closed Testing & Update

Phase 7 30\. Rough Brand Positioning + Initial Marketing 31\. Competition
Audit 3 32\. Content Audit 1 33\. Keyword Audit 1 34\. MVP Incremental Launch

Phase 8 35\. Funnel Proposition (Bottom Up) 36\. Early Traction 37\. Problem –
Solution Fit

MVP v2, no I won't be monetizing it. This is purely to get some brand
awareness, as I am a nobody. And to increase the small group of people I work
with so I can continue to learn, and then work on MVP v3, which will be the
web app version.

Yeah I had a look at Pioneer a while back. I like what they are doing, but
honestly I don't have time, my focus is purely on learning, thinking, and
working. As for brokering funding rounds for the promising, I thought about
that a while back, but that is an off-shoot from the primary objective of
Startizer, aiding founders, incubating minds, sharpening analytical skills,
promoting a sense of self-belief but not self-delusion.

Certainly I would like to connect with you, continue our conversation if that
is ok with you?

Cheers, Ace.

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dade_
Signup process went well, and I had no problem opening the files. Formatting
of the screens are a bit off and I needed to zoom out, but no immediate
issues. The amusing sample data makes it worth the effort alone. Ever consider
making a startup sim game?

~~~
Ace__
Hello Dade.

Thank you for letting me know how things progressed. Yes that formatting, I
could get it to sit properly on a 1920 x 1080, when zoomed out. But Access
does responsive, like I do serious dummy data, haha.

As for the sample data itself, I have serious data, but that is rather with
startups I work with, or them doing one (or few) at some point.

But the dummy data that is in there, my favourites are the emails, man I
needed to get that off my chest, haha.

Mate, thank you, very much.

Ace.

Edit: Sheesh, sorry your question, startup sim game, if I can continue to get
things off my chest, count me in.

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MrGregZen
I dug in recently and saw a lot of potential, as you know very close to part
of what startupheroics.com is working on as well, with our upcoming startup
academy, UpStar. I look forward to seeing the progress! Kudos and good luck

~~~
Ace__
Hello Greg. Yes, both of us are working in more or less the same area, so I'll
continue to take what I can from you, haha. Joking mate. Cheers mate, Ace.

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heliasvieira
Beautiful stuff. I'm helping a lot of startup founders with the development of
their MVPs and I wish they'd use Startizer to avoid typical mistakes and
solidify their idea before moving forward.

Thanks for sharing this, Ace.

~~~
Ace__
Hello HeliasVieira. Your wish is granted. As it is such a great wish, you
still have 3 left, this one's on the house, haha.

We should have a chat. No should, need, must, haha.

Thank you for checking Startizer out, and your comment. Cheers, Ace.

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dkjagadeesh
For starters, who'd want to be in the startup-ecosystem, you'd find it useful.
Personally knowing Ace, he is a value add-on to any of the niches you work
with as he provides great insights and help.

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yanbo
I absolutely agree. Every discussion I had with him was a treasure of
knowledge.

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Ace__
Hello Yanbo. At first I was like, who is Yanbo? Then it clicked. Too kind
mate. Finding where x marks the spot is ok, it's the digging that hurts, haha.

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97-109-107
The messaging on your website seems to be very software-focused, the value
proposition is about the platform itself, not the value/pain-killer you seem
to provide through it.

~~~
Ace__
Hello mate, thank you for checking the site out.

There will be continued improvement of VP and UVP, so the sharing of your data
points is appreciated, thank you.

The places where the site has been shared, ie HN and one other place, they
have early adopters, who are problem aware, they don't need me to be another
one who starts selling in the shallow style with no comprehension of where are
these benefits coming from. They know the pain, and and from the feedback from
ones I targeted and reached out one-to-one it was appreciated that I am
attempting to go deeper.

If you would like to assess more of the problem clarification and value
delivery, then I recommend perusing the page [https://startizer.com/the-
problems-with-startup-material/](https://startizer.com/the-problems-with-
startup-material/).

Even then though, you took the time to check it out and respond, and for that
I thank you.

Cheers, Ace.

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AmroEmara
This is really great Ace, I will definitely check out the link above, thank
you.

Kind regards, Amro

~~~
Ace__
Hello Amro, thanks for checking it out whenever you do, and the comment, much
appreciated. Cheers, Ace.

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Immortal_781
Hello Ace,

I appreciate all this great work done so far.

Thanks a lot for the great help and support on SaaS businesses.

Cheers, Orkhan co-founder of nextsale.io

~~~
Ace__
Hello Orkhan. Nice to see you here. You are very welcome pertaining to the
little help I provided, you are the one doing the real work, so onwards and
upwards mate.

Cheers, Ace.

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chrisMyzel
I'm missing the.CTA - afzer reading desktop based I want to click download and
try it out

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dchuk
Meta question: have you used this tool to validate the tool itself?

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Ace__
Hello Dchuk. I can't say I knew, but I did believe someone would ask this
question, and even answered it on the About Me page.

"Are you using Startizer on itself, on yourself? Yes, some sort of Ouroboros
tribute."

Valid question. I have used MVP v1 on Startizer, as that covered everything
from idea to launch and early traction. MVP v2 doesn't cover all the steps as
that would take too long, but even so, I used it cos v1 was in Excel, but v2
had a database behind it which meant it was closer to how I and a few think it
should be. Still, long way to go, but slowly step by step, keep learning, keep
using it, keep getting feedback.

I also use it with startups I work with. Some founders are also using it. And
after today, touch-wood, hopefully some more are, but I will contact them
anyway, and see how I can help them (and myself in the process) further.

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arejaytee
No download or email received after signing up here

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Ace__
Hello AreJaytee. Sorry about that. I was unable to ascertain your email
address. From your profile, checked other places, to no avail, couldn't find
one for you.

So, please use this direct link to download it:
[https://startizer.com/download-startizer-
mvp-v2/](https://startizer.com/download-startizer-mvp-v2/)

Let me know when you have downloaded it please. Obviously I didn't want to
present a direct download link, haha, but got to do what ya got to do.

Cheers, Ace.

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arejaytee
Thanks downloaded, you can edit the link

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DocuAir
Thanks for sharing this, Ace!

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Ace__
Hello DocuAir, no worries, you are welcome. Cheers, Ace.

